Bike-Path Plan Coming Together In/Around: Nevada-Lidgerwood

The Nevada-Lidgerwood neighborhood steering committee is solidifying plans for a north-south bike path along Addison Street.

The bike path, originally proposed in 1990, would run on each side of Addison between Euclid and Francis.

According to Tom Reese, city neighborhood planner, plans for the path were modified after residents and business owners voiced concerns that the bike lane would wipe out existing parking.

Reese said the current plan is to replace parking with a bike lane on one side of the street. On the other side of the street, bicyclists would have to swerve around parked cars. Reese was unsure which side of the street would lose parking.

Sandy Smith, a member of the Nevada-Lidgerwood Steering Committee, said the bike lane is now a matter “of when, not if.”

The bike path would be paid for out of an $18,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The money will pay for street restriping that will mark the six-foot-wide bike lane.

The bike lane has been included in several improvement plans, including the regional plan to improve accessibility for bikes. The Nevada-Lidgerwood community plan also calls for a bike path.

Eileen Hyatt of the city’s Bicycle Advisory Board said the path would improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians and would help the area feel “more like a neighborhood and less like a thoroughfare.”

“When you make a clear statement that bicyclists are in the corridor, it puts drivers on notice … and they drive slower,” said Hyatt.

Despite available funding and support of the Nevada-Lidgerwood steering committee, plans for the bike lane are still not official. Some area businesses remain confused and concerned about the lane, and the city Transportation Department, which must OK the project, usually requires 100 percent community support.

To answer questions and iron out concerns, Reese is drawing up specifics of the plan. The NevadaLidgerwood steering committee plans to hold another hearing in the fall.

Patricia Bursch, co-owner of the the Christian Gift Center at the corner of Francis and Addison, said she is not concerned about parking, but safety. She fears the bike path would eat up one of the two lanes of traffic along the busy street, turning the intersection of Addison and Francis into a “bottleneck.”

“I have observed several accidents on this corner, so they certainly don’t need to make it worse,” said Bursch.

, DataTimes