More Chicagoans are biking than ever, including for short neighborhood trips, recreational activities, and commuting to work. This boom in biking has been fueled by the City’s investment in more and better bike infrastructure alongside growing interest in biking as a safe, affordable, sustainable, and healthy way to get around. In the past decade bicycle infrastructure has more than doubled in Chicago. Chicago now has over 350 miles of on-street bikeways and off-street paths. Chicago Works, Mayor Lightfoot’s five-year capital investment plan, is expanding and upgrading Chicago’s bicycle infrastructure. Investments in 2021 and 2022 include 12 miles of new protected bike lanes, expansion of the bike network into West Side neighborhoods currently lacking adequate bicycle infrastructure, continuation of previous work to expand the bicycle network on the Far South Side, and expanding the bicycle network downtown.

Chicago Bike Map

The most current map of bikeways is available using the embedded map below. CDOT produces an official Chicago Bike Map every spring. Hard copies of the Chicago Bike Map are available upon request.

City of Chicago: Strategic Plan for Transportation

The Chicago Department of Transportation has released a Strategic Plan for Transportation, the nation’s first urban transportation plan developed in the wake of the pandemic, economic, and racial justice crises of 2020. The plan charts a course toward building safer streets; reprioritizing transportation projects to increase access to opportunities for residents in historically neglected neighborhoods; working with CTA and regional transit agencies to expand public transportation access; creating safer streets and crosswalks to encourage walking; and expanding bike share, bike lanes, and dedicated bus lanes citywide.

The Strategic Plan established a goal to Make cycling a safe, affordable transportation option for more Chicagoans.
Strategies supporting this goal include Expanding Chicago’s bike network, prioritizing protected bike lanes wherever feasible.

Learn more about the City of Chicago’s Strategic Plan for Transportation
Strategic Plan Webpage

Chicago Community Cycling Network Update

As outlined in CDOT’s Strategic Plan and the Chicago Works capital plan, we will focus on building connected networks within neighborhoods to support the growing interest in biking, we will build comfortable bike routes connecting neighborhoods and within our Central Business District, and we will increase the number of protected bike lane and low-stress miles.

CDOT has developed the Chicago Community Cycling Network Update to provide a brief outline of how we will expand our bikeway network to fulfill the Strategic Plan. The Network Update largely focuses on our 2021 bikeway initiatives, which include:

• Network Expansion – In 2021 we are working toward expanding Chicago’s bikeway network by 50 miles with a focus on the West Side, Far South Side, and the other initiatives described below. Please see page 7 for a map of the next 100 miles of bikeways to be installed in 2021 and 2022.
• Neighborhood Bike Networks – In 2021 we will begin a two-year process of building 45 miles of connected neighborhood bike networks in Austin, Belmont Cragin, and North Lawndale. Building upon work completed in 2020, we will install 13 additional miles of bikeways on the Far South Side.
• Protected Bike Lanes – CDOT is currently designing 12 miles of new protected bike lanes for installation in 2021 and 2022, and we will continue identifying additional miles.
• Downtown – CDOT is developing a plan for an expanded Downtown protected bike lane network.
• Network Gaps – In 2021 will work towards a continuous bike network by conducting a network gap analysis and begin filling breaks in the bikeway network.
• Design Innovation – CDOT is identifying opportunities to pilot enhanced infrastructure designs at bus stops and intersections to increase cyclist comfort and safety. For example, we are advancing a design for a new bus boarding island on Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square and in the process of designing additional locations.

This Community Cycling Network Update will evolve and be refreshed annually as we expand the bikeways network, identify new initiatives, and advance the culture of bicycling.

Chicago Community Cycling Network

Active Projects

Questions? For general inquiries, suggestions and requests, please contact us here (cdotbikes@cityofchicago.org).

If you are a reporter or journalist working on a bike-related story, please contact CDOT News (cdotnews@cityofchicago.org).