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Protected bike lane for Elston Ave - Carry forward Project from Cycle 4
Elston Avenue is a main diagonal artery that bicyclists take everyday to get to work. It provides easy access for residents to bike to neighborhoods like Logan Quare, Wicker Park, Irving Park, etc..
Converting Elston's bike lanes in both directiosn into protected one-way bike lanes will save lives and encourage more people to use the bike lanes. The vast majority of Chicago's bicycle crow does not use these lanes, because it is just too dangerous to bike on them today.
It would mean, we move the bike lanes right next to the sidewalk and move the car parking into the street. Today, it is set up in the opposite manner.
This has already been done on Milwaukee Avenue - another diagonal street that a lot of bikers use - https://chicagocompletestreets.org/streets/bikeways/barrier-protected-bike-lanes/
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The risk of doorings and right hooks in a protected bike lane are valid, but those risks exist in the current configuration as well. These potential hazards are low-speed in nature and likely will not cause fatalities.
However, in the current configuration a motorist can hit a cyclist from behind at over 30mph, which is almost certainly fatal. Even a poorly designed protected bike lane is safer in this respect.
Also, in the current configuration pedestrians have to cross both lanes of traffic AND the bike lanes in one go. There is nothing preventing a car from using the bike lane to pass a car that stopped at the pedestrian crossing. The most recent CDOT design standards eliminate this risk when the bike/parking lanes are switched because there will be a pedestrian island in place of the nearest parking spot to the intersection to improve visibility and give peds multiple chances to cross and rest.
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