City of Chicago to install concrete curbs to protect all bike lanes by end of next year

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Department of Transportation is making a big step to protect those traveling the city on two wheels.

A new series of concrete curbs is about to be installed - protecting designated bike lanes.

The first will be installed this week on Kinzie Street between Milwaukee Avenue and Wells Street.

By the end of this year, Chicago expects to add 25 miles of concrete-protected bike lanes. In addition to Kinzie Street, the following stretches of city streets will also receive concrete barrier curbs this year:

• Lake Street between Pulaski Road and Damen Avenue;

• Logan Boulevard between Rockwell Street and Diversey Parkway;

• Milwaukee Avenue between Addison Street and Irving Park Road, Chicago Avenue and Division Street, and Kinzie and Ohio streets;

• Independence Boulevard between Douglas Boulevard and Harrison Street;

• Douglas Boulevard between Independence Boulevard and Sacramento Drive;

• 119th Street between Ashland Avenue and Halsted Street/Major Taylor Trail.

All existing lanes - many of which are now protected only by painted lines or plastic poles - will have barriers by the end of 2023.

"Right now, those protective poles don't protect cyclists from vehicles, and as you can see in many of the bike lanes, many of them have been knocked down because cars can drive over them," said Amy Rynell, executive director of the Active Transportation Alliance. "So this is a leap forward for safety."

The city calls it the biggest expansion and upgrade of low-stress bike routes in city history. It is being paid for by investment's in the city's Chicago Works capital plan.

"Public safety is not only about our emergency response departments, it's also about creating infrastructure that makes the public way safer for all," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a news release. "By leveraging funds from the Chicago Works Capital Plan, we are excited to kick off the largest bike lane upgrade the city has ever undertaken. I look forward to working with the Chicago Department of Transportation and Commissioner (Gia) Biagi on this project and the many more to come."