The long-awaited bike lane project on Church Street in Skokie is nearly complete and the bike lanes in both directions are open from McCormick Boulevard all the way to the village limits west of the Edens Expressway.
There's a short stretch between Niles Center Road and Gross Point where bikes are directed onto an adjacent sidewalk because Church still has two lanes of vehicle traffic. But other than that location, the new on-street painted lanes are clearly marked and are quite wide, particularly in the area west of Gross Point Road where vehicle parking is not allowed.
The new Church Street lanes provide a safer route to the North Branch Trail and the existing bike lanes that go west on Beckwith Road. The short portion of Church Street in Morton Grove west of Skokie and east of the forest preserves does not have marked bike lanes, but it's a wide residential street that is not heavily traveled.
Enjoy the ride!