PB 1st Ward 2021
#PB1 Contribute to the 1st ward's participatory budgeting!
Wood St (Ellen - Grand)
Budget
$325,000
67 votes
Reference: -PROJ-2021-11-17
Selected
Wood St is a designated bike route in Chicago's bike plan. This proposal would upgrade bike infrastructure from Chicago Ave. to Ellen St. by adding protected two-way bike lanes for a full mile on this street. Wood would be changed from two-way to one-way (northbound) to accommodate these bike lanes and preserve residential parking.
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Conversation with Daniel Scalpone
As a resident who lives a few blocks from Wood for almost ten years, I enthusiastically support this plan. Often times cars run stop signs and drive too fast on Wood, having extra protection will encourage more biking and could reduce car traffic that frequently is bumper to bumper on North and Milwaukee. For those who dislike the proposal, please consider that this could ultimately reduce congestion with more families who feel the street is safe enough to bike.
So having a much wider bike way on a larger street such as Wolcott is not as appealing? Wolcott is actually wide enough to have have full hard barrier protected bike lanes. If the bike lanes are put on Wood, the only sizable option is bollards and painted lane markings. That would allow Wolcott to become a two way street, with more room for cars to maneuver and increased vehicular traffic on a street that is quite quiet right now.
Wolcott is a good option too and certainly if it came down to having better protection for the bike lane, then yes - it would be a better option. As a biker who frequently using Wood to get around, the central location of the street in Wicker and Ukrainian Village is ideal to encourage more greater bike use. I just hope that the perfect doesn't be the enemy of the good and this propose is shot down because of it; then we need to wait another 5 years before another effort is made to protect bikers on this vitally important route.
Yes that makes sense! I’m gonna bike my kids in the cold. You should run for alderman as well you seem to have great ideas too. Douche
You're right, Chicago is cold in the winter and it would seem a non starter for biking. What I've found as the father of a young daughter is that for 90% of the year, with proper clothing, it is perfectly fine to get around the city with kids. for the other 10% of the year when there is snow and ice, public transportation is just fine (which is great in West Town). Yes, that choice may not be right for everyone (though it is a great cost savings, healthier and takes away the risk of being carjacked) and no one is trying to ban your car from Chicago streets by adding more bicycle infrastructure. From purely selfish perspective maybe having an open mind would be a better approach, after all, if more "Douches" like me use bicycles to cart their families around then it means less traffic on the road for you and less pollution for your kids.
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