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New Bike Lanes Slated For Polk Street In Medical District, City Says

By DNAinfo Staff | May 18, 2017 5:28am | Updated on May 18, 2017 10:58am
 Bike lanes were recently installed on Harrison Street in Little Italy.
Bike lanes were recently installed on Harrison Street in Little Italy.
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DNAinfo/Dave Newbart

NEAR WEST SIDE — New bike lanes will be installed on Polk and Loomis streets on the Near West Side this summer, city officials said.

The lanes will be installed along a nearly one-mile stretch of Polk between Damen Avenue and Loomis. The lanes will also be installed on a three-block stretch of Loomis between Polk and Harrison Street.

RELATED: Bike Lanes On Harrison Connect Little Italy With Downtown

There will be buffered lanes on Polk between Western and Ashland in a stretch that goes through the Illinois Medical District and passes by Stroger Hospital and the medical school at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Those lanes will be separated from traffic by a buffer painted on the road, but not a physical barrier.

The lanes will be shared with traffic on Polk between Ashland and Loomis, said Michael Claffey, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Transportation. That stretch has residential parking on both sides of the street.

Those lanes will connect with Loomis. Claffey said a bike pathway will be cut out of a cul-de-sac where Polk dead-ends into the street. However, cars will still not be able to drive through.

The lanes on Loomis will be shared with car traffic and will connect with newly installed buffered lanes on Harrison Street.

The work will be paid for using federal money, Claffey said. No price has been set yet for the project.