CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Vehicles blocking bike lanes on Chicago streets could be immediately towed under an ordinance being introduced in the City Council Wednesday.
This is partly a response to the incident that left a 3-year-old girl dead in the Uptown neighborhood. She was on the back of her mother’s bike and a ComEd truck was blocking the bike lane. The mother swerved and crashed and the child was killed. Four cyclists have been killed by vehicles in the city this year, two of them were children.
Currently, it takes time to get a tow truck to remove a vehicle blocking a bike lane. Alderman Andre Vasquez wants that to happen immediately.
"As someone who learned to ride a bicycle only a year ago at age 42, I have a very visceral appreciation for the anxiety associated with trying to commute on a bike in Chicago,” said Vasquez, who is proposing the ordinance.
“As we see the shift to more sustainable means of transportation, it is our duty as government to create the infrastructure to support the various modes and keep our neighbors safe. Creating safe streets for all is the responsible thing to do, and we must commit to that goal as a city,” Vasquez added.
Another element of the proposed ordinance would be that anyone doing city-sanctioned work that involves blocking bike lanes would be required to post signs warning cyclists the bike lane is closed. There would also be signs warning drivers to yield to cyclists. Violations by drivers would result in fines of $500 to $1,000.
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