Calgary Cycling Paths & Infrastructure

[Radley77]

Testing and Improvement of Ride the City Calgary Routing

Bike Calgary has been working on improving onstreet bike routing on the following website:

http://ridethecity.com/calgary

The website uses open source data unlike Google Street Maps meaning that not only can anyone edit it and is not proprietary to Google:

https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=calgar...mid=1343254908 )

Reference:
Bike Calgary - Testing and Improving Ride the City Calgary Routing

[hulkrogan]

^Kind of cool, but my first search was missing the Bridgeland/Memorial LRT overpass which made the route a bit longer.

[Radley77]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

^Kind of cool, but my first search was missing the Bridgeland/Memorial LRT overpass which made the route a bit longer.

I believe there is a weekly update schedule so it should get better over time as people make edits improving routing results. Right now, google mapmaker gives me *better* results. What I like about "Ride the City" over Google Maps is that it has the option to select direct, safe or safer routes. I think the ability to choose routing based on comfort level is helpful.

[Radley77]

Calgary a prime spot for bike stations, says coordinator

With many cyclists struggling to find secure bike parking in Calgary’s downtown core, the city’s cycling coordinator said bike stations might be the solution.

Tom Thivener said in a previous interview with Metro that facilities known as bike stations can house elements like secure parking, showers, bike rental facilities and possibly a tune up shop.

“Having central places whether they’re publicly run, privately run or a combination public-private partnership, it’s a dedicated facility where you can pull up, park your bike, safe and secure,” said Thivener. “It’s very, very popular.”

Cycling advocate and president of Bike Calgary Brent Clark said parking in the city’s downtown core is limited so a bike station would likely go over well.

“I think there’s a demand for secure parking, for sure,” said Clark. “I think a lot of people parking outside would appreciate the option and if it’s in the right spot, it would get used.”

Ald. Druh Farrell, who has advocated in the past for the city to adopt a bike share, said bike stations are aligned with that concept.
“I believe that there is a need,” she said. “Location would be very important.”

Thivener, who came to Calgary from Arizona, pointed to cities such Tempe, Ariz., which has a bike station located near Arizona State University.

“It’s a great facility to have, especially in urban areas,” he said. “For a modern city, I’m surprised (Calgary) doesn’t have one yet.”

Bike stations present and future:

• The city’s long-term cycling strategy states plans to “develop strategies for implementing bicycle stations in Calgary.”
• The City of Chicago has a bike station called the McDonald’s Cycle Center, which provides parking, showers and lockers, bicycle repair and bike rentals to members.

Reference: http://metronews.ca/news/calgary/312...s-coordinator/

From this article, it seems as if Tom Thivener, and not Nicole Jensen has become the go-to person for cycling in Calgary.

Also, the idea of focusing on cycling parking over bike sharing seems like a more effective idea in my opinion. I think City of Calgary could add 50% more bike parking scattered in the downtown; the ability to go DIRECTLY to a business and parking your bike versus circling your car around several downtown blocks is a vastly more compelling when travelling short distances. The other thing is there is lots of sidewalk space available and no constraints to adding bike parking in the downtown.

Whereas with bike share, one cannot park directly at a destination and it costs more to use.

I have noticed some days where all the bike parking on Stephen Ave is used up. I think short blocks should have a target of 5 bike stands and long blocks should have a target of 10 bike stands.

[Radley77]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

^Kind of cool, but my first search was missing the Bridgeland/Memorial LRT overpass which made the route a bit longer.

FYI: "Ride The City - Calgary" now has this overpass routing included as an amendment as of today.

[Radley77]

Bike Calgary and Open Streets Calgary met a different kind of hardcore urban cyclist at the Rock The Walk event on Saturday in the East Village Calgary. Ken is an 88 year old resident of Parkdale whose cycling commitment has continued when most his age have become sedentary. When Ken's legs started to slow down he enthusiastically added an electric assist so he could continue taking long rides from Point McKay to downtown and West on the pathways. Next, when Ken's lungs began to deteriorate it was only logical to Ken, not to ride less, but to strap oxygen tanks to his rattle trap! He says his doctor gets a lot of mileage out of Ken's dedication to the health benefits of cycling and so do we!



