Cycling and Active Transportation in Edmonton

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Group representing bicyclists suggests ways to ease bottlenecks on High Level Bridge
New suicide barriers on the High Level Bridge have prompted complaints from cyclists and pedestrians crossing the North Saskatchewan River.

Chris Chan, executive director of the Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society, has a handful of suggestions that may ease the bottlenecks the new barriers have only made worse.

“None of them are mutually exclusive,” Chan said. “They all have different timelines and different costs associated with them that make sense.”

He would like to see all the solutions eventually adopted, but by spacing them out over time, he hopes they will be more palatable to taxpayers and practical to implement.

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)

 

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One group's proposals to fix the High Level Bridge
If there's one thing most Edmontonians use and have a stake in, it's the High Level Bridge.

But in the wake of new suicide barriers along the bridge that many have long called for, space for pedestrians and cyclists who aren't using the driving lanes in the middle — estimated to be up to 4,000 people daily — has been reduced.

The Edmonton Bicycle Commuters Society has offered four ideas to alleviate the collisions and near misses that many pedestrians and cyclists are now reporting after the change.

Full Story (Metro Edmonton)

 

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Dismount and turn in your six-shooters to City Admin. This is getting ridiculous!

 

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Don Iveson issues mea culpa for High Level Bridge fiasco
Mayor Don Iveson has issued his own mea culpa for the High Level Bridge fiasco.

“This is an example of what can go wrong when the City is in a hurry,” he said in a blog post Saturday.

Cyclists have been frustrated with Edmonton’s new suicide barriers since they first started getting installed on the high-traffic, north-south corridor. But things really came to a head last month, when crews closed the west side pedestrian crossing and forced everyone onto the narrower east passageway.

It didn’t help when Iveson lost his patience last Monday on CBC’s call-in show. He’s been testy on the issue all month. On Monday, he told listeners he was “tired of being lectured” about the impact of the new barriers.

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)

 

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Edmonton's downtown bike lane network study aims to rival Calgary
A California traffic engineer visiting Edmonton to work on downtown bike lanes is confident our city streets can be transformed to be cyclist-friendly.

Rock Miller, who has led projects in a dozen North American cities with Stantec and most recently helped develop an extensive bike lane network in Calgary, rode through downtown Edmonton Sunday.

“The downtown area is notable for a very minimum of bike infrastructure,” Miller said, adding that many cities have had the same problem when he started.

“In the example of Calgary, we started with a relatively minimal amount of bike infrastructure and ended up adding as much in one year as any city in North America has done.”

Full Story (Metro Edmonton)

 

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Desire lines — the Edmonton cycling edition
Think of the last time you were in a well-used city park and saw a path etched into the ground by walkers and cyclists.

That's what urbanists call a "desire line." Think of it as a path a city should have built, as it's located where people want to use it.

One Edmonton group is using different evidence of desire lines for cyclists — collisions with drivers of cars and trucks — to build a guide for where cycling infrastructure needs to be built in Edmonton.

Full Story (Metro Edmonton)

 

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Part bike-lane, part sidewalk: shared trail on 102 Ave. raises fears that 'someone is going to get creamed'
Crews are getting ready to pour concrete for Edmonton’s newest set of bike lanes, but cyclists and others worry they look more like sidewalks.

The 102 Avenue bike lane is being installed as a shared-use path on the north side of the road from 136 Street to Groat Road. It looks like a wide sidewalk. Residents worry about collisions between pedestrians and bikes. Cyclists are concerned about dangerous intersections. City staff are already planning an education campaign.

“I don’t like the sidewalk,” said cyclist Ken Borch, who figures he’ll stick to the street even when the new path is finished. He cycles the route almost daily.

“When you’re on the street, you’re not in as much danger as on the sidewalk because of the intersections.”

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)

 

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Edmonton going out of its way to keep the car king of the road
It’s a Monday afternoon and with nowhere else to go, an Edmonton cyclist weaves through throngs of office workers on a downtown street. There are close calls as the man, wearing a dress shirt, slacks and no helmet, inches between pedestrians.

Beside him a six-lane boulevard is busy with pickup trucks and SUVs.

There’s nowhere else for the cyclist to go because Edmonton is the largest Canadian city without a single dedicated bike path downtown.

Full Article (Globe & Mail)

Edmonton mayor laments slow progress on bike lanes
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.”

Full Article (Globe & Mail)

 

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Your velo needs a quick fix? No problem now in Edmonton
Cyclists with ailing bikes can now get a quick fix right off Whyte Avenue.

A new repair station installed on the sidewalk next to the bike corrals at 8224 104 St. will be equipped with a tire pump and a stand that has eight tools for minor repairs.

“It’s everything you would need for a DIY repair,” said Ben Taylor with Steam Whistle Brewing, the company that financed the station. “You can hang your bike from it and you can pump up your tires, you can change your inner tubes, you can tighten all the nuts and bots and all the hardware.”

Full Story (Metro Edmonton)

 

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Edmonton blogger breaks down cycling by the numbers
Local blogger Michael Ross has crunched the numbers and came up with a conclusion you might have guessed; separated shared bike paths are the best way to keep cyclists safe.

