Bikes, bikes, bikes

[mattgrande]

Just careless driving? What about fleeing the scene?

Also, is anyone else surprised his name wasn't released?

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Yeah, I'm not very familiar with the law but careless driving seems wrong. Is this not a case of manslaughter? Is it careless driving because it was a cyclist that was killed?

[HillStreetBlues]

There's little chance of a manslaughter charge against a motorist here in Ontario, unfortunately. I also don't understand how he wasn't charged with leaving the scene of a collision, unless that charge was somehow overlooked by the journalist.

His name likely wasn't released because the "accident" received a lot of attention, and there's fear of reprisal or something like that at this point. Not that Ontarians are in the habit of forming lynch mobs to go after people who murder other people with trucks- but we might come to our senses and start at some point.

Careless driving is more than many people are charged with who kill people with cars around here, by the way...

[thistleclub]

Burlington councillors abruptly adjourn meeting discussing New Street bike lanes
(Burlington Post, Michael Gregory, Mar 23 2016)

The road ahead for bike lanes on New Street is unclear after city councillors abruptly adjourned a meeting on Tuesday night while deliberating the matter.

As the clock approached 10:30 p.m., a vote to extend the development and infrastructure committee meeting, which began four hours earlier, failed to reach the required two-thirds (five votes) majority.

Councillors had already spent over an hour hearing from several delegates and were well into questions of staff on how to best install enhanced cycling infrastructure between Martha Street and Cumberland Avenue.

Some committee members appeared shocked that colleagues weren’t willing to stay later to continue the meeting and chair Rick Craven even took the vote twice to confirm councillors knew they were about to adjourn.

On the table for consideration Tuesday were buffered on-road bike lanes, cycle tracks, and a minor widening of the road to accommodate lanes on both sides.

As a result of the adjournment the staff report was filed for receipt and can be discussed at city council on April 11. It’s also possible the item will appear on the committee of the whole’s agenda this Thursday.

Executive director of capital works Allan Magi explained Tuesday night that a decision was required soon depending on how the city wished to proceed with bike lanes on New Street.

“Any option that involves the curbs we need to make that decision now,” he said, making reference to any possible widening of the road.

A $10-million tender for road rehabilitation that includes eight segments in the area of New Street and Drury Lane started Monday. Sections from Martha Street to Cumberland Avenue will be completed between now until June 2017.

“I think it’s critical for us to get an answer to this stretch of New Street,” Vito Tolone told councillors.

As part of the current tender, on-road bike lanes were to be painted on the north side, and sharrows on the south side of New Street.

However, when the item came to committee last month, Mayor Rick Goldring asked staff to bring back bike lane options for the 2.4 kilometre stretch of New Street. The east-west corridor includes Burlington Public Library Central branch, Central Park, Burlington Music Centre, Burlington Seniors’ Centre and Central Arena.

City staff presented three options at the committee meeting that range in cost, with the most expensive being a minor widening of New Street to accommodate two on-road bike lanes at upwards of $1.9-million.

However, city manager James Ridge said, “the tendered option is the recommended option of staff.”

A slim 51 per cent of the 96 residents who provided feedback to the city also favoured completing the work as planned, with no new cycling infrastructure.

Building bike lanes, such as cycle tracks on the boulevard, would allow the city some cost savings if the work were completed as part of the current tender rather than in the future.


Read it in full here.

[thistleclub]

Province announces nearly $300,000 for Bay Street bike lane
(Hamilton Spectator, Carmela Fragomeni, Apr 19 2016)

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca announced $295,000 over two years for a new 2.3-kilometre separate bike lane on Bay Street to the waterfront in Hamilton.

Del Duca made the announcement Tuesday morning.


That's about the distance from Aberdeen to Bayfront (or Hunter to Pier 4).

[thistleclub]

Province Investing $295,000 in Cycling Infrastructure for Hamilton
(Ministry of Transportation, Apr 19 2016)

Ontario is providing $295,000 to the City of Hamilton over the next two years to help build new cycling infrastructure through the Ontario Municipal Cycling Infrastructure Program.

