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We need SAFE Roadways
for all users
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| Please consider pedestrians when shoveling snow so they may have a clear route away from the street. |
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TOP TEN IDEAS for safer roadways for bicycle riders and all the other users.
Here are 10 good and easy to understand safety ideas for both bicycle riders and drivers of motor vehicles to read and remember. Please pass it on and consider posting this info everywhere. Click here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-x-c-cycling-safety--0818-20100816,0,4614979.story
As the vacation season ends and back to school season begins it is important to be thinking about the new traffic patterns and increase of roadway users. Thank you to the Chicago Tribune for running this list of the top ten most important safety ideas.
Please note with fewer designated bike lanes, sidewalks and/or even crosswalks in the burbs these safety ideas are even more important to use on the wider and faster roadways outside of the Chicago city limits.
Get more information on safe roadways at website www.saferoadways.net
Here are the ideas pulled from the news article linked above...
Also, always assume drivers can't see you. bicyclesafe.com identifies 10 situations cyclist should avert:
The right cross
This is the most common way to get hit: A car is pulling out of a side street or driveway on the right, into your path. Alert drivers by using a headlight and a horn, by slowing down, especially at night, making eye contact with the driver, or riding farther left. If you're riding as far right as possible to stay out of the way of drivers behind you, you are more difficult to see for those on the right.
The door prize
It is common for bikers to run into a car door that unexpectedly opens in their path. The farther left you are in your lane, the better chance you have of averting this kind of collision.
The crosswalk slam
Drivers aren't expecting bikes in the crosswalk, and it's often difficult for them to see when turning. Use a headlight, slow down, or avoid the sidewalk. It's dangerous for pedestrians, and it's illegal in many cities to bike on sidewalks.
The wrong-way wreck
If you're driving against traffic, drivers aren't expecting you, and when they are turning right, they often aren't checking for someone coming at them. Ride with traffic, and yield to cars when entering traffic.
Red light danger
When stopped at a light, never sit to the right of a car, because the driver probably won't see you and could turn right into you when the light turns green (never count on drivers using their turn signals either). To make sure you are visible, sit in the middle of the lane, directly behind or in front of other cars waiting at the light. Never pass a car on the right.
The right hook
A car passes you and then tries to make a right turn, cutting you off. Don't ride on the sidewalk. Stay farther to the left in the driving lane — again, this makes you more visible to drivers, and harder for them to go around you or turn into you. Get a handlebar mirror or helmet mirror and check it carefully before entering an intersection.
The right hook, part 2
You're passing a slow-moving car on the right, and the driver turns right. Never pass on the right. When passing cyclists, announce yourself, "On your left."
The left cross
A car coming toward you turns left into your path. Cyclists should slow down in intersections and make themselves visible by using headlights and wearing bright clothing, even during the day. Reflective leg bands are easy to wear and are inexpensive. Also, don't speed through an intersection during a yellow light. Be aware of cars and try to make eye contact with drivers to ensure they are aware of you. If you can't make eye contact, shout if necessary.
The rear end
You move to the left to go around something in the road and you get hit from behind. Always look behind you or in your mirror before moving left. Don't ride in the parking lane and merge back into the driving lane where there are cars. Make sure you signal before making any lane changes or big moves. Try to be predicable to other drivers — don't make sudden moves.
The rear end, part 2
A car runs into you from behind. Not a very common collision but difficult to prevent, because cyclists often aren't looking behind them. Use a rear flashing red light on your bike. It is essential to have a rear light at night. Get a $20 to $30 red light at any bike shop. They usually use two AA or AAA batteries and last 100 to 200 hours.
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You are encouraged to pass along this information and post it everywhere.
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Pedestrian from Glen Ellyn hit by truck
on North Ave. in Glendale Heights
and is now in critical condition.
Here is the news article: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20101110/news/711119895/
Pedestrians should but don't have to wear reflective clothing. We need crosswalks. Without crosswalks people try to cross where ever they can which makes the roads more dangerous for everyone. At Bloomingdale Rd. sidewalks lead up to North Ave but there are no crosswalks. People have to walk or ride a bicycle when they cannot afford a car or second vehicle to get to work, buy groceries at Valle Produce or pickup prescriptions at CVS. With multiple turn lanes North Ave is now expanded up to 9 lanes wide and there are coordinated turn sequencing lights which endangers pedestrians and bicycle riders every day.
