Following a series of public meetings and events that gathered community input, the City of Evanston will now analyze data and prepare a draft of its 2026 Bike Plan Update. Building on the city’s 2014 Bike Plan Update, the 2026 update will address changes in bicycle infrastructure, safety trends and travel patterns.
“Currently, biking on the street is hard because there are so many speeding cars,” said freshman Ariella Glassenberg, “but biking on the sidewalk is not safe because there are lots of people who are not paying attention walking on the sidewalk.”
Assistant City Engineer Chris Sous is the project manager for the city’s updated bike plan and is working on a solution to this problem.
“The Bike Plan Update will provide a clear roadmap for improving bicycling throughout the city by identifying priority infrastructure, policies and programs that support safe and convenient travel,” said Sous.
Many bikers in Evanston have highlighted a lack of protected bike infrastructure in Evanston. The plan attempts to help with this issue by evaluating existing bike conditions and networks. This will involve understanding ridership, usage trends and determining how bikers can access key destinations around the city.
In preparation for the update, many volunteers conducted bike counts. Overall, over 100 bike counts were conducted across 33 locations. These counts help the city understand where people are biking and which routes they are using. This data can also be compared to the data which was collected at the same locations a couple of years ago. The comparison enables the city to discover how bike usage around Evanston is changing over the years, along with which routes must be updated or changed.
“ETHS students should know that the new bike plan is working to make biking in the city safer and more convenient, with improvements to streets, routes and connections across the community,” said Sous.
The city also aims to account for high-crash areas and corridors in order to prioritize safety and accessibility for all. With safer and more efficient bike routes, more residents can navigate the city via bicycle.
“I think that it’s in everyone’s best interest to have more people riding their bikes,” said junior Olin Wilson-Thomas, who is heavily involved in climate work both at ETHS and the city, “There would be fewer people driving and less traffic.”
Proponents believe building a new bike culture in Evanston can not only help minimize traffic, but help with global warming and climate change.
“Most students are aware that we’re experiencing a climate crisis right now,” said Wilson-Thomas. “Fewer people, however, are aware that cars and other vehicles make up around one-third of emissions in the City of Evanston.”
He sees biking as a way to help with this problem.
As part of the Bike Plan Update, residents at four joint ward community engagement meetings brought up numerous concerns. These include the importance of safe, protected bike routes leading to District 65 schools and the need for appropriate signage and infrastructure.
“Updates to the bike plan are important because the last plan was completed in 2014,” said Sous. “The update ensures the city’s bicycle network reflects current conditions, identifies gaps, prioritizes improvements and guides investments that enhance safety, connectivity and sustainable transportation.”
While the city says it is making a strong effort to act upon the concerns of the community and ensure that biking in Evanston is safe, some aspects of the plan may take up to six or seven years to complete.
Many students are looking forward to better biking conditions.
“If there was a designated safe place for me to bike, then I would be much more likely to bike,” said Glassenberg.
Students can find a map of existing bike routes in the Hub and scan the QR code on the map to provide input on the plan. Feedback can be submitted through the form until March 15.
The 2026 Bike Plan Update will guide future decisions about biking in Evanston and improve riding conditions for cyclists.
