Urban Biking in Chicago

Chicago is one of the prettiest big cities I've ever been to. So I
was heartened to hear that the city has unveiled an audacious plan
called Bike 2015, which seeks to make biking a safe, easy, and fun
option for residents and commuters. And what could be bad about
promoting bike use: it's healthy for you, it gets people out of their
cars, and it adds to the vibrancy of a city and its streets.

Of course, all these bike lanes will eat into car lanes, so traffic
could get worse. The extra space for bikes could go unused, as the
city finds it harder than they thought to wrest people out of their
cars. And more biking could lead to more bike accidents -- not
necessarily more per bike trip, but more in raw number.

Here's hoping the city gets it all right and its residents take
advantage of the wonderful resource the eventual network of lanes will
be. Just don't let them steal away the big international bike race
from Philadelphia.