Bike Lanes on Empire? Not a joke!

By:  Diane Benjamin

How many bikes have you seen using the existing bike lanes?  One?  Two?  None?

(I see far more bikers heading to Dawson Lake in the country)

The State is planning to finally fix Route 9 through town.  Thursday Bloomington wants your input at a public hearing from 4:30 to 6:30 at City Hall.

The State may not care what citizens want, but this is your chance to tell the State and the City to quit wasting your tax dollars on Complete Streets.  On street parking will be affected.

More information in the paper:


36 thoughts on “Bike Lanes on Empire? Not a joke!

  1. If you can’t go the paper lists a website where you can provide written feedback I used it and I did get a thank you response for submitting my comment.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I frequently travel on Jersey Avenue in Normal and I have never seen a bicycle driving in the bike lanes .I do not agree with the waste of tax money adding these bike lanes and the elimination of street parking – Empire St does not need bike lanes..

    Liked by 3 people

    1. I just drove down that street today. I couldn’t believe how much road they were wasting on an bike lane along side the parking lane. That’s a whole ‘nother lane of traffic folks.

      Not. A. Single. Bike.

      No cars parked along there either. Ridiculous.


  3. Seldom do I go to B/N, I see bicyclists all the time. Mostly on County blacktops. They ride single file when traffic approaches. They know what roads are dangerous, at least most of them do. Some of them flagrantly break the law by having a flashing red light on the back of their bike. A flashing red light means STOP. I am confused enough without this situation occurring. I have not been on Veterans for quite some time. Have they installed bike lanes on Veterans Parkway yet?


  4. Are the parking places underutilized? Do we have a notable population that is biking this route ‘on street’ and disrupting traffic? If these are both yes, then this is a great idea and a great plan, but I expect they are both no.

    Is there some major pent up demand, where people are ‘grouchy driving’ while wishing they could be pedalling, or overcrowding the back roads with bikes to avoid the heavy traffic? I’m pretty sure these answers are no as well.

    So then this will simply be spending money to “emphasize the importance of having the multi-modal accommodations along a state route” while ignoring the importance of providing the people with what they want and need.

    Like our local town governments, IDOT needs to stop ‘working for The Plan’ and start ‘working for The People’.


  5. Seems these BLONO folks spend WAY more time in the country then they do in town, and personally, I’d just LIKE TO HAVE REGENCY/FAIRWAY DRIVE BACK, as it’s ONCE AGAIN CLOSED, making getting out to ANYWHERE a major trek. Let the bicyclists use the Constitution trail and such. They’ll clamor for bike lanes UNTIL one or several get killed by some misfortune. But that’s against COMPLETE common sense!


  6. Will Bikey Mikey and the Bike BloNo racketeers be out in full force “informing” citizens about the benefits of bike lanes?


  7. I used to ride a motorcycle to work. It was enjoyable to ride first thing in the morning, before 6 a m. But alas there is a downside, RAIN. I did have rain gear to put on to get me home, a 14 mile ride. What do bike riders do when it starts raining before they leave for home or just after they start it cuts lose? Do they even think about reflective rain gear? Will police, police this kind of risk to protect auto drivers in bad weather? Yeah,right.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Just heard on the NOON NEWS- WMBD that they want to do 17,500 feet of Rt 9 as BIKE LANES which will ELIMINATE 250 parking spaces. WHAT A WASTE!
    HOW MANY people belong to BIKEBLONO? Bet it’s NOT 250!

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Can SOMEONE post a link on here to the website that BOB WERKMAN refers to, as the PANTAGRAPH blocks me, since I don’t subscribe, That would be GREAT!


  10. I make a point to drive in the bike lanes because I have NEVER observed a bicycle in the bike lane. NEVER. So I utilize the pavement since they do not. We better show up en masse if we have any hope of letting them know what we think of their (stupid) plan.


    1. why should we avoid bike lanes when the bike riders dont observe the rule of law. many a time i have seen bicyclists run stop signs, among other things.


  11. “Complete streets” another bunch of crap dreamed up by the people who dream up this crap. I can even hear them in my mind waxing so eloquently about them, maybe even ONE of them who ONCE went to Amsterdam and were just SOOO charmed by the bikes and cars sharing the road yada yada yada (I’ve been to Amsterdam, it seems like a pain to drive there to be honest and some of those poor people with ONLY a bike for transport riding grimly in the pelting cold rain, no thanks) BUT Europe, especially nice FLAT Netherlands/Holland has LONG been a biking society NOT one built on cars with long distances between home and the stores or work etc.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. When is the last time you picked your kids up from school, dropped them off or picked them up from football practice,
    went grocery shopping, picked up your dry cleaning, went to Lowe’s for mulch, took your kid to the doctor , dentist, took pet to the vet, went out for dinner with the family, dropped kids off at movies,……ON A BICYCLE..?????????
    ——Why cater to the ” bike brown shirts”?

