The Great Canadian Running and Active Transportation Thread!

[Chadillaccc]

I have been doing a lot of running lately, and I feel like active transportation is a big part of the urbanity of major cities, especially in Canada and Europe. As such, I figured this would be a good idea for a thread.


There is no shortage of routes to go for run in Calgary, but here is the 8.5 km route I took today...


http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-go...calculator.htm



Also, here is the plan for the proposed separated bike lane network in the Downtown Commercial Core and Beltline:


Click for larger and more detail about the project: http://www.scribd.com/doc/204917345/...-Track-Network




And also, the city keeps an amazing and extensive map for all active transportation routes throughout the entire city. It's quite wonderful!

Fully interactive map: http://cocnmp.com/bike_and_pathway_m...thway_map.html

Total package: http://www.calgary.ca/_layouts/cocis...edirect=1&sf=1





Share your interests in active transportation too! and any big plans your city may have for improvement of these areas!

[SignalHillHiker]

This is one of the few areas where St. John's does exceptionally well.

The Grand Concourse is our urban trail system, featuring more than 125 kilometres of trails winding throughout St. John's and its major suburban municipalities: Paradise, Mount Pearl, and Conception Bay South. And this doesn't include major expansions currently under construction, including new routes to the north connecting St. John's with Torbay. It also doesn't include most of the trails in city parks, including the massive Pippy Park:

Pippy Park is a 3,400-acre (14 km2) urban park located in the city of St. John's, Newfoundland. The park is a popular camping, hiking and recreational park within the city, and incorporates numerous groomed and wilderness-style hiking/skiing trails, a miniature golf course, a 9-hole and an 18-hole golf course, a driving range, and a public access trailer park with limited tent camping facilities. Trails within the park link to the Grand Concourse walking trails.

The Grand Concourse has received numerous national and international awards and, I've learned through meeting tourists, is actually mentioned in some urban planning classes in British universities.

There are a wide variety of trails:



From distinctly urban ones:





To heavily landscaped natural ones:



To ones that are pretty raw and untamed:



They range in difficultly from completely flat lakeside trails with wheelchair access to, more or less, rock climbing.

Grand Concourse signs and educational plaques are everywhere throughout the city.

[eemy]

I'm definitely an advocate for recreational pathways, or barring that quieter back streets. It is so much nicer running separated from heavy traffic. Unfortunately KW isn't really that great in that regard, at least in the part of the city I live. Fortunately, I live fairly close to the Iron Horse Trail; run down to Victoria Park, loop through there and run back, and I have a pretty nice 10k run.

[Trevor3]

Fredericton, NB
My apartment in Fredericton borders on Odell Park which has 16km or trails for walking/running. There are some pretty steep hill sections so it can be quite vigorous and if you don't know your route you can get lost in there... I have. They do a great job of upkeeping their trails as well, my personal favourite is running along Waterloo Row on the riverfront and then crossing the old rail bridge to the Northside and back. Overall the city has about 80-90km of trails dedicated to non-motorized transport.

Their bike lanes are much less developed but it is a work in progress. A set of paved trails conducive to cycling bisect the city on either side of the river and connect via the rail bridge. Other than that, they have a lot of "Share the Road" signs.

Here's the complete Fredericton trail brochure:
http://fredericton.icreate2.esolutio...14TrailMap.pdf

And the trail info page, with links to their bike lanes, active transport, and other pages as well. I found a playground for adults over there and a photo of it is on this page. I don't want to be that guy but yeah, it's the most ridiculous concept I have ever heard of.
http://www.fredericton.ca/en/recleis...nformation.asp

Stephenville, NL
Much less developed, honestly it's pathetic how few sidewalks we have. The Town has done a great job developing a trail network on the base that incorporates some great views and neat sites like the fossilized forest, the Blanche Brook neighbourhood that was destroyed by flood in 2005, and the entire beach front down to Port Harmon. The "Seaside Stroll" along the beach has bike lanes going in each direction and an additional walking lane on the outside. Given how flat the town is, I'd like to see us really incorporate more pedestrian friendly ideas around town. Some secure bike racks, additional sidewalks on sidestreets leading onto higher traffic streets downtown, etc... We have an aging population and keeping people active and enjoying life in their later years should really be a priority. Build some damn sidewalks!

Our trail/lane map, I'm not sure why they felt the need to point out the location of McDonald's though. And yes, 1/3 of the town is in fact an airport.
http://www.townofstephenville.com/wp...ils-8x11-1.pdf

[lake of the nations]

Here is what we have in downtown Sherbrooke.

First, there is the Lac-des-Nations promenade, a 3.5 km long path around the lake.


Promenade du Lac-des-Nations by destinationsherbrooke, on Flickr


Promenade du Lac-des-Nations by destinationsherbrooke, on Flickr


Promenade du Lac-des-Nations by destinationsherbrooke, on Flickr


Passerelle des draveurs sur la promenade du Lac-des-nations by destinationsherbrooke, on Flickr

You can then take another promenade that follows the Magog river through downtown. This one is much more impressive because of the strong contrast between the urban and the natural settings. Here are two of the "entrances".


Promenade des rapides --- Access to Magog river boardwalk by Petunia_2011, on Flickr


Accès à la passerelle du barrage Frontenac by Petunia_2011, on Flickr

What I meant by urban settings...


Promenade des rapides --- Boardwalk along Magog river by Petunia_2011, on Flickr

And then there's this!


Magog river boardwalk by Petunia_2011, on Flickr


Magog river boardwalk by Petunia_2011, on Flickr


Picnic area along Magog river by Petunia_2011, on Flickr

I made you a map so you can realize how close it is to downtown.

