If you're interested in events and stewardship on the Major Taylor Trail, please join us for our monthly meeting on Wednesday 2/19 at Ridge Park fieldhouse, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
For
those who aren't familiar with our group and what we do, we are a
non-profit advocacy group working to improve and maintain the Major
Taylor Trail and promote its use. We have an active working relationship
with the Chicago Park District, Forest Preserve District of Cook County
and other non-profits and government agencies. We organize volunteer
workdays, bike rides and other events.
In the past
year, we've done 3 tree planting projects with the Openlands TreeKeepers
program: near 87th Street and between 124th and 127th. We'd love to
have your ideas and help with future events and projects. Please join
us!
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Friends of the Major Taylor Trail meeting on 2/19
If you're interested in events and stewardship on the Major Taylor Trail, please join us for our monthly meeting on Wednesday 2/19 at Ridge Park fieldhouse, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
For those who aren't familiar with our group and what we do, we are a non-profit advocacy group working to improve and maintain the Major Taylor Trail and promote its use. We have an active working relationship with the Chicago Park District, Forest Preserve District of Cook County and other non-profits and government agencies. We organize volunteer workdays, bike rides and other events.
In the past year, we've done 3 tree planting projects with the Openlands TreeKeepers program: near 87th Street and between 124th and 127th. We'd love to have your ideas and help with future events and projects. Please join us!
For those who aren't familiar with our group and what we do, we are a non-profit advocacy group working to improve and maintain the Major Taylor Trail and promote its use. We have an active working relationship with the Chicago Park District, Forest Preserve District of Cook County and other non-profits and government agencies. We organize volunteer workdays, bike rides and other events.
In the past year, we've done 3 tree planting projects with the Openlands TreeKeepers program: near 87th Street and between 124th and 127th. We'd love to have your ideas and help with future events and projects. Please join us!
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
99th & Walden pedestrian safety issues
When the 99th & Walden streetscape project was announced, it included the formation of a Special Service Area (SSA) to help maintain the area. This winter, safe pedestrian to parts of that area have been exceptionally bad. The sidewalk around the All Day Montessori parking lot has generally not been cleared, in spite of all the people who need to use it, including families going to All Day Montessori. One of the results is pedestrians walking in the street at evening rush hour, when there is a lot of car traffic on Walden, increasing the risk that someone could get hit.
Parents picking up or dropping off frequently park right at the corner, creating a blind spot for turning traffic and higher risk of injury for pedestrians crossing Walden.
I hope that the SSA's maintenance plan will keep sidewalks and crosswalks clear in future winters and that a curb bumpout will be included in the streetscape to prevent cars from parking right up to the corner. When simple things like uncleared sidewalks and blind spots end up pushing people to drive rather than walk, it has a very negative impact on quality of life in the neighborhood and on the health of our residents.
 |
| Sidewalk next to All Day Montessori parking lot |
Parents picking up or dropping off frequently park right at the corner, creating a blind spot for turning traffic and higher risk of injury for pedestrians crossing Walden.
 |
| Vehicles are often parked over or right up to 99th St. crosswalk, creating a blind spot for eastbound drivers turning onto Walden. |
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
safe access to the proposed sports center at 115th & Western
The proposed sports center has the potential to be a great community amenity. However, if bike and pedestrian access aren't thoughtfully done to maximize safety by minimizing conflicts with motorized traffic, it would create a negative aspect to a facility that should be equally accessible to vulnerable users and drivers. Streetsblog Chicago has published a thoughtful piece on this aspect of the plan.
Many have voiced concerns about the center's potential to significantly increase car traffic in the area of 115th and Western. This is another compelling argument to maximize the ease of pedestrian and bike access so that more people will walk or bike to the center rather than driving.
Others have questioned the wisdom of spending millions on yet another piece of infrastructure when so much of our existing infrastructure (roads, sidewalks, sewers, etc.) is poorly maintained. A few have commented that this feels like a "let them eat cake" (while our streets crumble) moment. They have a point. I would love to see our miles of deteriorated sidewalks made more walkable again. Getting our streets in better condition would make biking much safer and more enjoyable.
