UPTOWN — Two new Divvy Bike stations were installed in Uptown on Wednesday as the bike rental program creeps farther and farther north.
The new Uptown stations are located at Wilson Avenue and Broadway and at Argyle Street and Broadway.
Uptown now has nearly a dozen Divvy locations, including outside the Lawrence Red Line stop and at Montrose Harbor, and should eventually have about 20 including pending installations, according to Divvy. The bike rental program launched in June and already has thousands of users. About 400 Divvy stations are expected to eventually be installed across Chicago.
Uptown resident Ricardo Rosero, 61, and a friend were strolling down Broadway on Wednesday when the new station near Argyle piqued their interest and they stopped to take a closer look.
"It's nice. Makes it really easy for people without bikes to go on a nice ride through the park, maybe with the family," Rosero said, adding that he thought $7 for a 24-hour Divvy pass was "a good deal."
He said he was eager to try the bike share program out.
Florida resident Andy Lee, 32, was leaving a business meeting in the Argyle Street area Wednesday when he too stopped to examine the bike share stations.
He said it was a good idea to put the stations so close to the lakefront, and that he could envision visitors to the city, himself included, parking and taking a Divvy bike on a spin through the lakefront bike paths.
"This location is so close to the lake, and [the program] seems great for people," he said.
When Lincoln Square resident Rachel Lynn and her husband moved to Chicago from Rockford they sold their car and bought bikes, a more cost-effective and environmentally friendly way of getting around, Lynn said.
The 28-year-old said the bike share program was "a good thing," and that while she and her husband already had bikes, their friends from out of town would benefit from Divvy.
"We have friends who come and visit who would like to go on bike rides but they can't necessarily bring their bikes, so this is a good alternative," said Lynn, who works in Uptown as an intern at RefugeeOne, an agency in that resettles foreign refugees.
The office of Ald. James Cappleman (46th) hasn't gotten any complaints about Divvy bikes in Uptown. But some of Cappleman's Lakeview constituents were so upset enough about the placement of the bikes outside their condo that they filed a lawsuit last month.
A Divvy location was also installed in Edgewater on Wednesday, outside the Berwyn Red Line station.
