Bikes, bikes, bikes

[TheRitsman]

Previous cycling committee chair here; we all have no idea what's going on. A new committee (not just ours) wasn't chosen after the previous council ended, and so they've been placed on pause until that entire thing can be figured out. I figure there's a good chance they'll be shelved completely. Staff liaisons didn't know what was up either. We've been told to wait and see 🤷♂️

[StuffedPouch]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Random Question: I notice that the last cycling committee agenda has a "communications" item stating "Cycling Committee to pause", without any additional information. And sure enough, there has not been a meeting since September and none are on the calendar.

Does anyone know why? I used to enjoy pulling the cycling project update sheets out of the committee agendas to get an idea on what cycling infrastructure is upcoming.

The Ward 1 Councillor brought forward a motion pausing all non-statutory advisory committees to conduct a review against the city’s priorities and values last spring. Hamilton has more advisory committee than any other Ontario municipality, which eats up a significant amount of staff time. I believe the crux of the review is if there’s still value. For instance, a number of advisory committees have failed to meet quorum more than 70% of the time each year. Those meetings typically take a large amount of time to prepare for, and having to wait around for 30 minutes before it can be cancelled. It’s all been announced publicly and you can find the motion and initial staff review framework online.

Given that Council is still sitting on their hands, and haven’t filled all the statutory committees yet, it’s liking a stalling move since these things are usually done within 6 months and they’ve been in office for basically a year now. This Council likes to talk but not take action.

[SteelTown]

McMaster Student Union is voting on a discounted Bike Share program. If they accept it'll be $22 + HST annually, access to the bikes will be for 90 mins a day. Voting closes March 7th.

[SteelTown]

McMaster University students to get daily Hamilton Bike Share access for about $25 a year
Students can opt out of the fee at the beginning of the year

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...0e62cacd2.html

Students at McMaster University will have daily access to publicly shared blue, basket-toting city bikes for a nominal annual fee starting in the fall.

A student-led referendum to include to a Hamilton Bike Share pass in student fees was met with an “overwhelmingly positive response,” said former health sciences student Rhea Saini, 23, who launched the initiative with fellow student Paris Liu before graduating last year.

[StuffedPouch]

Stoney Creek is at it again! Cllr. Beattie has a motion at the next Council meeting directing staff not to install protected bike lanes along Dewitt, despite planning and design work going into it for the past 3+ years and being included in the recently approved Accelerated Delivery Plan.

Beattie has got a bunch of residents to send in letters of support. It’s disappointing.

[ScreamingViking]

Bike Share is being extended from Ottawa St. to Kenilworth.

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...9eb0a8d8a.html

Albeit with just 4 new hubs, one of which is a block east of Ottawa:

The new hubs will be located at R.T. Steele Park; A.M. Cunningham Parkette; A.M.​​ Cunningham Elementary School; the intersection of Main and London streets; and the intersection of King Street Street and Graham Avenue South.

I can see this being expanded further east and onto the mountain too.

You can map the hubs and "out of hub" bikes on the website, but just for the coverage area. Does anyone know if/where bikes have been found beyond it?

[matt602]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Does anyone know if/where bikes have been found beyond it?

I've seen them a few times at Woodward and Melvin and all the way out at Eastgate Square before, definitely would have been nice if they'd extended to Parkdale Ave tho. Dunno about any farther East than that, there really isn't too many safe bike routes beyond there except for the Red Hill Valley trail.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by matt602

I've seen them a few times at Woodward and Melvin and all the way out at Eastgate Square before, definitely would have been nice if they'd extended to Parkdale Ave tho. Dunno about any farther East than that, there really isn't too many safe bike routes beyond there except for the Red Hill Valley trail.

Our "suburban" municipalities have not been given that kind of attention yet. I think the previous post about Beattie says a lot in that regard.

Lower Stoney Creek in particular is an extension of the core Hamilton urban area... you'd think it would be more natural to have bike routes there that connect to those in the central lower city.

[Innsertnamehere]

The city has posted the tender for Grays Road between Barton Avenue and Community Avenue for resurfacing, and it includes reducing the roadway from 4 to 3 lanes and bike lanes. Unfortunately the lanes are not protected and will be 1.5m painted lanes only.

https://hamilton.bidsandtenders.ca/M...e-6e87170eb7d6

These lanes will be relatively useful in providing improved connections to the Waterfront trail. The bridge over the QEW still needs lanes.. but it will make things better.

[matt602]

The construction on Barton between Woodward and the RHVP is finally almost done and I noticed that the North sidewalk is now a multi-use trail. Makes sense to connect the Woodward Ave bike lanes to the Red Hill trail without detouring on Brampton or Melvin. Would be nice to see bike lanes on Barton East of the RHVP to Centennial in the future to connect with the GO station.

20240611_175346 by Matt Leboeuf, on Flickr

[TheHonestMaple]

I'll give Barton two years before it is completely full of potholes again. Poor quality construction combined with extremely heavy weight traffic (trucks). I really hope they used a thicker foundation this time around....

[Innsertnamehere]

IIRC they did full depth reconstruction with a concrete sub-base. It’s why it took so crazy long.

The city has implemented a bunch of changes to how they do roads lately to increase their lifespans. Even Dewitt, a collector road in a residential area, got concrete sub-bases last year when it was rebuilt.

Generally I’m hopeful for the state of Hamilton’s roads in the future - the city seems on the right track with increasing funding and improved practices. But man, it’s got a huuuuge hole to dig out of.

[ScreamingViking]

I'm at the point of choosing routes based on smoothness, not trip time. And while I don't drive that part of Barton very often, it's been a huge positive change. Hopefully the "middle" section between Parkdale and Sherman is in the plan for major rehab, because it could be the worst part of the street (especially east of Gage; a very rough surface)

My last vehicle developed major suspension problems. Some of it was, I'm told, a design flaw that creates issues over time (it was a 2010 model I owned from 2012). But I'm sure the streets here contributed after I moved back to this city in 2020. I'm now in an even older car that doesn't have much wear and tear, but I bet it will begin displaying some.

[NortheastWind]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Hopefully the "middle" section between Parkdale and Sherman is in the plan for major rehab, because it could be the worst part of the street (especially east of Gage; a very rough surface.

Sherman to Kenilworth is scheduled for 2026.

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by NortheastWind

Sherman to Kenilworth is scheduled for 2026.

Good. It can't happen fast enough.