Great Lakes - Biking from Chicago to Kenosha, Which Roads are Bike Friendly?

I'm going to be biking from Chicago to Kenosha, WI. I'm planning my route, and I'm trying to figure out what roads are bike-friendly. I'm good to get up to Lake Cook / County Line Road (I'm taking the the North Branch Trail to the Chicago Botanic Gardens) but after that, does Green Bay Road or Sheridan Road have a bike lane (or similar provisions) or is there a better route I should be taking?

Thanks for the help.

I can take you from Winthrop Harbor into Kenosha:

Sheridan Rd is a bit busy, but it's okay. THEN, go over to the Marina MAP (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=42.48615,-87.805738&spn=0.014874,0.043387&z=15) and head north through there. Tricky part - there is a foot path that crosses the state line from the north end of the marina over to Carol Beach, WI MAP (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=42.492598,-87.807273&spn=0.003718,0.010847&t=h&z=17) then ride through Carol Beach up to Kenosha. Takes you right to downtown / harbor MAP (http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=42.518106,-87.809343&spn=0.029733,0.086775&z=14) Take Lakeshore Dr. Very little traffic and it's scenic - right on the water. It's THE way to ride into Kenosha from the south. I did that ride just last week.

Don't let that foot path scare you, it's not that bad. The rest of this route is pretty cool. :D

This is a better route. It is Bikinggrad80's posted earlier in the week. I ride parts of this route all the time and it is much more bike friendly.
http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Morton-Grove-IL-to-Kenosha-Wi


Kenal0

Bike path.

*yawn*

:innocent:

Okay. I drove home from Evanston via Sheridan Rd last night. Followed it all the way to the state line and I think it would be okay for short distances but there is no bike lane and traffic is pretty busy. I cannot recommend that route for any length of time. It sure looks cool in sections farther south, I would LOVE to ride parts of it, but the closer you get to WI the worse it gets.

Okay. I drove home from Evanston via Sheridan Rd last night. Followed it all the way to the state line and I think it would be okay for short distances but there is no bike lane and traffic is pretty busy. I cannot recommend that route for any length of time. It sure looks cool in sections farther south, I would LOVE to ride parts of it, but the closer you get to WI the worse it gets.

Yep, found this out on Sunday. I ended up taking Sheridan until I hit the something or other bike path up to the Great Lakes Naval Base, and continuing on Sheridan to Waukegan. Ended up turning around in Waukegan since I had already hit my mileage, so I will have to do some more planning past that. Not to mention the roads around there beats you up.

Hunt Club Road to the Brat Stop is the way we went years ago.

Sheridan Rd is awful down past North Chicago, I wouldn't recommend it. Once to the state line it's okay again. Traffic, construction, ROAD CONDITION. Around the great lakes Naval Station there's is a switch back to a railtrail (Robert McClory trail) @ MLK. Take that instead really. That's if you want a clear cut method, there are other options not involving trails that are more wondery.

I've looked and looked for a good route through North Chicago/Waukegan (without a big swing west), and, nope, nothing better than the McClory path, which is pretty crap through that area.

I've looked and looked for a good route through North Chicago/Waukegan (without a big swing west), and, nope, nothing better than the McClory path, which is pretty crap through that area.

I took the McClory trail from the southern start to the Great Lakes Naval Base, I thought it ended there, does it start back up at MLK? Anything is better than Sheridan rd, and Waukegan is a cross between a ghost town and a ghetto. I'm thinking (like you said) west may be the way to go . . .

I already did that ride last weekend, however, I'm planning a double metric this weekend and was going to borrow some of the routes that I did for my regular century.

I took the McClory trail from the southern start to the Great Lakes Naval Base, I thought it ended there, does it start back up at MLK? Anything is better than Sheridan rd, and Waukegan is a cross between a ghost town and a ghetto. I'm thinking (like you said) west may be the way to go . . .

I already did that ride last weekend, however, I'm planning a double metric this weekend and was going to borrow some of the routes that I did for my regular century.

The trail goes all the way to southern Kenosha. You can ride to Milwaukee on majority trails.

At Great Lakes, the trail continues on the sidewalk on the left side of Sheridan. After the second overpass, there will be a sign telling your to cross Sheridan then loop back under the overpass. You will go under Sheridan and teh Lakefront Hwy and hit a T-intersection. Turn right (north) on Commonwealth Ave. Follow the signs. The path is crushed limestone all the way to Kenosha.

My route is pretty good. There are only two dicey areas. Skokie Rd by Lake Cook road. There is a huge mall with Performance Bike shop there. Unfortunately, there are few alternatives due to the RR tracks and Edens spur. Also Delany Rd by Rt 41 is not great. Other than those small stretches it works pretty well. The best part is it keeps you away from the rather lousy areas in North Chicago and Waukegan North of Great Lakes.

BTW everyone turns around at GL on the Mcclory path because north of there it is limestone, the neighborhood is very questionable, there is often glass on the trail, and there are an insane amount of stopsigns and cross streets.

Consider the Des Plaines river trail. Runs from North Ave. to the IL/Wis. border. Wouldn't recommend skinny slicks as parts are fairly rough, particularly the underpasses in the southern section. It's nice to ride 50 miles with only a small portion on the roads.

The Des Plaines River trail is actually really nice. I would reserve it for mtn bikes, cross, and maybe something set up with wide touring tires. It's horse trail once you get further north, and is pretty rough. Not saying it was just this path, but I broke the steel chainstay on my old Raleigh on the way back from there (that was on 1 1/4" tires).

Chicago has a cyclocross trail? Wow, that's progressive! :p

look up the route map for the North Shore Century. that club puts together a century ride from evanston-kenosha-evanston

Chicago has a cyclocross trail? Wow, that's progressive! :p

I think a cyclocross trail is anywhere road bikes shouldn't go.

I take greenbay all the way up, It's a fast, straight shot.