OLD IRVING PARK — Concrete-protected bike lanes are being installed along stretches of Milwaukee Avenue, but the barriers are already showing damage.
Small concrete barriers were installed last week on parts of Milwaukee Avenue starting at Addison Street, a component of the city’s promise to improve infrastructure for bicyclists in an area that has seen two fatal crashes in the past five years.
The barriers, which have so far been installed sporadically from Addison to Kenneth, replace the painted bike lane and flexi posts city crews previously installed along the stretch. The concrete curbs now separate bicyclists from drivers to offer bicyclists more protection. Parking lanes will be situated outside the bike lane.
City crews also repainted street parking lanes and added green paint along the bike lane for greater visibility. The barriers will be installed up to Irving Park Road near Six Corners.
Some of the newly installed barriers, which are about 4 inches high, already had car tire marks and damaged parts Monday.
The barriers should be finished by the end of the year, city officials previously said.
Complicating the work is the construction of Metra’s Grayland station project, which shut down two blocks of Milwaukee Avenue last month. The closure will speed up a massive Metra project that began in October 2021 to upgrade the Grayland station and replace the 122-year-old railroad bridge.
“Concrete curbs will be installed under the viaduct in both directions in coordination with Metra’s work,” said Erica Schroeder, spokesperson for the the city’s Department of Transportation. “During the work period, people biking can use the Kilbourn and Addison detour route.”
The concrete curbs along Milwaukee come after crews wrapped up the installation of the same curbs along Lake Street between Damen Avenue and Pulaski Road and on Kinzie Street between Milwaukee and Wells Street. Tweets from local bike advocates and bicyclists show tire marks and damage on one part of the Kinzie barriers, and a semi-tractor trailer straddling the barriers in another section.
The barriers are part of the city’s plan to improve Milwaukee Avenue, which is used by about 20,000 bicyclists daily although it has long lacked the infrastructure to keep people safe, advocates have said.
While most of Chicago’s cycling community was thrilled with the city’s protected bike lane announcement in the summer, many said they wish officials would go even further to protect them from cars.
Schroeder previously said the pre-cast concrete curbs are faster and easier to install because the pre-cast concrete is poured offsite, and they don’t have to “wait for perfect weather to install them.”
“Whether pre-cast or traditional pour-in-place, the standard for new protected bike lanes in Chicago will be concrete,” Schroeder said.
A speed camera is also coming to the area before the end of the year, though no exact timeline has been announced.