Contact your local officials and county board members asking them to get crosswalks added to the intersection at Bloomingdale Rd and North Ave. Many more intersections east and west of Glendale Heights need crosswalks along North Ave too. Click here to get the names and contact info. for all your elected representatives at the website for the IL Board of Elections: http://www.elections.state.il.us/DLS/Pages/DLSAddressCrit.asp
We (bicyclists and pedestrians including students, senior citizens and shoppers) need safe access with a minimum of pedestrian actuated crosswalk signals that stop traffic and allow for safe crossings on crosswalks painted on the pavement at the major intersections on North Ave. The IL Department of Transportation has told us that there needs to be sidewalks up to the Rte 64/North Ave. curbs before they consider marked crossings. We need the local townships, counties and villages to add the necessary sidewalks at intersections on Rte 64/North Ave. and in all future roadway expansions to allow for marked crossings for bicycle riders and pedestrians. And please help us by asking the counties, local villages and townships to add sidewalks up to the crossings at North Ave so IDOT can reinstall crosswalks and pedestrian actuated Walk/Don’t Walk signals.
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And send an email to: SafeRoadways@aol.com for more information
SAFE Roadways is an all volunteer group working to make the roadways safer for all users!
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Bureaucrats can be bad and
IDOT bureaucrats can be really bad
here's how...
Here ya' go - IDOT - the IL Dept of Transportation bureaucrats win and the region loses an important link in the transportation system. IDOT will not accommodate a request by North Aurora, IL to make a road crossing for a trail. Remember any bicycle riders can make the roads safer by using a trail and are not behind a steering wheel on the roads at that time but nooooooooooooo IDOT says no. Read here: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=334732&src=2
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PEDESTRIANs AND BICYCLISTS ON or ALONG OUR ROADWAYS
NEED TO BE ACCOMODATED FOR A SAFER
AND IMPROVED ENVIROMENT.
Walking is our most basic form of transportation. Every trip we make, even by car, we begin and end as pedestrians. For mass transit to be effective, passengers must be able to walk between transit stops and multiple destinations of interest. Many people do not have access to automobiles or even bicycles, and must walk to reach important destinations. Walking can also be a pleasant way to exercise, relax, and socially interact with others in the community. The safety and convenience of pedestrian travel is an important factor in our quality of life.
Accessible Routes
Human beings have been building and walking upon roadways for over six thousand years. The ancient Romans were prolific road builders, spanning much of Europe with a network of highways paved with stone. In urban areas congested with animals and wagons, the Romans and other early road builders added sidewalks to improve conditions for walking. Extra-wide sidewalks were built where pedestrian use was heavy. Outside urban areas, traffic on the highways was light enough to walk on the roadway surface, occasionally stepping sideways to allow large animal traffic to pass.
Today motor vehicles have replaced horses and wagons in most of the world. Motor vehicles are more abundant and faster than horses were, creating special challenges for pedestrians. Now more than ever, the importance of sidewalks is a function of the speed and volume of vehicular traffic on the road. As always, the width required of a sidewalk is determined by the number of pedestrians. In order to ensure that sidewalks accommodate wheelchair users, minimum dimensions and maximum slopes for new and improved sidewalks are specified in standards created under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Bicyclists are drivers of vehicles; every street is a bicycle facility. This makes it possible for bicyclists to reach every destination served by public roads. Bicyclists enjoy this ability to ride to work, on errands, and for recreation. Traffic law in every state assigns bicycle operators all of the rights and duties of drivers of vehicles on roads. Scientific analysis of bicycling practice in the United States shows that bicyclists who behave as drivers of street vehicles and follow the Rules of the Road enjoy travel that is much safer and much more convenient than those who do not.
Unfortunately, common attitudes about bicycle operation are based on taboo and prejudice rather than science and law. As a result, citizens on bicycles have often been treated as inferior road users or as pedestrians-on-wheels and are systematically discouraged from traveling on important roads to important destinations. The effectiveness of lawful bicycle driving for traffic negotiation has been ignored by much of the public. Even worse, many bicyclists have been encouraged by popular culture to operate in a very dangerous manner when in traffic. Bicycles have not been considered as design vehicles by default during the design of important roads, often causing increased friction between bicycle and motor traffic, increased harassment of bicyclists by motorists and police, and inconvenience for cyclists at demand-actuated traffic signals that do not detect bicycles.
