Calgary Cycling Paths & Infrastructure - Page 96

McMurph · #**1901** Posted **Aug 20, 2016, 12:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by UofC.engineer

It's a shame that I missed it! I really hope council will vote to make the cycle track network permanent come this December. Also, I believe there are still portions of the track that have not yet achieved their ridership targets.

I'd also like to see the network expand slowly year by year.

2017: 1st st east(Bow river to Elbow river)
2018: 5th ave(Edm trail to 1st street)
2019: 2nd st west under the train tracks(to be built with the greenline LRT)

12th Ave west into Sunalta would be my #1 priority, followed by 5th St south to the Elbow.

suburbia · #**1902** Posted **Aug 26, 2016, 6:10 PM**

Interesting tweet from the Senator:
https://twitter.com/SenEaton/status/769222300545744896

Fuzz · #**1903** Posted **Aug 27, 2016, 12:36 PM**

And our tax dollars pay for this —. Ugh. You can bet she has never stepped foot on public transit, that's for sure. Funny she thinks they are a luxury, considering it is cheaper to buy a bike than ride transit for a year. I'm sure that logic is beyond her ability to comprehend though.

lineman · #**1904** Posted **Aug 27, 2016, 1:59 PM**

An echo of your broken record sentiment is not at all interesting.

UofC.engineer · #**1905** Posted **Sep 10, 2016, 10:34 PM**

Bridgeland Cycle tracks opened up yesterday!

UofC.engineer · #**1906** Posted **Sep 12, 2016, 3:29 PM**

I rode the cycle track today. It was quite enjoyable and is a huge improvement to riding down 4th street or on the sidewalks. Every one with a bike should check it out.

Calgarian · #**1907** Posted **Sep 14, 2016, 12:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by UofC.engineer

I rode the cycle track today. It was quite enjoyable and is a huge improvement to riding down 4th street or on the sidewalks. Every one with a bike should check it out.

Still think it's dumb that the cycle track stops at the hill, almost defeats the purpose.

hulkrogan · #**1908** Posted **Sep 14, 2016, 6:37 PM**

I find the Edmonton Trail cycle track near useless. I take it when possible so that it doesn't look so unused and hinder future cycle track development.

1) With the half assed connector between the Edmonton Trail couplets on 1st ave, it's attempting to serve people over in Crescent Heights. Beyond the few people down the hill, almost everyone up there will continue to make use of the Curling Club pathway segment to access downtown and the river paths.

2) There is no way up Edmonton Trail. Most people I know that live in Renfrew/Mount View etc take the Curling club path or Samis road for this reason. Riding up Edmonton trail is not fun due to grade and traffic.

3) People that live in Riverside will be largely taking the LRT bridge across to the river path.

4) People that are commuting along 1st ave have to sit and wait in traffic to get across the light at Edmonton Trail to access the bike lanes. There is a way better route through quiet side streets with no traffic that spits you out at Edmonton Trail and Memorial.

Coming home in the evening it works pretty good, but the thing is near useless in the morning unless they get a dedicated lane put on 1st ave to get people past traffic and through that light.

suburbia · #**1909** Posted **Sep 14, 2016, 7:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

I find the Edmonton Trail cycle track near useless. I take it when possible so that it doesn't look so unused and hinder future cycle track development.

1) With the half assed connector between the Edmonton Trail couplets on 1st ave, it's attempting to serve people over in Crescent Heights. Beyond the few people down the hill, almost everyone up there will continue to make use of the Curling Club pathway segment to access downtown and the river paths.

2) There is no way up Edmonton Trail. Most people I know that live in Renfrew/Mount View etc take the Curling club path or Samis road for this reason. Riding up Edmonton trail is not fun due to grade and traffic.

3) People that live in Riverside will be largely taking the LRT bridge across to the river path.

4) People that are commuting along 1st ave have to sit and wait in traffic to get across the light at Edmonton Trail to access the bike lanes. There is a way better route through quiet side streets with no traffic that spits you out at Edmonton Trail and Memorial.

