A Vision for Main Street that Connects South Evanston by Foot, Bike, and Bus
Main Street is a critical East-West corridor in the south of Evanston, but existing roadway conditions between the Channel and the Main-Dempster Mile present serious environmental, equity, and safety concerns. Missing sidewalks and crosswalks, a lack of infrastructure for cyclists, and no pubic transit service, is a missed opportunity to improve the connectivity of our community and the region at large. Currently, those traveling on bike must either pedal along the sidewalk creating conflicts with pedestrians, or share space in the street with fast-moving cars and trucks, creating traffic congestion and also the potential for life-threatening accidents. Sections of missing sidewalks exacerbate this problem and act as a barrier for pedestrians and limit access entirely for disabled individuals. Bus service last ran along Main St nearly twenty years ago, leaving many destinations including Crown Center or the Main Street Commons shopping center extremely or entirely inaccessible to those who rely on the CTA for their mobility. As a result, the majority of trips to destinations along Main St are done by car due to the lack of safe or reliable alternatives. And for those without access to a car, visiting Main St is either dangerous, or avoided altogether.
Case Study: N 26th Ave in Minneapolis
Evanston’s Main Street has much in common with N 26th Ave in Minneapolis: a curb-to-curb width between 30’ and 35’, lined by low to medium-density residential as well as light commercial, with moderate levels of vehicular and truck traffic. In 2016, Minneapolis re-surfaced N 26th Ave, but instead of replacing it as-is, the city slightly narrowed the existing travel lanes from 15’ to 11’ each. The resulting 8’ of gained space was then dedicated to a bidirectional bike path along the north side of the road.
Looking eastbound on N 26th Ave at Morgan Ave in Minneapolis, MN. Before reconstruction (left) and then after the lane narrowing and addition of bike path (right).
Main Street between Hartery and Ridge is slated for resurfacing in the next five years according to the City of Evanston’s list of desired Capital Improvement Projects, as the existing road surface is deteriorating and intersections such as Asbury & Main are in need of left turn lanes and modernized signals. As Main St is a signed bicycle route, and with Evanston’s commitments to road safety and reducing emissions from transportation through its Complete Streets ordinance and Climate Action and Resilience plan, it is necessary to include bike and pedestrians improvements in this project.
The similarity between Main St and E 26th Ave in terms of right of way, traffic volumes, neighborhood context, and connectivity make Minneapolis’ model for a safe, complete street highly applicable. A two-way bike path is preferred over other facility types for reasons of safety (high traffic area in a school/park zone with lots of children) as well as implementation: most of the destinations along the Main St corridor are on the north side (including two schools and a community center), roughly a third of the project area already includes city-owned land to the north (Crown and Grey Parks), and construction costs would be reduced by roadway and curb narrowing only having to occur on the north side of the street. In addition, due to city maintenance capabilities, two-way facilities are preferred, and this design would be consistent with other recent and proposed facilities including Oakton St, Chicago Ave, and Church St that feature two-way bike routes, contributing to overall network cohesion.
Our proposed Main St bike path, with a relocated Divvy bikeshare station, would improve access to Robert Crown Center’s recreational facilities and library.
Looking westbound on Main St toward Skokie and the Channel Trail, which would be easily accessed via this new bike and pedestrian connection.
A safe crossing of Ridge Ave at Grey Park will encourage all ages and abilities to cycle east toward Main-Dempster Mile Shops, Downtown Evanston, and the lakefront.
Proposed Construction Phases & Other Improvements
The initial section of bike path constructed would be approximately 1 mile in length, from Hartrey Ave to Grey Park. Current planning for the inclusion of a dog run at Grey Park should anticipate the construction of this path so as to not obstruct it. At the park, signage should be provided to direct cyclists to utilize Maple Ave to continue north toward Downtown/Civic Center, or transition onto the Main St sharrows to proceed further east (and that cyclists cannot continue on the sidewalk into the business district). Bike racks and a repair station should be included at Grey Park. Near Hartrey Ave a Divvy station should be added for visitors to The Aux, as well as shops in the Main Street Commons center including Food 4 Less and Marshalls. In addition, sidewalks and sharrows should be added along Hartrey going south to Oakton. These amenities will help to encourage the usage of the new bike path.
A future phase of construction would see the bike path further extended from Hartrey west to the Channel Trail and Skokie’s Main St bike lanes. This would potentially require a new bike/pedestrian bridge to span the Channel parallel to the existing, narrow roadway crossing. As this area is more jurisdictionally challenging and has less pedestrian activity, it would be acceptable in the short term for cyclists to continue to utilize the sidewalk. Although the city should study widening the sidewalk between the Channel bridge and Hartrey to ~8ft wide to meet the minimum standard of a shared use path, if feasible.
A map highlighting needed bike and pedestrian improvements along the Main St corridor in South Evanston, color coded by status/difficulty.
Additionally, the reconstruction of Main St should be with potential bus service in mind. Bus service ran along Main St in various forms, first under the Evanston Bus Company through 1973, and then by the Chicago Transit Authority until September of 2009, when the closure of the Rand McNally Headquarters in Skokie caused a drop in ridership leading to the route’s cancellation. Since then, however, new developments such as Robert Crown Center, have created demand for east-west travel along Main St that has gone unfulfilled. The gradual reduction and eventual elimination of bus service across Evanston is no doubt a leading cause of our increasing car ownership rates, and thus it is imperative to provide reliable and dependable public transit alternatives to convert trips currently being made by cars.
Extending the CTA 11 or 49B routes which terminate near Evanston’s southern border to provide service along Main which terminates at the Purple Line/ Metra station, should be considered a long-term goal. Design choices made during road reconstruction should not prevent the reintroduction of service along this corridor in the future, even if the establishment of such a service is not currently practical. This incudes designing the bike path with potential bus stop locations/shelter placement in mind, and ensuring curb radiuses at intersections are sufficient for turning clearances.
Countless destinations stand to be connected by these improvements: The North Shore Channel Trail and Sculpture Park, Main Street Commons Shopping Mall, The Aux, Robert Crown Center, Washington Elementary School, Grey Park, Nichols Middle School and the Main-Dempster Mile, as well as Evanston Plaza and the Prieto Community Center a short distance away. Improvements along Main Street that prioritize pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit riders will improve safety, reduce vehicle congestion by allowing all residents to safely visit local destinations without a car, and minimize air pollution/ greenhouse gas emissions. This “complete streets”, network-wide approach is critical to ensure that we are not making decisions about our infrastructure improvements in a vacuum, and that our actions are matching our written commitments to issues of equity and sustainability for future generations.