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The above info. is only a small part of the data from website: http://www.humantransport.org/universalaccess/page4.html please check it out for more ideas and excellent research on safe roadways.
Learn more about how you can help improve the quality of your life, your community and the environment with the information and web sites linked below.
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Pedestrian danger zones from the Chicago Tribune, March 2009
See the news article here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-pedestrian-danger-27mar27,0,2322864,print.story
Pedestrian crashes are 12% of all road accident fatalities in the United States!
In Illinois 6,000 people were hit on the roads which resulted in 170 deaths and more than 1,000 serious injuries according to the most recent data using accident reports from 2007 from the IL Department of Transportation.
It should be noted that in Illinois it is required that drivers yield and stop, if necessary for pedestrians in crosswalks. We need these laws enforced and more crosswalks so non-motorized travel is safer along our increasingly busy roads. See more info and how to contact your elected officials on this webpage below.
For the actual report detailing all the pedestrians killed by town, city and village in IL click here: http://www.dot.il.gov/trafficsafety/City%20Summaries/Year%202007/
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| April 8th is the "official start walking day" but why not start now? Click on image to learn more. |
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| Never say never. It is better to have crosswalks designed in when a road is built or expanded but crosswalks can be retrofitted onto an intersection to make it safer for everyone. Double click on the statement to learn how communities have made their roadways safer for all users. |
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| For an excellent website on improving walking (and bicycling) safety in your community click on the photo. |
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Pedestrian deaths in Chicago are up despite safety measures
Agency looking into reasons for 56 fatalities in 2008
By Tracy Swartz | RedEye & Chicago Tribune February 17, 2009
Pedestrian deaths are on the rise in Chicago, despite increased safety measures such as red-light cameras, countdown signals and crosswalk awareness initiatives.
Fifty-six pedestrian fatalities were logged last year—up from 49 deaths in 2007 and 48 deaths in 2006. Chicago Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Steele said the agency is reviewing the reasons behind the uptick but said in certain cases, problems with pavement markings, faulty signage and construction projects may be to blame.
Steele also pointed to an increase in pedestrians in Chicago—named the country's fourth most walkable large city in 2008 by Walk Score. Still, Steele said, "One fatality is one too many. Fifty-odd pedestrian fatalities is close to an average of one a week, and that's far too many. We're committed to this, and the most difficult part of this is changing driver behavior."
A RedEye analysis of pedestrian fatality data provided by the Illinois Department of Transportation revealed deaths occurred across the city, but there were clusters of fatal crashes at intersections along Lake Shore Drive, Stony Island Avenue, Madison Street and Ashland Avenue. RedEye found problems persist at intersections that employ even the costliest safeguards.
One of these hot spots is the intersection of Chicago and Cicero Avenues. Children are constantly crossing the thoroughfare, which is near an elementary school. A nearby health clinic run by Cook County draws a fair amount of foot and motorist traffic to the area. Two major CTA routes, the No. 66-Chicago Avenue bus and the No. 54-Cicero Avenue bus, also cross paths there.
When Stormi Davis crosses the intersection, she doesn't walk—she jogs.
"You're taking a chance with that light," said Davis, 21, who lives in Austin. "It's just hectic traffic. Like being on the expressway."But motorists shouldn't shoulder all the blame, said Jansen "John" Daoud, who runs a convenience store that faces the Chicago-Cicero intersection. "Kids and adults cross ... illegally," said Daoud of Skokie. "Then cars come too fast." Daoud says he sees two to three accidents there a week, including some that involve pedestrians.
Last year, there were 29 calls to 311 about the Chicago-Cicero intersection, said Jennifer Martinez, spokeswoman for the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. Residents phoned about potholes, street marking paint requests, malfunctioning traffic and street lights and traffic issues.
The city tried to address some traffic issues by installing a red-light camera there in 2007. Two pedestrians died at or near that intersection in separate cases in 2008. In October, a motorist gunned the engine to hit a pedestrian, Steele said, citing police reports that suggested the death may have been a homicide. In June, a child was hit by a car near the intersection.
After a pedestrian death, CDOT goes to the crash site and tries to determine what caused the fatality, Steele said. In some cases, CDOT has replaced a traffic signal with a signal that has a timed countdown for pedestrians, repainted crosswalks so the lines were more visible and added signs.
On residential streets, the department plans to employ more traffic-calming measures, including traffic circles in the center of intersections, Steele said.
