Calgary Cycling Paths & Infrastructure

[UofC.engineer]

http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation...amis-Road.aspx

Option 2! Option 2!

[Tropics]

Originally Posted by UofC.engineer

http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation...amis-Road.aspx

Option 2! Option 2!

That thing is barely more then a glorified bike path already. For sure option 2.

[lineman]

Hey I drive that road to get home if I have to cut through downtown!







That said, if it were closed to vehicles, I wouldn't be upset.

[DizzyEdge]

I wonder if there might be another subtle reason to close the road. Often when there has been a checkstop at the top of the hill on Centre street an unusual number of cars take Samis road rather than continuing up Centre...

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by Tropics

That thing is barely more then a glorified bike path already. For sure option 2.

Not to mention the stability of that hill, it'd be far easier to deal with the loads from a pedestrian/bike path than from cars

[Radley77]

I don't get what the City of Calgary is trying to connect since there are no continuous west/east or north/south cycling boulevards in the area.

[hulkrogan]

I think that is the biggest problem:

"Oh! We can put a bike lane here. There isn't much traffic so it won't hurt cars too much"

But that bike lane is useless because it doesn't connect to anything.

Even the 10th street bike lane. Get serious and fire it over the bridge instead of having that ridiculous left turn movement.

There is a bike lane on 8th ave (ok some spray painted pictures of bikes on the road) which is great to get people in Mayland heights West. But how do they get downtown? It doesn't go anywhere...

10th Ave, bike lane. 3rd Street south of 10th ave, bike way. River front, lots of bike infrastructure. How the hell do I get from the river to 10th or 3rd!? Some balls are needed instead of worrying about messing up traffic.

[DavidKuitunen]

Calgary cycling co-ordinator gears up for new role
Tom Thivener will oversee Calgary's $28 million cycling strategy

[DavidKuitunen]

Trailer:

Video Link

Full Documentary:

Video Link

An interesting video about Brussels, keep in mind Brussels is only 200kms from Amsterdam which is arguably the cycling capital of the world.

[UofC.engineer]

Great Video! Thank you very much for posting this.

I like the part where one guy mentioned that 75% of Stockholm citzens were initially opposed to a tax on cars entering downtown but after it was introduced and auto traffic decreased, 75% of people were in favour of the tax.

I think the planners and politicians of Calgary need to have courage and implement cycling tracks in the DT instead of bike lanes. People need to feel safe riding there bikes into downtown, and if that means taking out a lane of car traffic on 6th ave, then so be it...If that means Rick Bell and his Sun crew getting out pitch forks and going on a witch hunt, then so be it. Check out this car using the 10th ave bike lanes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=iomuNGO1oHE

This is a good discussion too:
http://thirdwavecyclingblog.wordpres...ed-bike-lanes/

[UofC.engineer]

Looks like some info on our first DT bike lanes were released:

http://www.calgary.ca/Transportation...-8-Avenue.aspx

[uptown]

On the 9th Ave bike lanes in Inglewood the police have been ticketing people using the bike/bus lane fairly regularly in the last week.

[Full Mountain]

Originally Posted by uptown

On the 9th Ave bike lanes in Inglewood the police have been ticketing people using the bike/bus lane fairly regularly in the last week.

I believe that Alderman Mar, put pressure on the police to enforce those bike lanes after that video came to light

[DizzyEdge]

Does anyone know when the bike lane which goes along the river north of Fort Calgary will be open again?

[Radley77]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

Does anyone know when the bike lane which goes along the river north of Fort Calgary will be open again?

Nope, however, CMLC did a map of what routes are closed currently though:
http://www.calgarymlc.ca/sites/defau...way_detour.pdf

I would guess they would be closed until the SPI bridge is finished construction (May 2013 at least before open).

[Radley77]

This is a good article:

"Why Bike Lanes are not cool"
http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2012/...-are-not-cool/

Mostly, I use a bike because I have compelling reasons to use it. The city of Calgary should not treat bikes as a priority on every street, but focus on recognizing opportunities within the context of communities and the need to be convenient and tie-in to major activity centres, schools, parks and places of residence.

As a side note, Renfrew community association which I met with a few months ago, has decided to have a Bike Day this upcoming weekend. It is great to see communities so passionate about cycling!

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Radley77

This is a good article:

"Why Bike Lanes are not cool"
http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2012/...-are-not-cool/

Mostly, I use a bike because I have compelling reasons to use it. The city of Calgary should not treat bikes as a priority on every street, but focus on recognizing opportunities within the context of communities and the need to be convenient and tie-in to major activity centres, schools, parks and places of residence.

As a side note, Renfrew community association which I met with a few months ago, has decided to have a Bike Day this upcoming weekend. It is great to see communities so passionate about cycling!

I was just discussing this sort of thing with a friend last night. I do think that bike lanes and high traffic requires a whole lot of compromises, so that lanes should be focused on light traffic roads so less compromises are needed.

[DizzyEdge]

Originally Posted by Radley77

Nope, however, CMLC did a map of what routes are closed currently though:
http://www.calgarymlc.ca/sites/defau...way_detour.pdf

I would guess they would be closed until the SPI bridge is finished construction (May 2013 at least before open).

Brutal, it's a mess on the single 9th ave sidewalk with two directions of pedestrians and cyclists sharing it.

https://maps.google.com/?ll=51.04401...11.07,,0,16.06

They should repaint the lines so that instead of 2 lanes west and 3 lanes east, it's 2 and 2, with the lane closes to Fort Calgary turned into a temporary 2 way bike lane.

Or, https://maps.google.com/?ll=51.04391...,,0,15.24&z=19

Mark the grassy area beside the sidewalk as a temporary bike path.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by DizzyEdge

I was just discussing this sort of thing with a friend last night. I do think that bike lanes and high traffic requires a whole lot of compromises, so that lanes should be focused on light traffic roads so less compromises are needed.

On busier roads combined HOV, Taxi and bike lanes are more than adequate - more leisurely paced cyclists can go on secondary routes.

[mrcccondor]

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

On busier roads combined HOV, Taxi and bike lanes are more than adequate - more leisurely paced cyclists can go on secondary routes.

If you want it it to be efficient and safe for cyclist, they should never share the same lane as a car - different acceleration, turning and ride comfort requirements. I understand this is a necessary compromise in some situations, but I wouldn't call it adequate if you consider cycling as a primary mode of transportation (like the City should according the to MDP)