The City of Hamilton will receive $295,000 to build a new 2.3 kilometre cycling route that includes painted bike lanes, physically separated bike lanes and a bike path alongside the road. This combination of infrastructure will create a safe cycling route. The new route will connect a densely populated neighbourhood to the city core and to waterfront recreational areas. It will also connect to GO and Hamilton transit services, as well as to the future light rail transit (LRT) line which will offer rapid, reliable and convenient service. This will provide residents with new options to combine modes of travel for their daily trips.

[Jon Dalton]

It looks like this bike lane will go from Bay and Main all the way to the waterfront - 2.1km according to google. I worried at first they were only going to cover the two way section of Bay north of Cannon. This is great news because the one way section of Bay is a huge disconnect for cycling.

[thistleclub]

Hopefully it doesn't get filed under Quick Wins.

[The Gore]

Originally Posted by Jon Dalton

It looks like this bike lane will go from Bay and Main all the way to the waterfront - 2.1km according to google. I worried at first they were only going to cover the two way section of Bay north of Cannon. This is great news because the one way section of Bay is a huge disconnect for cycling.

Surprised that the start of the new Bay bike lane would not be at Hunter St.?

[strackj]

There is a tweet from the City of Hamilton saying that it will run from Aberdeen to Bayfront Park: https://twitter.com/cityofhamilton/s...00397676523520

New bike lanes are coming to BAY St (Aberdeen-Bayfront Park) in 2017! Thanks @StevenDelDuca & @TedMcMeekin! #HamOnt

[Katrillion]

It would be nice to have a protected bike lane along Main Street... I don't see how that isn't too difficult, it's wide.

[thistleclub]

Cyclists, motorists find each other annoying: survey
(CTV Kitchener, Ryan Flanagan, July 27 2016)

According to a new survey from insurance provider State Farm Canada, 55 per cent of drivers find cyclists “annoying”, while 54 per cent of cyclists use the same word to describe motorists.

John Bordignon, a spokesperson for State Farm, says “confusion about the rules of sharing the road” is to blame for the two groups of road users being irritated with each other, which he says is nothing new.

He says drivers don’t understand the danger cyclists face from things like potholes and drainage gates, while cyclists may not realize they’re angering drivers by breaking traffic laws or otherwise impeding vehicles.

The survey also looked at attitudes regarding cycling in cities.

Nearly one-quarter of respondents (24 per cent) said that cycling in busy cities is never safe, while nine per cent considered it a safe activity at all times.

Asked if they themselves bike on busy streets, almost 20 per cent of respondents said they did. A majority of that group said that either they or somebody they know has been involved in an on-road collision.

Other findings from the 3,000-person survey include the following:\

• More than 70 per cent of respondents think cyclists caught riding while impaired should face the same penalties as drunk drivers
• 36 per cent of surveyed cyclists admit to texting while biking (no similar data was provided for motorists)
• About 80 per cent of respondents think helmets should be mandatory for all cyclists

[mattgrande]

"• More than 70 per cent of respondents think cyclists caught riding while impaired should face the same penalties as drunk drivers"

I thought they were?

[matt602]

Originally Posted by mattgrande

"• More than 70 per cent of respondents think cyclists caught riding while impaired should face the same penalties as drunk drivers"

I thought they were?

Sort of. You can be charged with being intoxicated in public but since there's no license involved, thats as far as it can go. I'm assuming these people are idiots who think that cyclists should be licensed, insured, etc.

[thistleclub]

Hamilton councillors Whitehead, Farr collide over bike lane projects
(Hamilton Mountain New, Kevin Werner, Sept 19 2016)

Hamilton councillor Jason Farr accused one of his political colleagues of creating a “wall of divisiveness” over the installation of bike lanes on Herkimer Street and Charlton Avenue.

A “frustrated” Farr at the Sept. 19 public works committee said Whitehead, who criticized the city’s decision to install bike lanes along Herkimer and Charlton in June, during an earlier public works committee meeting, and later on during an interview on The Bill Kelly Show on CHML, was purposely creating problems even though the Ward 8 councillor had supported bike lanes and other road projects in the lower city in the past.

