'Accident waiting to happen': Why cops can now ticket bicyclists in Arlington Alfresco

Aiming to keep the Arlington Alfresco outdoor dining zone in downtown Arlington Heights pedestrian-friendly, police this week gained new powers to issue warnings and citations to bicyclists riding through the area.

Officers on patrol are now able to write a compliance warning ticket or local ordinance violation ticket to people riding bicycles on a pedestrian way. Before, cops could issue only state traffic tickets.

"We've had a number of folks that have violated bicycle rules specifically in the Alfresco zone, where folks are riding their bikes in there. They're not supposed to," said Village Manager Randy Recklaus. "While we want to increase the safety in the Alfresco zone, we want to do so in a friendly manner. We want to make sure that our officers have the proper discretion to determine whether a warning ticket versus something stricter should be issued."

Anyone cited under the municipal code would appear before a hearing officer at village hall, as part of the administrative adjudication process. More serious violations would still be heard at the Cook County courthouse in Rolling Meadows.

At the request of the police department, the village board this week approved changes to village code instituting the alternative enforcement mechanism. It would apply throughout the village, but much of cops' attention is on the downtown, where Campbell Street and Vail Avenue are shut down to motor vehicles in the summer.

"When we're setting up our downtown in Alfresco mode, those areas are a pedestrian way, and typically you're not supposed to ride your bikes on a pedestrian way," Recklaus said.

Trustee Jim Bertucci, a downtown resident, said he was nearly struck by a bicyclist at Alfresco.

"The restaurant owners and business owners down there always stop me and say, 'What can we do about these bike riders?'" Bertucci said. "We were all teenagers and we all rode in packs on our bikes, but when they come storming through sometime on those bikes and grandma, who's 70 or 80 wants to enjoy (Alfresco) ... it's just an accident waiting to happen."