New Protected Cycling Routes Launch Across Chicago's Lincoln and Oz Parks

Chicago Park District crews finished marking 2.3 miles of new family-designated bike lanes on North Avenue between Wells Street and Clark Street on July 8.

Old Town residents have asked for safer places to ride with children since the district counted 4,800 family bike trips through the neighborhood in 2025, up from 3,100 two years earlier. The lanes connect directly to existing paths inside Lincoln Park and remove the need to cross busy intersections on Wells Street.

Two spots already drawing riders

Lincoln Park’s south section now has a 12-foot-wide paved loop around the Nature Boardwalk that stays under a 10-mile-per-hour speed limit on weekends. Oz Park, two blocks west on Webster Avenue, added a one-mile beginner circuit with rubber speed bumps every 200 yards and a free helmet station at the corner of Larrabee Street. Both locations belong to the district’s “Ride Ready” program, which supplies maps and basic skills classes on the second Saturday of each month.

The district logged 1,150 family rentals at the Lincoln Park boathouse kiosk during the first week of July at $8 per hour for a child trailer or tag-along bike. Old Town Cycling, a local shop on North Avenue, reported selling 47 used kid-sized helmets last week, its highest weekly total since the store opened in 2022.

How to start this weekend

Pick up a free route map at the Oz Park fieldhouse or download it from the Chicago Park District site before heading out. Riders should begin at the North Avenue entrance to Lincoln Park, follow the new lane east for one mile, then turn north on the Nature Boardwalk loop. The full loop takes 35 to 45 minutes at a casual pace and stays flat the entire way. Helmets are required for riders under 18, and the district asks families to ride only during daylight hours through Labor Day.