Illinois State Police have a message out for anyone trying to ride their bicycle on an expressway after a photo captured a person biking on I-90 in Chicago.
A quick look on Google Maps shows that West Ontario St in Chicago leads to a 1 km (!) long on-ramp to Interstate 90, flying over the Chicago River. Once on the ramp, the next possible exit is Augusta Blvd, about 2 km away. Interstate 90 cuts a diagonal path through the rectilinear street layout of Chicago, so an equivalent route would necessarily be slightly longer. There is a sign at the on-ramp prohibiting “non-motorized traffic”, among others.
I can’t really endorse riding a bicycle on an urban freeway when it’s not designed or designated for such. But in the Western USA, we do have segments of freeway open to bicyclists, even in urban areas. Note: West Coasters and the federal govt say “freeway” for a fully-controlled access highway; East Coasters say “expressway”, but that means something else here in the west.
Common sections of freeway available to bicyclists are bridges where there is no other reasonable method to cross. As an example, the routing of Interstate 80 often followed that of old US Highway 40, meaning that a bridge that would have carried Highway 40 now carries the mainline Interstate. As a result, the preceding on-ramp must be opened to non-motorized traffic, unless a reasonable alternate route or facility is available. The absolute minimum is to simply permit bicycles onto the freeway.
Per CVC 21650, bicyclists on the freeway would have to use only the shoulder, although there’s technically a quirk if freeway traffic is moving very, very slowly, akin to the Chicago situation. In such a case, if a bicyclist can keep pace with or exceed the current flow of traffic, then all lanes are available on such a stretch of freeway that doesn’t prohibit cycling, subject to the usual requirement for slower traffic to keep right.
Freeway segments permitting bicyclists can be identified by a “no pedestrian” sign at the on-ramp, rather than the typical sign that would also prohibit bicyclists. The end of the segment is identified by a white sign on the freeway that says “bicyclist must exit”.
A quick look on Google Maps shows that West Ontario St in Chicago leads to a 1 km (!) long on-ramp to Interstate 90, flying over the Chicago River. Once on the ramp, the next possible exit is Augusta Blvd, about 2 km away. Interstate 90 cuts a diagonal path through the rectilinear street layout of Chicago, so an equivalent route would necessarily be slightly longer. There is a sign at the on-ramp prohibiting “non-motorized traffic”, among others.
I can’t really endorse riding a bicycle on an urban freeway when it’s not designed or designated for such. But in the Western USA, we do have segments of freeway open to bicyclists, even in urban areas. Note: West Coasters and the federal govt say “freeway” for a fully-controlled access highway; East Coasters say “expressway”, but that means something else here in the west.
California Vehicle Code (CVC) 21960 authorizes the state DOT (CalTrans) to prohibit pedestrians, bicyclists, and a few other categories, provided that they post a sign. Although very typical, CalTrans does not default to posting these signs on every freeway, to avoid running afoul of a different provision disallowing the destruction of preexisting routes used by non-motorized traffic.
Common sections of freeway available to bicyclists are bridges where there is no other reasonable method to cross. As an example, the routing of Interstate 80 often followed that of old US Highway 40, meaning that a bridge that would have carried Highway 40 now carries the mainline Interstate. As a result, the preceding on-ramp must be opened to non-motorized traffic, unless a reasonable alternate route or facility is available. The absolute minimum is to simply permit bicycles onto the freeway.
Per CVC 21650, bicyclists on the freeway would have to use only the shoulder, although there’s technically a quirk if freeway traffic is moving very, very slowly, akin to the Chicago situation. In such a case, if a bicyclist can keep pace with or exceed the current flow of traffic, then all lanes are available on such a stretch of freeway that doesn’t prohibit cycling, subject to the usual requirement for slower traffic to keep right.
Freeway segments permitting bicyclists can be identified by a “no pedestrian” sign at the on-ramp, rather than the typical sign that would also prohibit bicyclists. The end of the segment is identified by a white sign on the freeway that says “bicyclist must exit”.