On busier thoroughfares, the department is looking into implementing small "pedestrian refuge islands" in the medians of roadways. Pedestrians who can't cross all the way before a light changes would be able to wait on one of these islands—which can be raised concrete or street-level partitions—until they get the right of way, Steele said. But improving crosswalks for pedestrians doesn't come cheap.
•A red-light camera costs $24,500. The city's new contract with Redflex called for more installations, which lowered the unit price of the camera from $100,000, Martinez said.
There are 133 red-light cameras across Chicago, and the city plans to install about 50 more this year, Martinez said.
"We do feel like it's creating safer intersections," she said. "We've seen a 59 percent average reduction in red-light running. That means safer motorists and safer residents."
•New signs cost $60 to $75 to manufacture and install, Steele said, and most installations require multiple signs.
•A $27,000 grant from IDOT paid for crosswalk awareness initiatives at two intersections on the Northwest Side last year. Chicago police pulled over and warned 179 motorists for failing to yield to undercover officers posing as pedestrians at the intersections of Belmont and Lawndale Avenues and Milwaukee and Lawndale Avenues.
Police Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti said 48 similar initiatives are planned for this year, but she declined to say where and when they will occur.
•Repainting a crosswalk for a 40-foot-wide street (one lane in each direction, plus parking lanes) costs $150 to $525 per crosswalk and $600 to $2,100 per intersection, Steele said. Wider arterial streets would cost more to repaint, Steele said.
The city restriped the crosswalks at Roosevelt Road and State Street in 2008, Steele said. The South Loop intersection is a hotbed for traffic. The Roosevelt train station for the CTA's Red, Green and Orange Lines is near the intersection.
The intersection is set this month to get a new signal-timing device that increases the duration of the flashing "don't walk" sign, he said. There's also a red-light camera there, but that doesn't seem to slow cars down, said Mare Deros, 24, of Berwyn, who crosses the intersection by foot three or four times a week — and drives through even more frequently—to go to work. "That doesn't help at all," Deros said. tswartz@tribune.com _____________________________________________
Over 5,000 pedestrians are killed in the U.S. every year.
We need safer roadways for all users!
Old narrower roads offered easier crossings even without crosswalks. With wider intersections and new computer controlled signals traffic is moving at all times.
We need sidewalks and crosswalks to help students, shoppers and senior citizens get safely to school, stores and homes.
Contact your elected officials at the local, county, state and federal levels and ask them to make safe roadways for all users including pedestrians and bicycle riders a higher priority. Get their contact by calling the IL Board of Elecetions at 312-814-6440 or here: http://www.elections.state.il.us/DistrictLocator/SelectSearchType.aspx
WE NEED SAFE ROADS and roadway expansions for all users including pedestrians and bicyclists!
Road safety and safe road designs affect everyone for example:
IF THE CURRENT EXPANSION OF BUTTERFIELD ROAD in DuPage County
IS ALLOWED USING THE CURRENT NO CROSSWALK DESIGN:
• Students at Wheaton/Warrenville High School will no longer be able to safely cross
Butterfield Rd without driving across it.
• Users of the Danada, Herrick Lake, Warrenville Grove, Big Woods and Blackwell
Forest Preserves will no longer be able to cross Butterfield Rd without driving across it.
• Golfers at Arrowhead golf course will no longer be able to safely cross Butterfield Rd without driving across it.
The expansion of Butterfield Rd in DuPage County is about to begin. We need the cities of Warrenville and Wheaton
along with our DuPage County and IL representatives to help us get a safe roadway expansion for everyone including pedestrians, local shoppers, seniors, students, bicyclists and joggers.
For more information go to web site: http://SafeRoadways.net
& Register to VOTE http://www.elections.state.il.us/VotingInformation/Register.aspx
ADDITIONAL web sites for information about roads, trails and bicycles:
http://bikelib.org/
http://www.activetrans.org/
http://www.friendsofthegreatwesterntrails.com
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Pedestrians are in danger in the suburban areas too!
We need complete & safe streets for all users!
As noted by the League of IL Bicyclists and many other concerned groups and individuals in the fully-developed suburban areas we need safe and complete streets for all users. There are too many bad examples with lots of destinations along many state routes see the photos and descriptions at this website: http://www.bikelib.org/completestreets/sb508mtg1005.pdf
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See the link directly below for a bad example of the impact from expanding roads without considering all users.
| For a specific and good example of what can be done to improve roadway safety see the news story about Elburn, IL towards the bottom of this web page.
