CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Bicycle advocates are raising concerns about plans for new bridges around Goose Island.
The Chicago Department of Transportation said it plans to put up new bridges over Goose Island at Division Street and Chicago Avenue.
That’s part of a plan to rebuild a mile-long section of Division Street adding left turn lanes and new bicycle lanes, concrete on the street, and buffered bike lanes on the bridges.
“The project includes many improvements to enhance safety for people using modes of transportation, including pedestrian refuge islands, traffic signal modernization, wider sidewalks, new bike lanes, improved lighting and more,” CDOT said in a statement.
However, biking advocates say that without concrete barriers on the bridges, safety is still a question. A spokesman for Active Transportation Alliance suggests guardrails as better protection for bikers.
Kyle Lucas, a representative of Better Streets Chicago, said the transition lane from Division Street to Elston Avenue is “unacceptable” because drivers take a “wide, sweeping turn,” instead of a tighter one.
“It honestly feels like deja vu,” Lucas said. “We just had to have some very similar conversations like this around the Chicago and Halsted intersection.”
The construction project is expected to take two years.
The Chicago Sun-Times Wire contributed to this report.
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