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Correct, both of you, they of course don’t but YOU should, and you should live in a tiny cubicle apartment and work in the place downstairs or across the street – that is their real vision, Communist type housing and all inclusive cities/stacking areas where one can bike or walk everywhere, and you won’t be able to afford to go very far anyway because you will be taxed and “fee’d” to just above poverty level but hey college will be FREE.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. “When is the last time you picked your kids up from school, dropped them off or picked them up from football practice,

      …and then attended to public comment sessions, spoke at council meetings, filed FOIA requests, etc. every other week to make sure that your elected officials were not being stupid? Most people are not apathetic, we just can’t keep up with the myriad ways they find to spend our money unnecessarily.


  13. Jeff Crabill posted on Facebook that these bike lanes will save Bloomington money….I guess he doesn’t understand that doubling of state gas tax actually is still theft. Read the comments and note where he responds. Gross.


  14. So,is IDIOT,oops I mean IDOT going to resurface all of route 9 before they put the bike lanes in or are they going to do like they did on Mercer,just paint the new lines over the potholes?


  15. so the bicyclists get their very own bike lanes paid for by money from car drivers. i think the bicyclists should be forced to pay for the privilege.


  16. Hatred coming my way… but I am an avid cyclist. I gave up driving a motor vehicle in 2003 and started using a bicycle ever since. I use it to go to work, and to pickup groceries, etc. I follow the rules of the road, as I use my bike as a vehicle, though many times I am not looked at as traffic or a part of it. Over the fourteen years I have cycled I have many close calls – drivers turning right right in front of me, drivers turning left into my green light lane, drivers opening doors right in front of me, drivers buzzing me or trying to see how close they can pass me without hitting me. Motorists have used their vehicles to menace or threaten me, but I am just trying to do what I have a right to do and that is to use the roads for travel.

    Most motorists will cry taxes, but they would be sad to know that everyone pays taxes for the roads, those that use vehicles, those that use buses, those that use bicycles, and even those that just walk… these taxes for the road come from general taxes, like property taxes and sales taxes. Very little if any come from gas tax as that is mainly used to supplement the speculation of more oil (corporate welfare). And even still, bicycles and pedestrians cause very little if any damage to the road, unlike multi-ton vehicles. Motorists cause 850 billion dollars a year in social harm and damage in vehicle accidents and over 30,000 deaths a year occur on our roads… if one pedestrian or cyclist can be saved from this statistic because of a bike lane that is safer to travel then that of a lane shared with motorists, then this effectively is much more humane and moral than that of concerned parking spots.

    I suppose what I fear the most is the attitude of the posters here and knowing that they are getting behind the wheel of motor vehicles without understanding the basic principle that bicycles are traffic, and a part of traffic. While bicycles are not as fast as cars, they are effectively a more responsible way to commute given our current knowledge of the pollution emissions produced in vast amounts by combustion engines. According to the Nurse’s Association, this is the number one cause of child respiratory and asthmatic disease in this country.

    The more cyclists there are the less motorists there will be. Someday maybe the lady who has to haul kids around all day can find riding their bikes together to their destinations enjoyable without the danger of human (not)controlled motor vehicles causing loss of life.


    1. Many of your comments can be disputed, but start here. Bloomington only spends Motor Fuel Tax on the roads. You don’t pay any. 2nd, there are very few people like you. Why do the rest of us have narrow roads and slower traffic plus the cost of yearly paint for a few? I’m sure readers will have more comments, especially about the bikers who think laws are immaterial.


      1. Again… if bikes and pedestrians don’t cause damage to the roads, then why the need to supplement motorists who do by taxing bikes and pedestrians? You don’t see very many people like me, but you will see more, we’re evolving. Less mass equals more space… pretty simple, but if you need the massive SUV to get somewhere…

        If you really want to compare those who don’t follow the rules of the road between motorists and bicycles… that’s going to be a steep hill to climb considering distracted driving, speeding, DUI, etc…the very many like you, or the very few like me?…


  17. Who pays for the roads –

    Air pollution and health –
    “In view of the central role of oxidative stress in asthma morbidity associated with air pollutants, oxidising gases continue to be an area of substantial research. Ground-level ozone is formed by photochemical reactions between sunlight and pollutant precursors, such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, especially in warm conditions and peaks in summer temperatures. Nitrogen oxides, including nitrogen dioxide, are formed primarily by the reaction of ozone with nitric oxide emitted during fossil fuel combustion; as a result, steep concentration gradients of nitrogen oxides exist near sites of nitrogen oxide emission (eg, roadways) and relative depletion of ozone occurs in these sites.”

    Over 871 Billion in social harm and damage…


  18. ok, obviously I have not reached a credible forum to voice any rational opinions and concerns. An honest debate and conversation is not really the intention or premise of this biased “news blog”, other than the hopes that a different side of the issue is exterminated on the roads in which only the opinion travels… to work, to home, to the store, to his family and friends…

    Thank you, …and drive safe.


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