Cycling in Edmonton/Building a Bike Network

[Daveography]

Originally Posted by MrOilers

Is it really that difficult and expensive for the city to go back to those roads and paint a line (and stencil drawing a bike every few hundred meters in there ) 0.5m from the curb? If the lanes are already there, just unmarked, then the difficult and expensive part is done.

Having biked many of the roads with the wider curb lanes, the 0.5m from the curb are actually in really bad shape and would likely need to be redone completely as well. Lots of splits and potholes.

[Airboy]

Originally Posted by MrOilers

I honestly think painted dedicated lanes with clear signage, logically connected and planned out, and all summarized in easily accessible maps is the answer to a lot of this grief.

Education helps, but it isn't a replacement for any of this. After all, theoretically every driver on the road should already be educated on how to drive in traffic with cyclists as part of their vehicle license requirements. And education only really works if you constantly update it all the time, and people don't ignore it. It's tough for drivers (even ignorant ones) to ignore a painted line on the street.

Education is the key. as well as Acceptance.

I was an instructor for a number of Police Mountain Bike units in Western Canada and found that even the Police were lacking in thier knowledge of cycling rules.

But acceptance by drivers is also important. While taking 30 police through Calgary ( All with police on written on their jackets) we were constantly insulted and sworn at by a number of drivers as well as one idiot that forced us to take evesive action

We can only hope that some day we will have the same use of the roads as Scandinavia and parts of Europe.

See attached photo from Belgium


Bike lane in lower right



Bike parking at the Train Station


All the rental bike stops in Lyon Fr

[Hallsy's Toupee]

Global and Mail: Edmonton going out of its way to keep the car king of the road
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle31088063/

While Vancouver is rolling out a bike-share program and Calgary finished a downtown network of bike paths last summer, the car is still king in Edmonton. The city’s first downtown bike path will not be finished before 2020, based on current plans.

Frustrated cyclists and local politicians bemoan a city government lacking ambition. They point to the contrast between what Mayor Don Iveson has accomplished and his progressive image. The young mayor championed active transportation three years ago when he ran for office, but now he has overseen the removal of four bike paths.

“By all accounts, Edmonton has fallen behind and we need political will to move forward,” Councillor Scott McKeen said in an interview from his office in City Hall. “We’ve been doing this in a really half-arsed way.”

Showing clear irritation as he spoke, Mr. McKeen questioned why it takes the city six years to fund and build a single dedicated cycling path, which he mockingly called a “feat of engineering.”

“There’s a frustration at the pace we’re going. Not only at the removal of bike lanes, but that it’ll take another four or five years for the partial completion of two bike paths. It feels like I’ll be dead before there’s a bike network in Edmonton,” Mr. Chan said.

“The city has an A grade for vision and a C grade for follow-through. There’s a wavering when it comes to the tough choices,” Mr. Toderian said in an interview.

“In the context of a global revolution in urban biking, they’re making small steps slowly,” he added. “Edmonton could change its sign from City of Champions to City of Roads.”

[Coldrsx]

If that isn't the shot across our bow to act, I don't know what is...

[BretttheRiderFan]

Well, at least they acknowledge the vision is there, and aren't presenting Edmonton as some sort of reactionary regime.

[Hallsy's Toupee]

Edmonton mayor laments slow progress on bike lanes

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle31211499/

Don Iveson says his inability to get new bike lanes built has been the greatest disappointment of his first three years as Edmonton’s mayor.

With nearly one million residents, Edmonton is the largest Canadian city without any dedicated downtown bike paths and, as The Globe and Mail reported last Saturday, none will be built before the end of the decade according to the city’s current plans.

“Of all the things we’re doing, this is the one where I have the most disappointment,” Mr. Iveson said in an interview on Thursday. “I don’t disagree with the criticism at all; in fact, I share it.”

[Coldrsx]

It is really embarrassing vis a vis.

[Coldrsx]

Mid-Construction Season Update

102 Avenue Bike Route

With the opening of the 102 Avenue Bridge over Groat Road on July 15, the City sees its first section of cycle track.

The sidewalks on the bridge are still under construction (just beyond the black tarp) and until they open in September, the cycle track is being used as a shared-use path. Pedestrians and cyclists are urged to watch out for each other. Thanks for sharing!

The bridge's cycle track will connect with a shared-use path to the west, currently under construction, and a cycle track east which will begin construction in 2017.

Construction of the shared-use path from 136 Street to Connaught Drive is just beginning. Utilities are staked out along the sidewalk near the 102 Avenue bridge in preparation for construction. Further east, from 130 Street to 136 Street, the sidewalk is closed and has already been dug out. Please be careful in the area.

Construction of the shared-use path is on schedule and is expected to be complete by fall.


*New* If you find yourself at 102 Avenue and 130 Street, check out Edmonton's first traffic signal for cyclists. As the 102 Avenue cycle track builds out, more of these lights are planned.

On the other side of the river, construction is also well underway.









83 Avenue Bike Route

Construction of the bike boulevard from 99 Street to 96 Street includes the complete reconstruction of the road, curbs, gutters and adjacent sidewalks, To date, sidewalks on both sides of the street are complete except on the north side of 83 Avenue from 96 Street to 97 Street.

Currently, the intersection of 83 Avenue and 98 Street is closed for utility work. Cyclists are detouring using 84 Avenue, which is a fairly calm road due to construction in the area.

Work is expected to be complete by this fall.


