It is time for the many cyclists who live and ride on the North Shore -- club riders, commuters and local users alike -- to organize and lobby in support of improved bike facilities on our public ways. We need to make our views known to state and village officials and planners, and let them know that WE BIKE AND WE VOTE.
Of immediate importance is the planned resurfacing by the State of Illinois of a five-mile stretch of Sheridan Road between Lake Cook Road and Winnetka Avenue, sometime in the next year. This project is great news, but it is critical that cyclists influence the planning and implementation to ensure bike lanes and other features are included (such as currently exist in the Wilmette stretch).
As a first step in efforts to exert influence, I am assembling an e-mail list of North Shore cyclists. The next steps are to be determined. They could include petitions and letter-writing campaigns, setting up meetings with village officials, attending town meetings, writing letters to the editor, etc.
They key thing to understand right now is that decisions to include bicycle accommodations on the roads are based, by law, on demonstrated "local support." The ultimate objective, therefore, is to demonstrate that this support exists and is strong.
Please answer the few questions below and PLEASE, SHARE THIS LINK AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE IN YOUR CYCLING CIRCLES.
Yours truly,
Ken Obel
Wilmette
kenneth.obel@gmail.comP.S. If you are interested in more detail on Illinois law and regulations regarding bike infrastructure, and forthcoming projects that are planned, I've collected some resources in a separate document, here:
http://bit.ly/11dfrXr.