Blue: downtown Sherbrooke
Orange: Lac-des-Nations promenade
Red: Magog river trail


By me

[memememe76]

As a Vancouverite, it's not surprising for anyone to read me write that I do most of my long runs along the Seawall. From Canada Place to Coal Harbour to Stanley Park to English Bay to Yaletown to Olympic Village to Granville Island to Kitsilano.

http://vancouver.ca/files/cov/Seawal...table-Map3.pdf

I also love running along the water in Richmond from Steveston to the Olympic Oval and back.

I ran the Charlottetown Half Marathon last October and it was so beautiful, but a lot more rolling hills than I anticipated. In Halifax, I really enjoyed running along the Waterfront Boardwalk. In Saint John, NB, I enjoyed my runs along the Inner Harbour (although a bit too short for my liking).

When in Victoria, I love running along parts of the Galloping Goose Trail.

http://www.gallopinggoosetrail.com/m...rections.html#

[eemy]

I'm so jealous of the seawall.

[SignalHillHiker]

Me too. There are few trails so flat and so interesting - usually those two things are mutually exclusive to me.

*****

This is an awesome, awesome picture of Sherbrooke, Lake. I love it:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/724433...n/photostream/

Probably my new favourite of that city.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Trevor3

Our trail/lane map, I'm not sure why they felt the need to point out the location of McDonald's though. And yes, 1/3 of the town is in fact an airport.
http://www.townofstephenville.com/wp...ils-8x11-1.pdf

"Proceed with pleasure" is hilariously Stephenville. Proceed is so formal and militant; with Pleasure is so Newfoundland. It's like... "Jigg's Dinner will be served at 1800 hours, b'ys."

They probably point out McD's and McDonald's because they're American?

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

"Proceed with pleasure" is hilariously Stephenville. Proceed is so formal and militant; with Pleasure is so Newfoundland. It's like... "Jigg's Dinner will be served at 1800 hours, b'ys."

They probably point out McD's and McDonald's because they're American?

C'mon, have you ever had the craving for a double big mac/large fries extra salt/DIET coke after a nice jog?

[Trevor3]

Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly

C'mon, have you ever had the craving for a double big mac/large fries extra salt/DIET coke after a nice jog?

I went for a run last night after a feed of Mary Brown's, so I guess it's not that far outside the realm of possibility. haha

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by jeremy_haak

I'm so jealous of the seawall.

The seawall is amazing. I used to run around it all the time as well. What makes it even better is that there are several beaches intersperced along the route, so you can get off the trail and relax a bit, even swim in the firgid Pacific, then get going on your route again.


As far as Calgaary is concerned, the Riverwalk is an amazing amenity. Any river city (cities not on a major body of water) should do this. It is very much like the sea well, just on a river. With steps down to wade in to the water, tons of bridges along the route, and tons of park space to relax in. The second stage of RiverWalk is starting this year and should prove to be just as impressive as the last. This city is doing some amazing things in the active transportation/active public spaces department!

[333609543]

In Toronto there's a long bike path just North of Finch that runs from Finch Station to Jane and maybe even Weston. Also the beaches boardwalk is good for a jog.

[1overcosc]

Ottawa has an extensive network of pathways along the Rideau Canal and the Ottawa River, as well as through the Greenbelt. I have very little personal experience with those though.

Kingston has the Waterfront Trail that wraps around the Lake Ontario shoreline from downtown to Queen's University which is gorgeous but other than that we don't really have that much in the way of pathways. Our downtown streets are well suited for running & cycling though, as traffic flow is slow and drivers are courteous around pedestrians/cyclists.

[memememe76]

I find that most recreational infrastructure tend to focus on the pedestrian experience or the cycling experience. Those who run (and roller blade) are sometimes an afterthought. Olympic Village is the most recent renovation along the Seawall. I appreciate the water fountain right along the path, so I don't have to deviate too much.

Anyone heard of November Project? It began in Boston but it is spreading all over NA. Basically, it's a large mass workout that is free and takes place at some awfully early hour. I haven't been to one, because no major city near where I live has its own chapter. I believe Edmonton is the only Canadian city to have such a chapter.

http://november-project.com/

I imagine that for such an undertaking to succeed, you would need a public square that is easily accessible, conducive to different types of exercises and activities, and can still be used throughout the different seasons and weather conditions. In Vancouver, I could see the new Convention Centre as the base of a November Project. It's accessible by the Skytrain and Canada Line, there are a lot of stairs for some hard workouts, it's partially roofed (because it rains a lot here), it can attract tourists from nearby hotels, and it's close to green space.

[eemy]

I'm in Copenhagen for half a day on my way to Greenland and I have to say, I'm impressed how well this city is built for cycling. It seems every single street, even in the oldest downtown areas, is built with generously sized, dedicated bike lanes, and more often than not, they have some sort of grade separation clearly delineating the cycling space. The Danes really take advantage of it too. It is astonishing how many cyclists are in this city.

[kool maudit]

copenhagen is great for cycling. it's the pre-eminent transportation choice here, and it shows.

[Mikemike]

Most of this thread seems to be about active recreation, not transportation.

Edmonton, like many cities in Canada, has excellent recreational paths, some of which can be useful for actual transportation. Our dedicated active transportation infrastructure is scant; pathetic and poorly designed, but slowly improving.

I hope.

[Daveography]

^ Edmonton is great for bike commuting...if you ignore the bike lanes and just take the streets that make the most sense for your travel plans. Seriously. Most drivers are actually courteous and responsible around cyclists on the streets.

The actual bike routes and lanes are terrible, however. Worse than useless.

[Chadillaccc]

Originally Posted by Mikemike

Most of this thread seems to be about active recreation, not transportation.

That's why I put "running" in the title too, so that it can be for both!