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RIDES OF SILENCE
Every May bicyclists ride to honor bicyclists that have died.
In 2009 the rides will take place on May 20, at 7:00 PM, the Ride of Silence will begin in North America and roll across the globe.
Chicago
Distance 10 miles
The Chicago Ride Of Silence will gather at the Eternal Flame in Daley Plaza, Washington at Dearborn, at 6:45 PM and depart at 7 PM. The 10-mile route is set to pass the sites of crash
victims. Many of the sites are marked by Ghost Bikes, which are powerful memorials to fallen cyclists created by painting a bicycle white and placing it at or near the site of the cyclist’s death. Check our web site for details: www.rideofsilence.org/chicago/
Joliet
Distance 10 miles
In Memory of Jan Briese, killed on May 26, 2005, while leading her Thursday morning Joliet Bicycle Club ride as she had for more than 12 years. Starting at the Joliet Memorial Stadium, 3000 W. Jefferson Street (Rt. 52). Line up at 6:45 P.M. Ride rolls promptly at 7 P.M. For information contact Sara Jo Briese: sjbriese@yahoo.com
FOR MORE INFORMATION and additional Rides of Silence in Arlington Heights, Evanston, Downers Grove and other locations go to website: http://www.rideofsilence.org/locations-domestic.php?s=IL#IL and for year around information go to website: http://www.rideofsilence.org/main.php
PLEASE PASS ALONG THIS NEWS and the above website.
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In 2008 a very experienced bicycle rider was killed in unincorporated DuPage County at a known dangeorous trail crossing that has not yet been repaired. |
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Walking takes a back seat
Air suffers as vehicles further supplant feet
By Jon Hilkevitch March 03, 2008 Chicago TRIBUNE
Pupils attending Monee Elementary School line up in their neighborhood forschool buses each weekday morning, even though many live only a couple ofblocks from the school built on the outskirts of the Will County village.
The absence of sidewalks, crosswalks, proper school zone signs and road markings on the streets surrounding the school and nearby Country Meadows subdivision in Monee means it’s simply unsafe for the kindergartners through5th graders to walk or bicycle to classes.
So the children board the buses, ride for a few minutes and get off the bus. They miss out on the health benefits of walking or biking to school, and the diesel-powered buses belch pollutants into the “country air” that presumably was among the quality-of-life factors that attracted families to the once rural community.
It’s no better in Aurora, where city building inspector Allen LaFan sayshe can stand at the bus stop near his house and watch his child get on and off the school bus, because the entire trip amounts to crossing a busy intersection that is not pedestrian-friendly.
“I can wave to the school,” LaFan said.
The situation represents an unending cycle. More children are beingtransported to school on buses or in private cars because the streets are not safe. But that leads to more vehicles and more traffic, increasing the potential danger to all pedestrians.
The problem is also a microcosm of the transportation crisis choking the nation. The number of miles traveled by gasoline-powered vehicles increases every year, and trips by cars and sport-utility vehicles far outstrip trips on mass transit.
The state of Illinois has hardly rushed to address the problem. Gov. RodBlagojevich and lawmakers failed to act for almost a year on a new transit funding formula that was finally approved in January to help the ChicagoTransit Authority, Metra and Pace. Meanwhile, there is no agreement in sight on a state capital spending plan to modernize rickety transit infrastructure.
Officials at schools statewide expected about $8 million to be awarded last fall to improve traffic safety around schools so children could walk or bicycle to school, but the Illinois Department of Transportation has not released the federal funds, authorities said.
The money is part of a total of $23 million the federal government is making available to Illinois schools over three years under the Safe Routes to School program.
Crete-Monee Unit School District 201 applied for a $1.2 million federal grant last year to help build the necessary street infrastructure along Will Center Road and Court Street near Monee Elementary School.
“The only sidewalk in the area goes from the school to the end of the school property. The community and the school district are very frustrated that there doesn’t seem to be any movement from IDOT, and the money is still sitting on somebody’s desk,” said Ron Falbe, grants administrator forDistrict 201.
IDOT officials concede that the state has lagged in distributing the money,but they defend the delay and insist it has nothing to do with temporarilyshoring up the state’s budget shortfall.
“We have received 298 applications for a total of $77.7 million worth of projects that have been proposed,” said IDOT spokesman Mike Claffey. “It is not easy to pick and choose, but we hope to make announcements in the near future and get the money out.”
