Chicago needs bike boulevards.  Bike Boulevards Now! is a single-issue grassroots advocacy group committed to making sure bike boulevards are built in Chicago by 2011.  We will show the City of Chicago how important bike boulevards are and how many people want them, and we'll support the City in carrying out its plans to build them bike boulevards.

What are Bike Boulevards?

Bike boulevards are streets that prioritize travel by bicycle and discourage and/or slow down motor vehicle traffic.  They are usually residential side streets, the kind that cyclists already prefer.  Bike boulevards slow down all traffic to about 15 mph, making the street quieter and safer for residents and all road users.  Bike boulevards do NOT block all cars.  They just make that route undesirable for motorized through traffic.  For example, if Oakley Ave. were a bike boulevard, people who live on Oakley could still drive up to their residence, but through traffic would be directed to Western.  Meanwhile, people on bicycles could pass through easily.  Bike boulevards also do NOT reduce cyclists' access to other roads.  Cyclists will still have the same rights we have now.

Why do we need Bike Boulevards?

What would streets look like if we really cared about making sure people could get around without being injured or killed?  What if people's lives were so precious that society was no longer willing sacrifice another one just because streets are currently laid out the way they are?

For those of us who bicycle to get around, fear comes along for the ride.  At some point on just about every trip, we'll be in a situation where a car is coming towards us, and we just don't know what that driver will do.  Either a car is speeding up from behind even though there's not enough room to pass safely, or a car is coming too fast from a parking lot or side street, and the driver might not look before driving out into the road.  Sure, almost all drivers are in control and won't hit us.  But there have been about 170 serious car-bike crashes in Chicago each year in recent years*, and we see drivers do some pretty crazy stuff.  So each of us thinks, "how do I know it won't be me?"  For those of us who don't bike, one big reason is that it's just too terrifying.  Biking would be fun and would help us get in shape, but for many people, it doesn't seem possible.  So the bike just stays in the garage.

Instead, Chicago could become more bike-friendly than ever by installing bike boulevards.  We need bike boulevards because biking needs to not just be safe - it also needs to seem safe.  We should be able to go for a ride without fearing for our lives.  People who want to try out biking should be able to do that without driving their bike to the lakefront trail.  Moms and dads should be able to ride with their kids and have _that_ seem safe.  People should be able to just hop on a bike and go somewhere without needing a traffic cycling class just to make it to their destination alive.  Why?  Because if we want to stop killing people in traffic and if we want to reduce congestion and air pollution, bicycling needs to be a practical alternative, and it's only a practical alternative if it's safe.

* see Active Transportation Alliance, Bicycle and Pedestrian Crashes in Illinois: 2004 - 2007 (March, 2009), at page 12, available at http://www.activetrans.org/sites/default/files/Crash 20Report final.pdf.