Cortland is already a key route for people trying to cross the river by bike, because it's one of the few non-arterial bridges over the river with less traffic, but it's still an intimidating ride. Let's make it comfortable to bike over the river for average, non-spandex folk. Add a protected bike lane on Cortland, connecting from the end of the new Bloomingdale Trail at Ashland over the river to Clybourn, with a spur north on Southport where many people currently cut through the cul-de-sac. This would provide a much needed connection for biking between Wicker Park/Bucktown and Lincoln Park/Lakeview!
Comments
Cortland is a vital east-west transport link for bicyclists going from Bucktown to Lincoln Park. The redevelopment of the Finkl site is a great opportunity to make sure that it becomes a safe, comfortable route for bicyclists of all ages and abilities. A protected bike lane on Cortland from Armitage/Racine to Damen would be a great way to increase the livability of the area while at the same time providing transportation links for employees of the businesses to the Brown Line L stop, the Clybourn Metra station, and the future Ashland Bus Rapid Transit route.
Extending the 606 bike/pedestrian trail over the river is a great idea. I also saw someone else suggest this in another comment, and I just added it as a separate idea since it stands on its own. There's no reason that shouldn't be done in addition to making Cortland safe for biking though, and actually a connection to the 606 would create even more foot traffic and bike traffic, making it all the more important to make Cortland and other connecting streets even safer. Cortland is also a critical connection to local streets, serving a very different purpose than a limited-access trail. And since the Cortland bridge would still only be one lane for cars each direction with or without bike lanes, it's a no-brainer to have the bike lanes, since that increases the overall capacity of the roadway to move people.
This route has been a great bike/ped connection since it has been cut off from car traffic with the construction on the bridge. I have traveled here with my daughter and feel that a protected lane would be nice when the bridge gets reopened.
I am not in favor of more bike traffic on the existing Cortland bridge. It is already unsafe. Better would be to extend the new 606 biker trail over Ashland and over the river, and when Finkl is demo-ed, tie into that.
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North Branch River Works
Cortland Connector Bikeway between Lincoln Park and Bucktown
Description:
Cortland is already a key route for people trying to cross the river by bike, because it's one of the few non-arterial bridges over the river with less traffic, but it's still an intimidating ride. Let's make it comfortable to bike over the river for average, non-spandex folk. Add a protected bike lane on Cortland, connecting from the end of the new Bloomingdale Trail at Ashland over the river to Clybourn, with a spur north on Southport where many people currently cut through the cul-de-sac. This would provide a much needed connection for biking between Wicker Park/Bucktown and Lincoln Park/Lakeview!
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Just rode through there last night and was thinking about the opportunities this project could provide for this route. Great idea. In addition to linking to Bloomingdale Trail, it would also facilitate people biking to Metra and Ashland BRT from east of the river. I live in Noble Square and would like to access a lot of the shops and restaurants in Lincoln Park and Lakeview more frequently, but currently no good routes by bike, which is really the quickest way to make a trip that distance.
Cortland is a vital east-west transport link for bicyclists going from Bucktown to Lincoln Park. The redevelopment of the Finkl site is a great opportunity to make sure that it becomes a safe, comfortable route for bicyclists of all ages and abilities. A protected bike lane on Cortland from Armitage/Racine to Damen would be a great way to increase the livability of the area while at the same time providing transportation links for employees of the businesses to the Brown Line L stop, the Clybourn Metra station, and the future Ashland Bus Rapid Transit route.
Extending the 606 bike/pedestrian trail over the river is a great idea. I also saw someone else suggest this in another comment, and I just added it as a separate idea since it stands on its own. There's no reason that shouldn't be done in addition to making Cortland safe for biking though, and actually a connection to the 606 would create even more foot traffic and bike traffic, making it all the more important to make Cortland and other connecting streets even safer. Cortland is also a critical connection to local streets, serving a very different purpose than a limited-access trail. And since the Cortland bridge would still only be one lane for cars each direction with or without bike lanes, it's a no-brainer to have the bike lanes, since that increases the overall capacity of the roadway to move people.
This route has been a great bike/ped connection since it has been cut off from car traffic with the construction on the bridge. I have traveled here with my daughter and feel that a protected lane would be nice when the bridge gets reopened.
I am not in favor of more bike traffic on the existing Cortland bridge. It is already unsafe. Better would be to extend the new 606 biker trail over Ashland and over the river, and when Finkl is demo-ed, tie into that.
Why is this important to your neighborhood? (Your comment will be added to the campaign wall)
Just rode through there last night and was thinking about the opportunities this project could provide for this route. Great idea. In addition to linking to Bloomingdale Trail, it would also facilitate people biking to Metra and Ashland BRT from east of the river. I live in Noble Square and would like to access a lot of the shops and restaurants in Lincoln Park and Lakeview more frequently, but currently no good routes by bike, which is really the quickest way to make a trip that distance.