T.Y. Lin International currently is responsible for managing the planning and engineering component of the City of Chicago’s Bicycle Program within the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT). TYLI has been providing CDOT Bicycle Program staff assistance since 1999. As the City of Chicago’s efforts towards bike-friendliness have increased, so has T.Y. Lin International’s support role, culminating in three staff members assisting CDOT on a near full-time basis.
Project Highlights:
- Implementing new on-street bikeways from initial location prioritization through construction contract letting, including Phase I project development reports, Phase II engineering plans and contract documents, community outreach, and review and approval from local agencies, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration.
- Coordinating design and installation of bikeways as part of various street resurfacing and reconstruction projects.
- Managing citywide bicycle counts conducted with automated equipment, the first use in the United States of technology designed to count only bicycles in mixed roadway traffic.
- Expanding the bikeway system as proposed in the Streets for Cycling Plan and prioritizing the Bike 2015 Plan.
- Managing inspection of the existing bikeway network to catalog locations needing maintenance, then developing cost estimates for repairs and recommending priorities for incorporation into the City’s existing roadway maintenance programs.
- Completing the planning study for Barrier Free Cycling and Metal Grate Bridges and subsequent Phase I /II structural and civil design to retrofit Chicago’s bridges with bicycle-friendly deck treatments.
- Updating the Bikeway Design Guide, including bikeway design standards that have developed through T.Y. Lin International’s planning and design projects.
T.Y. Lin International also has provided CDOT structural, civil, and traffic engineering support for the Bicycle Program. T.Y. Lin International has helped Chicago grow it network of on-street bike lanes and shared lanes to over 140 miles to date, with approximately 40 more miles proposed for upcoming construction projects.