What are your thoughts?
Many have voiced concerns about the center's potential to significantly increase car traffic in the area of 115th and Western. This is another compelling argument to maximize the ease of pedestrian and bike access so that more people will walk or bike to the center rather than driving.
Others have questioned the wisdom of spending millions on yet another piece of infrastructure when so much of our existing infrastructure (roads, sidewalks, sewers, etc.) is poorly maintained. A few have commented that this feels like a "let them eat cake" (while our streets crumble) moment. They have a point. I would love to see our miles of deteriorated sidewalks made more walkable again. Getting our streets in better condition would make biking much safer and more enjoyable.
What are your thoughts?
Thursday, February 6, 2014
not very neighborly
 |
| Ridge Park - Longwood Drive |
 |
| Ridge Park - Longwood Drive |
Chicago Park District employees need to remember that many of us WALK to and through the park, even in winter. It needs to be safely accessible to pedestrians. When you have the equipment and employees out there to do the job, please do it right.
On a similar note, the 9500 block of Wood gets worse by the day. Many of us use it to walk to and from the Metra station.
 |
| 9500 block of Wood |
Friday, January 31, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
Thursday, January 23, 2014
changes in our parks
In recent weeks, you may have noticed major changes to the landscape of some of our neighborhood parks. Many ash trees are being cut down due to emerald ash borer infestation. Some of the trees are quite large, 20"-40" trunk diameter. The largest of them are over 100 years old and have provided shade to several generations of park visitors and shelter to many more generations of wildlife.
The decision to remove these trees was not made lightly by park district forestry. Many of the trees were already dead or nearly so, while others have been dying for some time, dropping rotting branches and creating a hazard. In some parks, as many as 30-40% of the trees are ash trees that have been slowly compromised by the emerald ash borer. The ash is one of our largest native tree species, providing sustenance to many native wildlife species, so this is a very significant loss to our urban ecosystem.
Work was recently completed in Crescent Park and will also be done in Ridge Park, Barnard Park and others in the 19th ward. Ada Park and West Pullman Park in the 34th ward will also lose a significant number of mature ash trees.
New trees of other species will be planted, but they will take many years to reach mature size. They will not reach maturity in most of our lifetimes. We may see similar changes on many of our streets in the coming years. We have already lost hundreds of ash trees in Dan Ryan Woods and in many other forest preserves.
I hope that a treatment can be found that will be more effective than the injections that are extending the lives of ash trees that haven't yet been too extensively damaged. More importantly, I hope such a treatment will be developed before the ash tree becomes extinct.
Perhaps a new variety of ash that is resistant to emerald ash borer will be developed, as was done with the elm tree after it nearly disappeared due to Dutch elm disease. Until that happens, we will continue to witness the disappearance of grand old ash trees from our parks and streets.
The decision to remove these trees was not made lightly by park district forestry. Many of the trees were already dead or nearly so, while others have been dying for some time, dropping rotting branches and creating a hazard. In some parks, as many as 30-40% of the trees are ash trees that have been slowly compromised by the emerald ash borer. The ash is one of our largest native tree species, providing sustenance to many native wildlife species, so this is a very significant loss to our urban ecosystem.
Work was recently completed in Crescent Park and will also be done in Ridge Park, Barnard Park and others in the 19th ward. Ada Park and West Pullman Park in the 34th ward will also lose a significant number of mature ash trees.
New trees of other species will be planted, but they will take many years to reach mature size. They will not reach maturity in most of our lifetimes. We may see similar changes on many of our streets in the coming years. We have already lost hundreds of ash trees in Dan Ryan Woods and in many other forest preserves.
I hope that a treatment can be found that will be more effective than the injections that are extending the lives of ash trees that haven't yet been too extensively damaged. More importantly, I hope such a treatment will be developed before the ash tree becomes extinct.
Perhaps a new variety of ash that is resistant to emerald ash borer will be developed, as was done with the elm tree after it nearly disappeared due to Dutch elm disease. Until that happens, we will continue to witness the disappearance of grand old ash trees from our parks and streets.
Friday, January 17, 2014
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