Meanwhile, walking, in which only natural gases are released into the atmosphere, is declining in the U.S. – a reality driven home by the epidemicof obesity among American children and teenagers.
The recent popularity of hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles, while lesspolluting than cars with traditional internal combustion engines, does notsolve the problem, environmental experts say.
“It’s not what car you drive, but how you do not drive a car,” said PeterHaas, a researcher with the non-profit Center for Neighborhood Technology, ata conference titled Modeshift in Chicago last week aimed at addressing climate change by encouraging people to change their transportation patterns.
A number of strategies discussed at the conference focused on using marketing to promote change, rather than shaming or scaring people about global warming. Many of the ideas discussed were previously presented at forums around the country and the world, including congestion-pricing of highways, downtowns and parking garages to limit auto traffic during peak travel periods.
The key difference at this conference was an urgent emphasis to prompt elected officials and policymakers to begin implementing changes immediately.
“I’m getting really tired of talking about these problems. Low-costsolutions have to be looked at as a priority. We have to look at doing one ortwo things right now, like experimenting with bus rapid transit [on abuses-only lane] down Western Avenue or Ashland Avenue,” said Rob Sadowsky,executive director of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation.
“If bus ridership grows because of that, then you can show that increased transit investment can lead to light rail or other transit options,” Sadowskysaid.
The number of vehicle miles traveled in the U.S. is doubling every generation, according to the Federal Highway Administration.
Vehicle miles totaled about 1.1 trillion in 1970, rising to more than 3 trillion miles in 2006, according to the highway agency. That’s a 172 percentincrease.
Aggregate emissions associated with vehicles have decreased significantly,down 54 percent since 1970, as a result of stricter engine and fuel standards,according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But the growth invehicle miles traveled is limiting the reductions in vehicle emissions,officials said.
The constant increase in mileage means that many areas of the U.S. that are not meeting federal air-quality standards, including the Chicago region, arelosing the war against premature death, cancer, developmental disabilities inchildren and respiratory ailments, Frank Acevedo, a specialist with the U.S.EPA’s Midwest office in Chicago, told the audience at the Modeshiftconference, presented by the EPA and the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation.
Apart from mega-projects that require millions in funding and years ofplanning, Acevedo encouraged automobile drivers to use public transportationwhen possible, try carpooling and plan errands that can be accomplished by bicycling or walking.
The numbers tell the story and the choice is ours: Transportation accounts for two-thirds of all the oil consumed in the U.S. and one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EPA. Drivers carrying no passengers account for 78 percent of all trips to and from work, according to 2000 U.S.census data.
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Here is the above news article online: http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/mar/03/health/chi-gettingaround_03mar03
Contact Getting Around with your concerns and ideas about our roadways at jhilkevitch@tribune.com or c/o the ChicagoTribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.
Read recent columns at http://www.chicagotribune.com/gettingaround
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| Celebrate Earth Day everyday. Determine your carbon footprint and what you can do to reduce your impact on the environment. |
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| The number of vehicle miles traveled in the U.S. is doubling every generation, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Click on image for more info on what to do to help improve our roadways and quality of life. |
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| Who uses CEN? People just like you. CEN is a resource for anyone interested in nature or conservation-related activities in northeastern Illinois and surrounding areas. CEN organizations are involved in important work, including habitat restoration; wetland, prairie, and watershed projects; urban gardening; energy conservation; composting, wildlife conservation; and recycling. |
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Safety
The promotion of bicycling and walking to school provides an opportunity to address safety. Every year, about 25,000 child pedestrians are injured by motor vehicles. Reducing the risk of injury includes teaching children pedestrian and bicycle skills. It also means reminding drivers to watch for others using the road. Hazardous conditions along routes to school need to be identified and fixed.
Some of the best ways to increase the safety of a child's walk or bike to school are to:
- provide safe, well-maintained walkways separate from vehicles;
- teach children to cross streets at marked crossings, and provide ample, well-designed, accessible, and when necessary monitored crosswalks;
- slow traffic in neighborhoods and near schools.
The "Four E's"
Consider the range of tools available to address safety.
- Education.
- Programs used to teach children safe walking behaviors, such as proper crossing at crosswalks, and adults safe driving behaviors.
- Encouragement.
- Any efforts to encourage safe, healthy, regular walking, such as special events, announcements, public relations, and incentive programs.