Ross, who runs the popular blog Extreme Enginerding, found when he compared annual weekday traffic and bicycle injuries per kilometer on various lane types that separated shared paths was a safer way to travel than on road painted bike lanes.

Full Story (Metro Edmonton)

 

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Council puts Edmonton's first car-free Ciclovia event on table for 2017
City officials will plan Edmonton’s first car-free festival, or Ciclovia, this fall, proposing a pilot project that could grow into a regular event.

Coun. Ben Henderson pitched the idea to promote cycling, running and other modes of active transportation, while Mayor Don Iveson said it could be a redevelopment opportunity for local business revitalization zones.

Council asked officials to prepare a plan and present it during budget discussions in November. The pilot event would happen in 2017.

“You basically take a roadway on a day that’s not going to cause too many disruptions and you allow people to walk on the space, ride their bikes, do whatever,” said Henderson. “It’s been done hugely successfully in other places. It’s amazing to me that we’ve never looked at doing this.”

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)

 

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Downtown Edmonton minimum bike-lane grid endorsed by councillors
Ten-year-old Lauren Ybema told city council Wednesday that they needed to hurry up and build bike lanes.

“Two years ago, I spoke to city council about bike lanes and I still haven’t ridden on one,” Ybema said.

Ybema, an avid cyclist, told councillors it was time the city lived up to its bike lane promises — and that she wanted separate lanes downtown to ride more places safely.

“I would like to be separate from the cars so you don’t have to worry about them,” she said. “More people would be able to enjoy downtown.”

City councillors, at the urban planning committee, agreed with Ybema, and seven other advocates who turned out to endorse the plan, and voted unanimously Wednesday to endorse a network of separated bike lanes across the downtown core.

Full Story (Metro Edmonton)

 

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Supporters dominate debate on Edmonton's downtown cycle track
Michael Sands is worried about the new cycle tracks.

The Fountain Tire owner has a set of 12 parking stalls that require customers to back out onto the street. They’ve been grandfathered into the zoning since 1959, but would be a hazard if the cycle tracks run past.

But city council hasn’t heard his concerns yet. The city didn’t do a wide public consultation. It won’t before voting Tuesday on whether to roll out the new 7.1-kilometre separated grid in downtown Edmonton next summer.

If approved, the cycle tracks will use a new model of public consultation – one that relies more on making it easier to fix mistakes, less on trying to predict them by showing detailed shop drawings to the public.

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)

Edmonton councillors face decision on downtown bike lanes
The push for a fully separated bike lane grid downtown could move across the finish line Tuesday, as councillors vote to give their approval of the plan.

The proposed basic minimum grid downtown would see lanes along 104 Avenue, 102Avenue and 100 Avenue, as well as 106 Street, 103 Street and 99 Street using planters and small curbs to separate traffic.

Some councillors at the city’s urban development committee gave their approval unanimously last month, but to move ahead with the $7.5 million proposal a majority of the 13-member council will have to support them Tuesday.

Chris Chan, executive director of the Edmonton Bicycle Commuter’s Society, said they’re confident there are enough votes to support the plan.

He said they want councillors to know it’s not only the right decision, but one supported by the public.

Full Story (Metro Edmonton)

 

[Daveography]

Make Something YEG ‏@makeitYEG 4 minutes ago
#yegbikegrid just passed at #yegcc! Coming next summer to downtown! Way to go @pathsforppl, @Stantec, @CityofEdmonton and everyone involved.

Edm Mayor Office ‏@YEGMayorOffice
#yegcc unanimously passes #yegbike grid. Mayor @doniveson adds motion to see if it could be expanded into University/Strathcona area in 2018

 

[Daveography]

Council approves protected Edmonton downtown bike lanes for 2017
Cyclists celebrated a unanimous vote at city council Tuesday to build a network of downtown bike lanes safe enough for children and seniors by the summer of 2017.

Cheering and toasting success at City Hall after the vote, many cyclists hope this marks a major reset for Edmonton’s on-again, off-again bike lanes.

“This is a great move forward for Edmonton,” said cyclist Jill Hoselton, adding she’d like to feel safe taking her six-month-old daughter on a bike lane in a bike trailer some day.

“Many groups have been advocating for this for many years. It’s going to happen,” added former councillor Michael Phair, board member for the lobby group Paths for People. “We’re going to have a bike grid downtown that’s a safe place for people to ride their bikes and it will be the beginning, we hope, of an extended grid throughout the city.”

Full Story (Edmonton Journal)

Cyclists pumped over approval of downtown bike grid
Cheryl Trepanier is already thinking about cycling to downtown destinations like Rogers Place next year, after Edmonton city council approved a new bike lane network in the city core.

"This is a game changer for a lot of families to be able to access what our downtown has to offer," said Trepanier, who was at city hall to toast the news Tuesday.

Trepanier said she'd like to cycle downtown with family members now, but they're reluctant given bikes must currently riding alongside traffic.

"It's very difficult," she said. "There are cars going different ways. Nobody really knows where to go. There's no segregated space."

Council voted unanimously to create segregated lanes for cyclists, approving a network of downtown bike routes that will be separated from traffic by planters or concrete dividers.

Full Story (CBC Edmonton)