If you are interested in cycling in Calgary, and desire to share and learn about how to make Calgary more bike friendly, please consider getting a free membership here:

www.bikecalgary.org

[AB Born]

Tonight the rest of the River Walk pathway system opened from East Village to the 9th Ave bridge that crosses the Elbow River. I biked it and have a few comments on what I noticed:
- It’s a big improvement over what was there previously but is a much smaller scale than the rest of the River Walk system
- Separate paved bike path & walking path… the walking path section is skinnier then the other River Walk section
- No cool colour changing LED’s, just white halogen (I believe) lights illuminating the pathway.
- No “steps” down to the river on random parts of the path
- No “jut-outs” overlooking the river
- No green lounge chairs but there are a very limited number of the same style wooden benches like the rest of River Walk
- There is a promenade under construction close to 9th Ave, looks promising

Edit:
- No blue help phone / security camera stations
- Upon further thought the promenade looks like the spot where they will build the future bridge over the Elbow.

[Tropics]

Originally Posted by AB Born

Tonight the rest of the River Walk pathway system opened from East Village to the 9th Ave bridge that crosses the Elbow River. I biked it and have a few comments on what I noticed:
- It’s a big improvement over what was there previously but is a much smaller scale than the rest of the River Walk system
- Separate paved bike path & walking path… the walking path section is skinnier then the other River Walk section
- No cool colour changing LED’s, just white halogen (I believe) lights illuminating the pathway.
- No “steps” down to the river on random parts of the path
- No “jut-outs” overlooking the river
- No green lounge chairs but there are a very limited number of the same style wooden benches like the rest of River Walk
- There is a promenade under construction close to 9th Ave, looks promising

That is overall fairly depressing.

The Riverwalk pathway as it is in front of the Harry Hays is phenomenal and I would happily spend alot of my tax dollars seeing the entire Bow River from East Village all the way to just past Crowchild Trail built to the same level of grandeur. I think that a unbelievable riverpath system with those changing lights, tons of river viewing areas, river access, ect... would be a huge selling point of the city and a simply amazing place for people to hang out. It would also increase the value of alot of the real estate near the river and have the chance to get more people commuting to work downtown via the pathway.

If anyone from the city is reading this, please go nuts, spend tons of my tax money on this, take more if need be and make the whole riverpath system awesome, I am pretty sure the city will get paid back for it over time.

[WIGS]

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[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Tropics

That is overall fairly depressing.

The Riverwalk pathway as it is in front of the Harry Hays is phenomenal and I would happily spend alot of my tax dollars seeing the entire Bow River from East Village all the way to just past Crowchild Trail built to the same level of grandeur. I think that a unbelievable riverpath system with those changing lights, tons of river viewing areas, river access, ect... would be a huge selling point of the city and a simply amazing place for people to hang out. It would also increase the value of alot of the real estate near the river and have the chance to get more people commuting to work downtown via the pathway.

If anyone from the city is reading this, please go nuts, spend tons of my tax money on this, take more if need be and make the whole riverpath system awesome, I am pretty sure the city will get paid back for it over time.

It is, but perhaps it's too much to hope for for the whole thing to be like that? Maybe having 'nodes' of enhancements would make it more interesting.

[MalcolmTucker]

I would be more than happy with separated bike and walking paths being implemented along the river in sections where they don't currently exist. That alone would be a huge improvement. Providing enough space for that would be difficult and expensive enough.

[Radley77]

Improvements to 311

Been some pretty big improvements to 311 for cycling that allows one to provide better feedback to the City of Calgary. I think this is very important because many of the things I seem to notice that could be improved with cycling in Calgary are important, but at a micro-scale. The new system allows you to pinpoint the issue on Google Maps as well as describe the issue.

• Bike Curb Ramp - Request for new
• Bike Detour (On Street) Query
• Bike Parking Query
• Bike Rack - Repair/Remove/Replace
• Bike Rack Installation Request
• Bike Route - On Street - Existing route only query
• Bike Route - On Street - Request for new
• Bike Safey & Education Query
• Bikes & Transit
• Centre City Bike Routes
• Cycling Information Session Query
• Cycling Surveys Query
• Other municipality/organization Query
• Park'n'Bike Query
• Remove from Email Mailing List Request
• U of C/Brentwood Bike Routes Query
• West LRT Bike Routes Query

In my community, I know there are some possibility for requests for new bike routes that are *easy*, curb ramp fixes, and bike racks that could be added at several different areas like schools and LRT. I have heard stories about cycling issues like bike rack installation by the LRT at University of Calgary (which I think would be obvious) have taken years and there has been a general lack of accountability.