- Enforcement.
- Efforts by law enforcement to aggressively enforce posted speeds and traffic laws to create safer driving habits; often used in neighborhoods and near schools.
- Engineering.
- The design and building of facilities – roadways, sidewalks, lighting, signs – to enhance the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. Includes, for example, traffic calming methods.
Parents and other adults worry about children encountering bullies or strangers on the way to school. There may be a fear of kidnapping or assault. While the actual occurrences are extremely rare, consideration should be taken to address parent fears and create a plan to reduce risk. Parent accompaniment of children on the walk to school is one way to solve this concern. Some communities use walking school buses as a way to have an adult presence on the street.
The promotion of safe walking and biking to school addresses the risks described here. When there are more adults and children walking and biking on the road, the community becomes accustomed to their presence.
For more information go to website: http://www.walktoschool-usa.org/about/index.cfm
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| Excellent background info about what to do and where to do it to help our roads, environment and quality of life by 2040. |
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| A tremendous resource for trail users and supporters! Click on photo for more info at greenways.us |
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| Click on logo to learn how to improve the air quality and quality of life. |
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What is the real solution to getting our roads designed to safely accomodate all users?
The program which has now been adopted as law in IL is called "Complete Streets." Click here for info. http://completestreets.org.
Also check out websites: http://www.bikelib.org/completestreets/sb508mtg1005.pdf
http://www.bikelib.org/political_state/bdemanualreview.pdf
for additional issues.
IL was one of the first states to adopt the "complete streets" program. Now we need your involvement to get our roads to be safely designed for all users including pedestrians and bicycle riders. The League of IL Bicyclists keeps a current list of pending construction projects for you to make a comment on, go to the website linked above for more info.
Note the current expansion of North Ave was approved before the "complete streets" program was made a law so North Ave through DuPage County and others was allowed to be expanded to several lanes wide at intersections without meeting the requirements of the "complete streets" law. Retrofitted street crossings would still be the answer and something to ask for now.
We now need to ask our FEDERAL legislators (Congressman and two Senators) to support and help pass a "complete streets" program for roads built or expanded using federal monies. Contact them now because discussions are underway considering such a program.
Your federal legislators can be found by calling the IL Board of Elections at
312-814-6440 or by going to webpage: http://www.elections.state.il.us/DLS/Pages/DLSAddressCrit.asp
Please pass along this news.
For additional information about the "complete streets" program please contact the LIB at email address: ed@bikelib.org
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| A website for everyone especially bicycle riders |
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| Let's make every day a safe day to walk to school, shop and home! |
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| Click on bike for links to over 100 clubs |
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| Learn more about national programs to help make the roads safer for all users. |
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| The American Hiking Society works to improve and protect foot trails. Click on the logo for more info. |
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| Started in 1892 and more important today. Click on logo to learn more. |
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| The League of IL Bicyclists works hard for bicyclists and safe roadways. Click on the logo to find out more. |
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HERE IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF WHAT CAN BE DONE
TO HELP EVERYONE THAT USES THE ROADS!
Elburn wants to help you bike during commute
By Nancy Gier | Daily Herald Staff Published: 2/18/2009 12:02 AM
The Elburn village board voted to approve a "Bike to Metra" project the village will conduct with the League of Illinois Bicyclists. The project, which includes developing a brochure, will cost about $4,000, which will be reimbursable through a grant. The action came at Tuesday's village board meeting. "The idea is to encourage people to bicycle as part of their commute," Jessica Thompson told the board. She is a project planner for the League of Illinois Bicyclists and is working with Elburn Community Development Director Erin Willrett on the project.
The brochure will be based on materials that the League of Illinois Bicyclists completed for the city of Aurora, but it will be tailored to Elburn and will include a map of bicycle routes. Thompson will provide consultation on selecting bicycle routes, and she will subcontract with a graphic artist and printer to develop the brochure. Willrett said the project includes holding a public meeting. There is no date for the meeting, but Willrett also said the brochure could be ready before May. "We added a second bicycle rack (at the Elburn Metra station) in June," Willrett said. She said that each rack can accommodate ten bicycles, but people chain their bicycles at other places also. Willrett estimated that on any day during the warm weather, about 25 people ride their bicycles to the Metra station, which opened in January 2006.
