Oak Park bikeway plan praised

Guy wrote:

Maybe I heard wrong but I understand Oak Park is in some pretty dire financial straits.
The bikeway is a nice idea but I think the OP citizens would love to see the budget under control before initiating any more innovative but costly ideas.
Correct me if I am wrong.

No correction needed- you are 100% correct as this village loves to spend our tax money while running all business out of town with stupid, endless rules, permits and zoning laws.

since this thing will take 10 years to complete , there wont be any liberal, tree hugging, granola eating, anti- business, bush bashing, anti republicans left who can afford to live here. Just us stupid rich republicans who didnt know the difference between oak park and river forest.

10 years? To paint white stripes and put up some signs? C'mon, that could all be done in a couple of months time.

Save the kudos for when the job gets done, not when some "plan" is published as a public relations ploy.

Guy wrote:

Maybe I heard wrong but I understand Oak Park is in some pretty dire financial straits.
The bikeway is a nice idea but I think the OP citizens would love to see the budget under control before initiating any more innovative but costly ideas.
Correct me if I am wrong.

I agree! Now if only the gov't of Oak Park would listen and quit spending so much. I think that they believe you really can get blood from a turnip.(p.s. I do like the idea of a bike path, but not if it means that I can't put food on the table because prices have gone up so much - which is why I ride my bike everywhere!)

ECON 101 wrote:

<quoted text>
No correction needed- you are 100% correct as this village loves to spend our tax money while running all business out of town with stupid, endless rules, permits and zoning laws.
since this thing will take 10 years to complete , there wont be any liberal, tree hugging, granola eating, anti- business, bush bashing, anti republicans left who can afford to live here. Just us stupid rich republicans who didnt know the difference between oak park and river forest.

WEll, I am tree hugging, I think liberal more or less, Bush bashing definately, hugely PRO-local businesses which are getting the shaft everytime they turn around from the village unless of course they have TAXMAN in their name, in which case they get free everything, only if they have high profile corporations like Starbucks renting from them. You're granola statments aside, why the he.ll isn't anyone more piss.ed about this?? And frankly, if you're so rich, why in the world would you want to stay in Oak Park? Clearly it's the bane of your existence (and mind for that matter). Let the people who keep voting for this cr.ap just vote to bankrupt themselves. Frankly, I don't see what eating granola (hate granola actaully) or voting for Bush has to do with any of this. It's the fools who keep voting for these tax increases and the village lying about how much something is going to cost. Thank God in 10 years I will so far out of Oak Park, that the door will not be able to hit me on the A.s.s.

Janice wrote:

<quoted text>
WEll, I am tree hugging, I think liberal more or less, Bush bashing definately, hugely PRO-local businesses which are getting the shaft everytime they turn around from the village unless of course they have TAXMAN in their name, in which case they get free everything, only if they have high profile corporations like Starbucks renting from them. You're granola statments aside, why the he.ll isn't anyone more piss.ed about this?? And frankly, if you're so rich, why in the world would you want to stay in Oak Park? Clearly it's the bane of your existence (and mind for that matter). Let the people who keep voting for this cr.ap just vote to bankrupt themselves. Frankly, I don't see what eating granola (hate granola actaully) or voting for Bush has to do with any of this. It's the fools who keep voting for these tax increases and the village lying about how much something is going to cost. Thank God in 10 years I will so far out of Oak Park, that the door will not be able to hit me on the A.s.s.

I scratch my head every day wondering why the resdients here arent more disgusted about the mismanagement. It seems that people would rather vent their anger at Bush and cheney rather than OP vilage board, mini-me stroger, daley, and blago. In my opinion these poiticians are far more incompetent than bush and are doing more harm to our local busineses than the republicans. Yet i see impeach bush and bush is a war criminal stickers all over oak park but not a peep about the others. It just proves my point that the liberal dems are so blinded by their hatred of bush, et, al that they would rather waste all their energy whing about the bush "regime" than confront our local idiots.

It seems that the majority of residents would rather prove their "pc" and "greeness" over lower taxes. The problem is that anyone who would actually try to run the village as a business with attention to the bottom line would never get elected. for example, the HS garage which loses a ton of money as there is no revenues, a free trolly service that is losing money, a propal to spend $200k to entice circle theater to OP from forest park, the colt fiasco, whiteco,$100 mil to redo ridgeland, etc. Cant tell from you posting if you are actually an OP resident or not but maybe you can tell me why there is not more uproar from residents who tend to be more liberal and politically correct.

I have been here 10 years and it is pathetic how many small businesses I have seen close or worse-move across the street to forest park. You are right, this is becoming the bane of my existence and I do wonder why i am still here sometimes.

[QUOTE who="ECON 101I have been here 10 years and it is pathetic how many small businesses I have seen close or worse-move across the street to forest park. You are right, this is becoming the bane of my existence and I do wonder why i am still here sometimes.
[/QUOTE]

I'm here for the schools. After my last one graduates from OPRF I will abandon this place. I've spent 10 years seeing taxes streadily increased and dollars wasted (Tasty Dog, new library but barely any new books, Marion Street reopening, subsidizing of Village Players, one of the worst theatres in the Chicagoland area...I could go on, but I'd just make myself angry.)

Joe wrote:

When will bicyclists start following the Rules of the Road?
In the past two day's I've witnessed four bicyclists blow through 4-way stop signs at busy intersections as if they owned the road.
Bicyclists are dangerous to pedestrians and drivers. It's time they paid for their infractions.

In the past 4 minutes I've witnessed four automobile drivers blow through 4-way stop signs at busy intersections as if they owned the road.
Automobile drivers are dangerous to pedestrians and bicyclists. It's time they paid for their infractions.

I gotta laugh anytime some idgit driver complains about cyclists ignoring traffic laws --*everyone* in Chicagoland ignores the law whenever it suits them.

mimi wrote:

It may be backward-thinking of me. I ride a lot in Oak Park, and the grid is pretty bike-friendly on paper, but the road conditions on the side streets are horrendous. If Oak Park would do a better job of maintaining road surfaces on the side streets, they really wouldn't need dedicated lane reconfiguration on the arterials. It will cost a bundle either way, and either solution works for me. Doing both would be ideal.

What won't cost a bundle is simply banning cars from select side streets that are reserved for bikes. Bikes cause very little damage, and there will be very little maintenance required.

Personally, I'm sick and tired of subsidizing drivers with my tax dollars. It is about time that they paid the full cost of their behavior instead of expecting the gvmt to support them with welfare handouts.

I'm and Oak Park bicyclist for about 25 years and what I wonder is: Where the heck can they put 20 miles of dedicated bike paths in the village? And, why do we need them?

Certainly, its not going to be a tourist attraction. The fun is to do the side streets and take in the ambiance.

And if its to do errands, the side streets are quite adequate. Just stay off Oak Park Ave., Ridgeland, Madison. Doesn't take much savvy to get around.

Jim P wrote:

I'm and Oak Park bicyclist for about 25 years and what I wonder is: Where the heck can they put 20 miles of dedicated bike paths in the village?

Answer that one for yourself. A link to the plan was provided in the Trib article.