About 60 people attended a bicycle planning workshop on Wednesday to gather community input about which streets in Evanston should be made more accessible to cyclists.
“They have a lot of bicycling in Evanston,” said Suzan Pinsof, from Suzan A. Pinsof & Associates, the planning firm hired by Evanston to work on the bicycle plan. “Evanston thought perhaps it could do something to improve bicycling conditions, increase the number of bicyclists and make it safer.”
The city of Evanston sponsored the workshop at the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave., as part of the Evanston Bicycle System Improvement Plan.
Residents were encouraged to attend and provide input on the needs and habits of Evanston cyclists. Consultants from Suzan A. Pinsof & Associates planned to take the results from the workshop to city officials.
John LaPlante of T.Y. Lin International, another firm working on the project, reminded the group at the workshop that the consultants were advisers only and everything that the group came up with was “non-binding.”
“The city of Evanston makes the final decision (on the plans), but we would like them to be as informed as possible,” LaPlante said. “What we would most like is to make streets calm and quiet places (for cyclists).”
LaPlante classified cyclists into three groups. Group A cyclists are experienced riders, many of whom use bicycles to commute. Group B cyclists are “casual riders” and Group C consists of children and families. The Improvement Plan is geared toward the casual rider, LaPlante said, but “the plan has to be comfortable for everyone.”
Bicycles currently are allowed on all roads in Evanston except for parts of Ridge Avenue, LaPlante said.
Workshop participants were randomly divided into groups and asked to brainstorm qualities of a good cycling roadway. Common requirements included smooth roads, visible sight lines and room for bikes.
Participants suggested streets such as Central Street, Chicago Avenue and Sheridan Road as roads they would want to use if the streets were more bicycle-friendly.
Bruce Foster, a Social Science Computing/DCE Architect for Northwestern, attended the workshop because he wanted to participate in the planning. He rides his bike to work every day.
“I thought (the workshop) was done very well,” he said. “It seemed to be unusually productive. I’m glad I came.”
But Evanston resident John Fervoy said he doubted the workshop’s impact.
“I felt we came up with a lot of points,” he said. “(But) I doubt a lot of them will be heard. Some good things will be lost.”
Although non-cyclists were welcome, most who attended the workshop ride bikes regularly. Representatives from the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, an organization dedicated to improving cycling conditions in the area, also attended the workshop.
“Evanston is already a good city to bicycle in,” Pinsof said. “Tonight we want you to further our understanding of the needs of bicyclists.”
At the end of the workshop, LaPlante and Pinsof presented a version of an Evanston map marked with streets that participants wanted to use the most.
Streets running east to west streets included Central, Lincoln and Lake streets. Streets running north to south included Chicago, Sheridan, Central Park Avenue, McDaniel Avenue.
