Elgin okays bike plan!

Image by Thomas Hawk.

Click here for the story. Everything about the bike plan sounds great–a grid of bike routes no more than four blocks away from each other, an underpass below Kimball street (yes!) and a few other places, bike racks everywhere, and wayfinding signs to let people know where they’re headed.

The end of the article worries me, however. It sounds like the mayor is not very big on the idea of on-street bike lanes. Usually plans only come into fruition with political will. His worry has to do with liability, aka, could the City of Elgin get in trouble if someone on a bike gets hurt while riding in a designated bike lane. The answer is sort of yes. Illinois is the only state that has a liability issue because of the landmark Boub v. Wayne case. Click here to read all about it.

The thing is, on-street bike lanes are safer and more appropriate than trails and sidepaths in a lot of places. Trying to keep bicycles off of roads out of liability worries could actually have the unintended effect of causing more crashes. Sidepaths are really only appropriate on high-speed roads with few driveways and intersections. Those who don’t know much about bicycling might think bicyclists should usually ride on the sidewalk. Nope! That puts pedestrians in danger and makes it more likely cyclists will get hit by cars at driveways and intersections. This page has a compilation of studies comparing the danger level of bicycling in different places (sidewalk, on-road, trail, etc.).

Tags: , bicycle, bicycle planning, bicycling, bike plan, Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, Elgin, mayor, Trans Systems
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