Coming home in the evening it works pretty good, but the thing is near useless in the morning unless they get a dedicated lane put on 1st ave to get people past traffic and through that light.

That's come up before also, but been ignored. I think your thoughtful critisicm is helpful to weigh against the opportunity cost of putting that track in. For the ardent supporters of cycle infrastructure, it would do them well to be fair in assessments, and in this case, the track decision was likely wrong (especially when you consider that track on a 12 month basis).

MalcolmTucker · #**1910** Posted **Sep 14, 2016, 7:09 PM**

^ In places where the road has more than enough capacity in the area you are going to serve, due to bottlenecks further up the line, it is totally reasonable to add parts of a network that will only add users over a long time frame and later in the network build-out.

There is no opportunity cost here.

hulkrogan · #**1911** Posted **Sep 14, 2016, 7:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by suburbia

That's come up before also, but been ignored. I think your thoughtful critisicm is helpful to weigh against the opportunity cost of putting that track in. For the ardent supporters of cycle infrastructure, it would do them well to be fair in assessments, and in this case, the track decision was likely wrong (especially when you consider that track on a 12 month basis).

The 12 month case argument is totally bunk.

I may just sit in traffic on very snowy days in order to use the cycle track, as it offers a massive safety advantage in bad conditions over side streets.

I don't care if usage gets pretty low for cycle tracks on bad weather days, they are likely doing their most for injury/death prevention in those conditions.

In the case of Edmonton Trail, there was a bunch of useless roadway as it is 2 lanes on either side of that 4 lane section. I don't think there is much of a negative besides cost and public perception.

I just really wish they had the balls to throw dedicated lanes for a few hundred metres on First Ave to the east to make the whole thing useful.

It's half measures in an attempt to not piss any one group off more than another that limits the effectiveness of these solutions.

googspecial · #**1912** Posted **Sep 14, 2016, 7:41 PM**

Could add one of these to the area?

I think 6 ST NE where the stairs are would work great.
(half joking)

• Video Link

http://www.boredpanda.com/bicycle-escalator-cyclocable-trondheim-norway/
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/04/bike-elevator-take-you-steep-hills/8774/

suburbia · #**1913** Posted **Sep 14, 2016, 9:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by googspecial

Could add one of these to the area?

I think 6 ST NE where the stairs are would work great.
(half joking)

• Video Link

http://www.boredpanda.com/bicycle-escalator-cyclocable-trondheim-norway/
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/04/bike-elevator-take-you-steep-hills/8774/

I like the cost recovery aspect. What do they charge per ride?

It is a good option for the lazy cyclist!

Riise · #**1914** Posted **Sep 15, 2016, 3:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by googspecial

Could add one of these to the area?

I think 6 ST NE where the stairs are would work great.
(half joking)

I was actually thinking about this as a possible solution the other day. It's surely interesting.

UofC.engineer · #**1915** Posted **Sep 15, 2016, 5:39 PM**

Excellent post! If you don't mind I'll reply to each of your comments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

I find the Edmonton Trail cycle track near useless. I take it when possible so that it doesn't look so unused and hinder future cycle track development.

1) With the half assed connector between the Edmonton Trail couplets on 1st ave, it's attempting to serve people over in Crescent Heights. Beyond the few people down the hill, almost everyone up there will continue to make use of the Curling Club pathway segment to access downtown and the river paths.

I used the cycle tracks this morning and I live on top of the hill in Crescent heights. It all depends where I want to go, west or east side of downtown. Centre street is not really that pleasant to cross and pathway down to the curling club is — due to the amounts of roots and pot holes. I present a very tepid argument but trust me, the Edmonton trail route is much easier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

2) There is no way up Edmonton Trail. Most people I know that live in Renfrew/Mount View etc take the Curling club path or Samis road for this reason. Riding up Edmonton trail is not fun due to grade and traffic.