Trustee Gordon Dierschow raised concern about bicyclists on Keslinger Road, which provides the only automobile access to the Metra station. "We will come up with the preferred routes, the safest," Willrett said. "These routes are for experienced adults." "We've had bicycles going down the railroad right of way, and people carrying their bicycles over three railroad tracks," Elburn Police Chief James Linane told the board. "We want to address these safety issues."
Funding for the project will be available from a Peers (public education and enforcement research study) grant of nearly $20,000 that the Elburn Police Department obtained in January from the Illinois Commerce Commission and the Federal Railroad Administration.### End of the article
CONGRATULATIONS to the elected leaders of ELBURN, IL!
Go here http://www.elburn.il.us/ for their official website.
This village on the far western edge (IL Route 47 runs directly through downtown) of the Chicago area has less than 5,000 residents and plenty of room to grow but they are planning ahead. They understand that adopting a non-motorized friendly commuting plan now will help them in the future.
Elburn recently opened their Metra commuter station and now they plan to make it easier for bicycle riders to get to the station. Several bicycles can be parked in the place of one car or truck.
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It may seem like a small step but it really is a great example of how a city/village/town, park district or even township regardless of the size of the population can provide a real quality of life by acting not just talking about it. Elburn is looking forward to safely accommodating all commuters and travelers through their community. And thanks to the League of IL Bicyclists for their tireless and continued efforts to improve road safety for all users.
Hopefully this example will be followed by more communities and townships in the
Chicago metropolitan area.
We need more local officials to plan, accommodate and encourage travel through their
communities by non-motorized commuters. Contact your local (village, city and park district officials), township and county level officials asking them to help everyone commute safely through and around town. Ask your local, township and county elected officials to follow the example of Elburn, IL! Your elected official's contact info can be found by calling the IL Board of Elections at 312-814-6440 or by going to webpage: http://www.elections.state.il.us/DLS/Pages/DLSAddressCrit.asp
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Pedestrian killed on road in Warrenville
By Jake Griffin | Daily Herald Staff Published: 2/21/2008 12:10 AM
A Warrenville woman was struck and killed while trying to cross a busy road on the city's west side Tuesday evening. Linda McGregor, 41, was attempting to cross Batavia Road from the south when she was struck by a westbound car approximately 75 feet east of the Country Ridge Drive intersection, Warrenville police said Wednesday. That intersection leads to a popular shopping center at the northeast corner of Route 59 and Batavia Road. The accident occurred at 6 p.m., police said. McGregor was taken to Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield where she was pronounced dead just before 7 p.m., police said.
The investigation is ongoing and the DuPage County coroner's office slated an autopsy for Wednesday. The results will become part of the investigation of McGregor's death. The driver of the vehicle has not been charged and police don't expect any charges. "There's no indication that it's anything other than an unfortunate accident," Deputy Chief John Naydenoff said. ### End of the article
MORE PEDESTRIANS WILL DIE ON BUTTERFIELD ROAD!
At a time of concern about gas prices and an ongoing effort by many to help the environment and be healthy by walking/bicycling instead of driving we need an increased effort by the local and state government officials to protect us. Unfortunately one pedestrian died in Warrenville this week. But, soon IF BUTTERFIELD Road is widened as currently planned by IDOT to the multilane intersections without crosswalks MORE PEDESTRIANS will be killed when they try to cross several lanes of constantly moving traffic.
We need the local city (Warrenville, Wheaton & Winfield), township (Winfield & Milton) and county (DuPage) authorities to demand safe crosswalks from the IL D.O.T. where ever Butterfield Road is expanded. Remember they say it will be expanded to four lanes BUT the intersections will be several lanes wide with traffic moving at all times UNLESS safe crosswalks are built into the design.
Find your elected local, DuPage County Board and state representatives at this website for the
Illinois Board of Elections website
http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/AddressSearch.aspx or call 312-814-6440 to find the
correct names and contact information for these elected representatives.
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| The Great Western prairie is a special location to get out and walk around to enjoy one of the few well maintained original prairie remnants in DuPage County. Double click on the photo to learn more. |
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| Get out from behind the steering wheel and go for a walk or bicycle ride.
Here are 2 nice locations to head to year round to enjoy nature.
<<<<---- Eastern DuPage County
Western DuPage County---->>>>
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| Another great place to talk a walk and enjoy nature. Double click on photo to get more info about the West Chicago Prairie. |
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| SAFE ROADWAYS is An ALL Volunteer group promoting safe roadways for all users including pedestrians and bicycle riders. |
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