Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Gabe Klein

Divvy Grows to 117 Stations, Launches Corporate Memberships

By John Greenfield | Aug 1, 2013 | 27 Comments

Rahm Emanuel celebrated the one-month anniversary of the Divvy bike-share system at a ribbon cutting this morning for a new docking station at Fosco Park Community Center, 1312 South Racine. The mayor announced that with 117 stations scheduled to be online by the end of the day, Divvy will become the fourth-largest public bike system […]

Three Miles of Milwaukee Will Be Open for Car-Free Play This September

By John Greenfield | Jul 26, 2013 | 8 Comments

Although Chicago was one of the first U.S. cities to consider staging a ciclovía, a Latin-American-style event that creates temporary car-free street space in order to encourage healthy recreation, community interaction and commerce, we’re currently way behind peer cities. New York, Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco are each hosting several ciclovía events this […]

Rack ‘Em Up: Chicago to Reach 25 On-Street Bike Corrals This Summer

By John Greenfield | Jul 5, 2013 | 16 Comments

It was a sign of the times when the Chicago Department of Transportation celebrated the city’s 13th on-street bike parking corral this morning at the Cheetah Gym, 5248 North Clark in Andersonville. Nine years ago, when I worked as CDOT’s bike parking manager, I put plenty of blood, sweat and tears into trying to get […]

Downtown Median Becomes Chicago’s First People Plaza

By Steven Vance | Jun 25, 2013 | 9 Comments

The Gateway, Chicago’s first “People Plaza” seating area, recently opened at what Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein described as an “under-acknowledged public space” in the median of State Street between Wacker Drive and Lake Street. The installation is funded by the Chicago Loop Alliance, one of the downtown chambers of commerce, via a Special Service Area, […]

Marshall Bike Lanes Are Getting Correct Signs Seven Months After Installation

By Steven Vance | Jun 18, 2013 | 4 Comments

In November, Chicago Department of Transportation crews installed bike lanes on Marshall Boulevard from Sacramento Drive in Douglas Park to 24th Boulevard in Little Village, near Maria Saucedo Scholastic Academy. On most of this stretch the lanes are protected by parked cars on the west side of the street; to make room for the protected […]

Emanuel Touts Cycling’s Potential to Improve the City at Bike to Work Rally

By John Greenfield | Jun 14, 2013 | 16 Comments

The annual Bike to Work Rally serves as a state of the union for Chicago cycling, and this year there’s a lot of news to report, with the impending launch of the Divvy bike-share system, completion of the Milwaukee protected lanes, and financing secured for the Chicago Riverwalk. This was the first time Mayor Rahm […]

X Marks the Spot: A Pedestrian Scramble Debuts at State and Jackson

By John Greenfield | May 31, 2013 | 45 Comments

When I visited Tokyo a few years ago, one my favorite aspects of the city was the “pedestrian scramble” intersections I encountered in the bustling Shinjuku and Shibuya neighborhoods. When the all-way walk signals activated, it was a thrill to see all motorized traffic come to a halt while what seemed like thousands of peds […]

Hilkevitch Plays Dumb With an Anti-Divvy “Exposé”

By John Greenfield | May 30, 2013 | 34 Comments

I’ve long considered the Chicago Tribune’s Jon Hilkevitch to be one of Chicago’s best transportation writers. He works fast, gets his numbers straight and often gets the scoop on important stories, usually writing from a pro-walking, biking and transit perspective. For example, I always enjoy re-reading a brilliant article he wrote back in 2005, skewering […]

CDOT Unveils Bold Vision for Milwaukee Bike Lanes; Drivers Grouse

By John Greenfield | May 1, 2013 | 40 Comments

At last night’s community meeting at Intuit arts center, the Chicago Department of Transportation discussed its vision for innovative bike lanes on Milwaukee between Kinzie and Elston. The plan, which is actually much more ambitious than what was outlined on the CDOT website prior to the meeting, involves removing about half of the car-parking spaces […]

Chicago Gets Ready to “Divvy” Up the Rewards of Large-Scale Bike-Share

By John Greenfield | Apr 25, 2013 | 37 Comments

When I interviewed Transportation Commissioner Gabe Klein at the June 2012 Bike to Work Rally, shortly after it was announced that bike-share would probably not launch that year, he promised, “We’ll be launching bike-share in the next six to twelve months.” It now appears that the Chicago Department of Transportation and Alta Bike Share, the […]

Elevating the Conversation: Raised Bike Lanes Are Coming to Chicago

By John Greenfield | Apr 8, 2013 | 28 Comments

[This piece also appears in Checkerboard City, John’s weekly transportation column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.] I’m a fan of the city’s efforts to get a total of 100 miles of protected bike lanes (which put a physical barrier between cyclists and moving traffic) and buffered bike lanes (conventional bike […]

LaHood Says Chicago Riverwalk Financing Is “A Done Deal”

By John Greenfield | Mar 28, 2013 | 2 Comments

At a waterside press conference this afternoon with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, outgoing U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood promised that the roughly $100 million federal loan that will bankroll the Chicago Riverwalk will definitely be finalized by June. Earlier this winter the Chicago Department of Transportation sent LaHood’s agency a letter of interest for a loan […]

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