Local cyclists welcomed the possibility Wednesday of a protected bike lane in Evanston, despite the highly competitive federal grant required to fund it.
If Evanston were to receive the nearly $12 million it could land from a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery III grant, Church Street would be revamped with upgraded sidewalks, new pedestrian features and a protected bike lane similar to the one recently built on Kinzie Street in Chicago.
But the popular grant is far from guaranteed, as Director of Public Works Suzette Robinson noted at Monday night’s Evanston City Council meeting.
“It’s a very competitive process,” she said. “There were only two projects that received the grant in the state from TIGER II. We’re hopeful, but we still have to plan what happens if we don’t get it because the odds are not necessarily in our favor.”
Regardless, city bikers hailed the protected lane as an exciting prospect in the wake of Monday’s council discussion.
“Cars and bikes would finally be safely separated,” said Heidrun Hoppe, an Evanston resident and Evanston Bike Club member.
She pointed to the recently finished Kinzie project as a prime example of what Evanston could offer if it secured the federal grant. Hoppe recalled a “very comfortable” experience while riding that protected lane over the weekend.
“It was really wonderful,” she said. “It felt so amazingly different to not worry about the threat of doors opening into you and throwing you into traffic.”
Neal Ney, a board member of the Evanston Bike Club, was similarly supportive of Evanston’s vision for Church Street. He called protected bike lanes an “important addition to the road,” wherever they may be constructed.
Plus, safer avenues for cycling encourage more efficient transportation decisions, Ney added.
“When you look at the bicycle as a means of transportation, bike lanes are really key to getting more people comfortable to hop on a bike instead of getting in the car,” he said.
Catherine Hurley, the city’s sustainable programs coordinator, agreed a protected bike lane could have a meaningful community impact.
She said although she is uninvolved in the grant application – which is being handled by the Public Works Department – she “get(s) comments all the time” from new and old residents seeking bike-specific facilities.
“There is definitely support in the community for more bike infrastructure,” Hurley said. “Any infrastructure we can provide that helps safety, helps motivate people to get out, definitely helps show the community’s commitment to active forms of transportation.”
She added it is presently difficult to predict how many riders would take advantage of a protected bike lane in Evanston.
One of those who would benefit, Chris Mailing, said he is “thrilled” the city is applying for the federal grant. He owns Turin Bicycle, 1027 Davis St., located one block away from the proposed lane.
He cited the plastic spikes separating the bike and car lanes on Kinzie Street as the type of “hard barrier” needed to guard riders.
And despite the federal grant remaining a long-shot endeavor for Evanston, Mailing estimated it could pay huge dividends for both cyclists and non-cyclists.
“There will certainly be more cyclists and more people using their bikes because every little thing that is done by the city to encourage cycling helps,” Mailing said. “All of these small projects just keep reinforcing the idea that bicycling is accepted and encouraged.”
If awarded, the TIGER III grant would fund a protected bike lane along Church Street from the Evanston lakefront to the north-south trail of Harms Woods park in Skokie.
TIGER discretionary grants fund “innovative transportation projects that will create jobs and have a significant impact on the nation, a region or a metropolitan area,” according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Final grant applications must be submitted by Oct. 31.