“I take the approach that we are all working collaboratively to build a better city that we are working collaboratively on urban renewal” said Farr. “I’m very, very concerned we are sending these mixed messages, creating this divisiveness.”

Farr took particular issue with Whitehead asking questions of staff that the bike lanes were “putting people’s lives at risk.” Farr said Whitehead – although he did not use his name during the 26-minute exchange – was using incorrect facts about the number of vehicles and bikes that use the roadways in an effort to support outrage mountain residents.

Whitehead brought up the bike lane issue on Herkimer and Charlton at the Sept. 8 public works meeting because he argued mountain residents were being delayed about 15 minutes driving to their downtown destinations, such as St. Joseph’s Heathcare.

Whitehead blamed the bike lanes on Herkimer and Charlton as causing traffic tie-ups on Garth Street and West 5th on the mountain during the first week of September.

He said at the time that there were 15 bike trips compared to 1,000 vehicles using the roads and asking staff for a more “balanced” approach to road projects, a statement Farr, who transcribed the statements from the last public works meeting as “a wall of divisiveness.”

Farr countered that local residents, including representatives of Raise the Hammer, studied the bike trips taken for one week along Charlton Avenue and found 756 bike trips, while Herkimer saw 564 bike trips.

City staff has said they will study the pilot project including conduct traffic counts on both roadways.

Farr acknowledged the pilot project is currently being monitored, since it is the first of its kind in the city. He said there were “hundreds of people” in Ward 2 that supported bike lanes on Herkimer and Charlton and that during the four public information sessions held, “99 per cent” of the public supported it.

Farr said the bike lane installation was supposed to have occurred in 2014, but it was delayed two years “to make it better.”

Whitehead told Farr he was asking “legitimate” questions of staff, about winter control, waste pickup, DARTS services were all being impacted due to the bike lane including on local residents.

He said ambulances “were stuck” between parked cars due to the street design.

“I can understand why the good councillor is upset when facts speak for themselves,” said Whitehead.

The Ward 8 councillor said he “supports” bike lanes, but “what I don’t support is half-hearted design that doesn’t engage the people that’s impacted.”

He said there are cost implications to the project, and he was upset that the project didn’t even come before council for approval.

Whitehead said there were also no public information sessions for the pilot projects on Herkimer and Charlton on the mountain.

“Where the heck is the collaboration?” he said.

Farr, though, said he was fed up with Whitehead’s criticism about bike lanes and complete streets, even at the same time he was purporting to support the ideas.

He said over the years all of council, including Whitehead, has backed Hamilton’s cycling master plan and pedestrian mobility plan.

“This kind of stuff finds itself in the public record,” said Farr. “I gotta tell you it ain’t fooling my public. And I’m not going to sit quietly anymore.”

[Katrillion]

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/70...raffic-lights/

too lazy to format

[SteelTown]

More bike hubs has been added


Diana Weeks‏
dweeks_CHCHnews


Diana Weeks‏
dweeks_CHCHnews


Hamilton Bike Share‏
SoBiHamilton

[Crapht]

I thought the Bay street bike lanes would have been a thing by August but it seems I'm just impatient. Word from the city is "We are ramping up for the works. Fair to say late summer and wrapping up in the early fall." I also remember Jason Farr mentioning the connection of the two Hunter street lanes so they finally meet.

[durandy]

Sobi has gotten rid of their annual membership with 60 min per day, starting Jan 1. They're letting existing members stay on at this price though. That's a pretty dramatic change; increases the price almost 40% from $85 to $145 a year. So if you don't have an annual membership yet, lock one in between now and Jan 1!

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by durandy

Sobi has gotten rid of their annual membership with 60 min per day, starting Jan 1. They're letting existing members stay on at this price though. That's a pretty dramatic change; increases the price almost 40% from $85 to $145 a year. So if you don't have an annual membership yet, lock one in between now and Jan 1!

I don't even live in Hamilton yet, but I got a membership because that is an awesome savings tip. I wonder what the reason is for the price increase??