You're absolutely right. I just use 3rd street NE to get up the hill.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

3) People that live in Riverside will be largely taking the LRT bridge across to the river path.

That's true. I also hope a small bridge will be built from St.Patrick's Island to the C-train station. An extension on the existing bridge would be fine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

4) People that are commuting along 1st ave have to sit and wait in traffic to get across the light at Edmonton Trail to access the bike lanes. There is a way better route through quiet side streets with no traffic that spits you out at Edmonton Trail and Memorial.

Mcdougall Road?

Quote:

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Coming home in the evening it works pretty good, but the thing is near useless in the morning unless they get a dedicated lane put on 1st ave to get people past traffic and through that light.

I hope the cycle tracks are one day extended over the 5th ave fly-over and connect with the future 1st street cycle track that was shot down by Sean Chu.

hulkrogan · #**1916** Posted **Sep 15, 2016, 10:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by UofC.engineer

I used the cycle tracks this morning and I live on top of the hill in Crescent heights. It all depends where I want to go, west or east side of downtown. Centre street is not really that pleasant to cross and pathway down to the curling club is — due to the amounts of roots and pot holes. I present a very tepid argument but trust me, the Edmonton trail route is much easier.

That actually makes me quite glad. If that is actually a valuable route for you guys, then I think the case for it's existence becomes much stronger.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UofC.engineer

That's true. I also hope a small bridge will be built from St.Patrick's Island to the C-train station. An extension on the existing bridge would be fine.

A bridge over Memorial to get to St. Pats would be life changing for me. When we want to walk to the island especially, the detour to the train bridge is killer. It would be a challenging construction site as the LRT tracks are starting to elevate at that point already, but what a key link for the neighborhood that would be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UofC.engineer

Mcdougall Road?

Exactly. Cutting to Centre Ave, then down to Mcdougall road is much faster during heavy traffic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UofC.engineer

I hope the cycle tracks are one day extended over the 5th ave fly-over and connect with the future 1st street cycle track that was shot down by Sean Chu.

This would also be fantastic. Get connectivity right down to 8th ave.

Chealion · #**1917** Posted **Sep 16, 2016, 1:11 AM**

The Edmonton Trail track has a counter as well: http://www.eco-public.com/public2/?id=100033550

(All the other counters can be found the EcoCounter map: http://www.eco-public.com/ParcPublic/?id=4190)

rkarsk · #**1918** Posted **Sep 16, 2016, 3:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by UofC.engineer

I hope the cycle tracks are one day extended over the 5th ave fly-over and connect with the future 1st street cycle track that was shot down by Sean Chu.

I've been biking down 1st street for two years now, all year-round. I'm consistently impressed to see there are often more bikes than cars using the street during peak times in the summer. I was crushed when it was taken out of the pilot, and honestly, I still harbor some resentment towards China Town/Chu for that.

What are the chances of a cycle track being built on 1st in the near future? Is it part of any published plan?

Bigtime · #**1919** Posted **Sep 16, 2016, 3:49 PM**

Easy and safe access via bike into Chinatown from 1st street would be a benefit to the area and the businesses there.

So much bike traffic passing by on Riverwalk, separated by Riverfront avenue. Having a simple connection to a track from Riverwalk with a bike light crossing would be nice.

UofC.engineer · #**1920** Posted **Sep 16, 2016, 4:07 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkarsk

I've been biking down 1st street for two years now, all year-round. I'm consistently impressed to see there are often more bikes than cars using the street during peak times in the summer. I was crushed when it was taken out of the pilot, and honestly, I still harbor some resentment towards China Town/Chu for that.

What are the chances of a cycle track being built on 1st in the near future? Is it part of any published plan?

I'm not exactly sure, but this December council is going to vote on three options regarding the cycle tracks. 1)Keep the cycle tracks as is 2)Make them permanent 3)Remove them completely.

I believe if the cycle tracks are made permanent they will be extended into Sunalta and perhaps 1st street will go back on the table.