There are a lot of things that could be added to this, but I think this will help cover a lot of the low-hanging service fruit (don't cost a lot and address key issues).

http://www.calgary.ca/CS/CSC/Pages/3-1-1.aspx

[Calgarian]

Havent seen any discussion on the new separated bike lanes the city is proposing, what do people think of them? I think it's a good idea as it will prevent motorists from parking in them, but it does restrict the ability of cyclists to cross the road when needed.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/travel/...080/story.html

[Radley77]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Havent seen any discussion on the new separated bike lanes the city is proposing, what do people think of them? I think it's a good idea as it will prevent motorists from parking in them, but it does restrict the ability of cyclists to cross the road when needed.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/travel/...080/story.html

Very overdue in my opinion. Calgary is badly lagging behind places like Chicago or Portland or Minneapolis. Minneapolis is the best cycling city in the US. I think in some ways Calgary is an analogy for these cities, Chicago's dense business centre, Minneapolis climate, and Portland is similar population. All of these cities have grown the network, made there cities more liveable and grown the number of cyclists. This is not innovation anymore, simply catching up to what has been proven concepts in other jurisdictions.

I think Calgary will get a few cycle tracks although the super stakeholder engagement will take some time. Most aldermen have recognized this is the right thing to do though, and so the question is not if but how fast bearing in mind cycling is only 0.5% of transportation capital budget.

Expect to see all sorts of ridiculous arguments against cycling like, "cyclists dont pay taxes", "cyclists shouldnt be allowed infrastructure until they follow the rules of the road", "city hall is social engineering", "calgary goes to -30c for 4 months a year", or "calgary is too big now to have cyclist infrastucture." Really brings out the most regressive nimbys in Calgary.

[DizzyEdge]

Are there any stats online about bike trips daily into the core?

[Radley77]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Are there any stats online about bike trips daily into the core?

10,000 per day in the CBD cordon survey. Compares against 1,000 parking spots in Centennial Parkade. Daily rates for parking in the downtown would skyrocket if cyclists had to use an auto instead.

Bikes account for 6% of traffic entering the downtown during peak hour and have 0% designated road allocation in the CBD.

[Ferreth]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Havent seen any discussion on the new separated bike lanes the city is proposing, what do people think of them? I think it's a good idea as it will prevent motorists from parking in them, but it does restrict the ability of cyclists to cross the road when needed.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/travel/...080/story.html

Typical 'Stir the pot' headline : "Separated bike lanes about four-times the cost of ordinary lanes"

To my thinking, that is ONLY 4 times the cost of painting some lines ($25K/km vs $100K/km). I give them credit for at least putting in the perspective of adding two lanes of road at $8500K per km, but by that point the reactionarys will have stopped reading and will be screaming about all the tax money being spent on road work no one will use.

I'm definitely in favor of building the "deluxe" version at 100k/km. I use the painted line lane on 8th Ave NE to climb the hill to 19th street. I find the lines are pretty much ignored by cars going along there. In fact, half the year the lines don't even exist from all the cars driving over them. At the very least, get a grooving machine to cut down the pavement to remind drivers they are getting close to the curb - a white line is just treated as a typical shoulder by those drivers who don't read road signs.

I await the final design - the details of the design will determine if the cycling corridor is actually safer, without greatly impeding all users.

[Radley77]

Does anyone know roughly how much a CBD Calgary parking space title would fetch? Also wondering what it would cost to build 10,000 parking spaces (roughly)??

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Radley77

10,000 per day in the CBD cordon survey. Compares against 1,000 parking spots in Centennial Parkade. Daily rates for parking in the downtown would skyrocket if cyclists had to use an auto instead.

Bikes account for 6% of traffic entering the downtown during peak hour and have 0% designated road allocation in the CBD.

Do you have any links where I could view the source docs for those #s?

[Radley77]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Do you have any links where I could view the source docs for those #s?

See link here: http://bikecalgary.org/comment/25450