WEST LOOP — Mayor Rahm Emanuel touted a new "bike park" in the West Loop as a way to attract millennials and the tech industry on Monday, but pulled up short of endorsing a new proposal from the Active Transportation Alliance to double the city's network of bike lanes.
Emanuel called the new Bike Park by WeWork "a haven for the tech economy" in the West Loop and said it was helping to make Chicago "not only a bike-friendly city, but a tech-friendly city."
Yet he pulled up short of endorsing a new Active Transportation Alliance report, "Bikeways for All," released Monday, which proposes adding 180 miles of what's called "low-stress bike routes," with at least 100 by 2020.
Instead, Emanuel cited the 103 miles of bike lanes completed last week, and called for an "additional 50 miles of both protected and new bike lanes throughout the City of Chicago and continuing that network."
The alliance likewise touted those 103 miles of bike lanes, saying they were the product of a pledge Emanuel made as a candidate five years ago in response to an alliance proposal, but set a much more ambitious goal for the next five years.
According to the alliance, about a third of city residents now live within a quarter mile of a "low-stress bike route," but its proposed expansion would put 80 percent of Chicagoans within close range of a bike lane.
"Fear of bicycling in traffic is the main obstacle that prevents more Chicagoans from getting on bikes," alliance Executive Director Ron Burke said. "If we create an efficient system of bike routes designed to make average riders feel safe, we’d see a massive surge in the ranks of people biking."
Emanuel, however, fell back on the more humble addition of Bike Park by WeWork, basically an indoor parking garage for bikes, including lockers and showers for riders, located at WeWork's tech incubation offices at 210 N. Green St.
Emanuel pegged the Fulton Market District as "one of the fastest-growing areas of greater Downtown," and said improving bike facilities was contributing to a growing tech industry in the area.
WeWork co-founder Miguel McKelvey agreed, saying, "The neighborhood is already going through incredible transformation."
"A lot of new millennials are moving to the 27th Ward," echoed Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th).
McKelvey said his firm was committed to joining Emanuel in making Chicago "the best biking city in the nation."
"We've come a long way," Emanuel said, pointing to Milwaukee Avenue as "a bike highway."
Yet the alliance insisted the city could do still more.
"Bicycling in Chicago is being transformed into a mainstream mode of transportation, thanks in large part to investments made by city leaders in new trails, Divvy bike sharing and the addition of 100 miles of new bikeways since 2011,” Burke said.
"Even though the number of people cycling has multiplied, we still have a long way to go before the average person feels safe and comfortable getting on a bike to ride to work, run errands and drop off kids at school."
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