Originally Posted by
tadawdy
Yes, money does talk, but I'm suspecting it is a genuine safety concern here. I have heard that people drive particularly idiotically through the ravine. if that's true, and the road is narrow and blind, then it may just be a practical matter. Add driveways to a narrow, twisty road, and you've go a bad mix. Then again, if the spd limit really is 20, maybe it ought to just be enforced. In that case, a cyclist could hardly be deemed to be holding up traffic.
As for the legal basis for banning bikes from roads, I think communities have the right to do so as long equivalent (get from a to b) routes exist. It's similar to banning trucks or other street-legal vehicles. Ridge in Evanston, has a no-bike section. There are other, more bikeable N/S roads nearby, and you wouldn't (well, I wouldn't) really want to ride on that section of Ridge anyway. But, what if you live along that stretch and commute by bike?
I am fine with an artery here and there being a no-bike zone, but it would really be better to include bikes in planning. Banning bikes is really more of a post-hoc fix for bad planning. When Ridge was torn up and resurfaced, they left the lanes (2 each direction) very, very narrow. You would necessarily obstruct traffic if you rode it during traffic, as the lanes are barely a car wide and there is no shoulder.
Thanks for satisfying my curiosity as to the infamous ravine.
Well, Sheridan is a very old road, as old as any in the area. Planning was of a different sort 100 years ago. Nobody is likely to widen the road in the North Shore suburbs, that money thing again. Actually, one would not necessarily block traffic. Same thing on Ridge: the lanes are 9 feet there, and most cars are 1.8 m (6 ft) wide, and less for subcompacts - not a good situation, but lane blockage is not guaranteed. (for my job I had to contact the Evanston city engineer and find out some road dimensions) There aren't any driveways in the ravine. Granted, Green Bay is an available alternative. I think bike paths have been set up as well, since I left.
There are clearly safety issues, and I think I alluded to them. Fact remains, that a skilled cyclist can negotiate that road without crash numerous times, if he is careful and sensible. I did that on a near-daily basis one summer. I assume that since I left Chicago, in 1981, there have been not-so-smart cyclists there either causing backups or getting injured.
Same for Ridge, Howard to past Church. I used to ride that when I was in 8th grade - foolish, but kids are immortal, right? That was my route from my house to my favorite hobby shop on Davis Street (gone now). Never hit. Same for Ridge in Chicago, Ashland to Broadway.