Other News
Downtown Temporary Bike Grid

On July 12, 2016, Councillor McKeen presented a motion at City Council “That Administration, in partnership with Stantec, provide an updated report on a minimum grid for physically separated bike lane infrastructure in the City of Edmonton's core and the report should include the potential use of relatively inexpensive (within existing resources) temporary infrastructure (example: bollards, mobile concrete curbs), as can be found in the City of Calgary's pilot project.”

City Administration will bring this report to City Council's new Urban Planning Committee on September 28.

For More Information:

Visit: www.edmonton.ca/cycling
Email: cycling@edmonton.ca
Call: 780-944-5600

[Hallsy's Toupee]

This is awesome!

Free tools for cyclists at new Old Strathcona bike repair station
Bike repairs on the go in front of Old Strathcona's Next Act Pub
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmont...tion-1.3707139

[Coldrsx]

I wish we had a bunch more of those in key locations.

[McBoo]

The 102 ave bridge bike lanes are what all bike lanes should be - separated from traffic.

I kn ow it's frustrating for some (though oddly not for any of the bicycle commuters I know), but we got put back by the idiot transportation planners who thought non-separated lanes on roads no one wants to bike down was the answer.

Now, we finally get it right and will get it right on 102 ave DT too.

Wot, the Calgary-centric Grope and Flail finds a way to try and make Edmonton look bad and we take it seriously?

What a shock.

[Mikemike]

^Isn't it still Toronto-Centric?

Bike lane inaction HAS been an issue here. It really seems like nothing gets done, even where there's construction it's substandard. Look at what's been build so far on 105 ave, either on the far west section, or around MacEwan station. It's third rate.


Speaking of Bike lanes and Toronto-centric, I was in toronto last week and their new fancy route on queens quay isn't all that. It fades to the least of markers at cross streets, driveways and plazas making it extremely easy for pedestrians to wander into it, expecially since most of those driveways and cross streets see so little car traffic that they're effectively pedestrian spaces. I was nearly hit by a cyclist as I tried to get to the streetcar platform - my fault, I guess, but also the designer's fault. Just not at all the cyclist's fault.

[rapid_business]

Originally Posted by McBoo

Wot, the Calgary-centric Grope and Flail finds a way to try and make Edmonton look bad and we take it seriously?

What a shock.

The Globe & Mail article was bang on. We need to take our medicine when it comes to a failure of inaction on well designed bike lanes and to be called out nationally helps.

And as for journalism (despite their sensational headlines about Alberta at times, despite the recent efforts of Justin Giovannetti), I'll take the G&M over any other rag printed in this country any day.

[Makenosmallplans]

Originally Posted by rapid_business

The Globe & Mail article was bang on. We need to take our medicine when it comes to a failure of inaction on well designed bike lanes and to be called out nationally helps.

And as for journalism (despite their sensational headlines about Alberta at times, despite the recent efforts of Justin Giovannetti), I'll take the G&M over any other rag printed in this country any day.

Completely agree. the article was bang on regardless of what one thinks of the publication.

[Hallsy's Toupee]

Isn't Justin Giovannetti a local writer?

[Landlocked]

Originally Posted by Airboy

Education is the key. as well as Acceptance.

...


...
http://www.holiday-weather.com/bruss...rages/january/

All the rental bike stops in Lyon Fr

Incredibly similar temperature for Lyon in January.

As you said, education is the key. Are there metro areas with winter climates similar to ours that have tremendous support for cyclists?

[rapid_business]

Originally Posted by Hallsy's Toupee

Isn't Justin Giovannetti a local writer?

Yes. I was implying that he sheds some better context from the ground in Edmonton than from 3500km away on Front Street. Same as when we had that G&M journalist whose name escapes me but moved to the Ottawa desk a year or two ago.

[Mikemike]

Originally Posted by Landlocked

...


...
http://www.holiday-weather.com/bruss...rages/january/

All the rental bike stops in Lyon Fr

Incredibly similar temperature for Lyon in January.

As you said, education is the key. Are there metro areas with winter climates similar to ours that have tremendous support for cyclists?

Yes.

Minneapolis. Montreal. Many cities in Finland.

Check out Oulu, finland. 1/3 of all school kids bike to school year round. 30% bike mode share in the summer and over 10% in the winter. it's only ~200,000 so there are additional challenges in a larger city, but it's a pretty good idea of what a city in our climate can do.

[Landlocked]

Originally Posted by Mikemike

Yes.

Minneapolis. Montreal. Many cities in Finland.

Check out Oulu, finland. 1/3 of all school kids bike to school year round. 30% bike mode share in the summer and over 10% in the winter. it's only ~200,000 so there are additional challenges in a larger city, but it's a pretty good idea of what a city in our climate can do.

Thanks. Oulu and Minneapolis seem like a better comparison. Romantic images of bike filled streets are going to convince only those who are already convinced. Instead show successful pictures of bicycle commuters in winter cities.

[rapid_business]

Originally Posted by Landlocked

Thanks. Oulu and Minneapolis seem like a better comparison. Romantic images of bike filled streets are going to convince only those who are already convinced. Instead show successful pictures of bicycle commuters in winter cities.

Hell, Calgary (as per the G&M article) is the comparison we need. Same province, similar weather, similar cities (in many comparisons, lets not talk about head offices, etc.)... If they can do it and be successful, that should tell the crowd that says no one would use it, that in fact, it would get used and used well.