DOWNTOWN — If riding in the protected bike lane along Clybourn Avenue wasn't convenient enough, wait until traffic signals for cyclists are installed, officials said.
The first-ever curbed bike lane on an Illinois state route was built along a stretch of Clybourn Avenue in Old Town this summer. (Chicago's first curbed bike lanes were added in May near Douglas Park.) Work on the $700,000 project is mostly finished, officials with the city and state departments of transportation said at a meeting Wednesday.
But workers still have to install specialty traffic signals for the bike lanes, work the city hopes will be completed by the fall.
Traffic signals will be installed at certain points along the stretch of curbed bike lanes, which run along Clybourn Avenue from Division Street to Halsted Street.
Specifically, the signals will be installed where cars making a right turn will have to cross over the bike lane, said Aren Kriks, project engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation.
For example, cars traveling west on Division Street would have to cross the bike lane to turn right onto Clybourn. To ensure that no cars hit a cyclist while trying to turn right, the signals will be installed to keep bikes out of the intersection, Kriks said.
Cyclists will be able to control the signals by pressing a button that will be accessible from the bike lane, Kriks said.
Similar traffic signals have already been installed on Downtown streets that have bike lanes.
IDOT will also begin this fall a study on the completed lane to see how often it is being used and if it's being used properly, Kriks said.
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