Calgary Releases Cycling Strategy

[GGG]

One thing I am happy to see in the report is the idea of dedicated cycling along the LRT right of way. I have always thought that a bike path along the south LRT all the way down mcleod would be very efficient for the 20km ride in.

[Jedi Ninja]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I think if the city spent more money on road/path maintenance and snow clearing, and less money on 82 page pdfs assembled by consultants, more people would cycle downtown.

The City did an awesome job of clearing pathways this winter, clearing not only major Bow Pathway type routes, but also the pathway in my newish suburb on the edge of the city. I have no idea what that cost and I'm not going to ask because I benefit from this disproportionately. Thjmbs up anyway.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I think if the city spent more money on road/path maintenance and snow clearing, and less money on 82 page pdfs assembled by consultants, more people would cycle downtown.

What a completely ######ed thing to gripe about.

[CampbellsTransgressions]

Cycling is something that I can't see working in this city. What would most Calgarians rather do, cycle to work in -15 weather on icy roads or drive their overkill F350's to their office job 5 minutes from their house?

[Lee of Red]

My experience of cycling in Calgary has actually been pretty positive. In the main motorists are courteous and give you bags of room. The two things going against Calgary are the terrain, when you get on a bike you really realize how much this place undulates, and the sprawl.

I actually live near De Winton and there's a pretty quiet route down to Shawnessy where I tend to lock up and take the C Train. Obviously it's not much of an option to cycle downtown if only for the amount of time it would take. Calgary is spread out and I'm not sure a downtown-centric cycling solution is the answer. The initial battle is getting people to ditch the car and consider cycling as an option for short journeys in their communities. That should plug into the C Train.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by CampbellsTransgressions

Cycling is something that I can't see working in this city. What would most Calgarians rather do, cycle to work in -15 weather on icy roads or drive their overkill F350's to their office job 5 minutes from their house?

Well not all people will bike, but some will. Even year round. My father did it for 10 years 40km round trip everyday. Many more will if you provide them safe bike lanes to ride in.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by CampbellsTransgressions

Cycling is something that I can't see working in this city. What would most Calgarians rather do, cycle to work in -15 weather on icy roads or drive their overkill F350's to their office job 5 minutes from their house?

People said the same thing about rail transit and guess what, we have the second most patronized LRT system in North America. It's not a dichotomy, one won't have to give up their vehicle upon purchasing a bicycle.

[pylon]

The city is an abomination to cycle in its current state.

-Shoulders full of gravel in MID-JUNE.
-Massive potholes in said shoulders.
-One of the most mentally ######ed set of drivers on the planet when it comes to cyclists (and that includes you dad.)
- A 20 km speed limit on the only safe place to cycle, our pathways, which essentially discourages serious cyclists.
- And hardly anywhere to lock a frkkin bike.

I am re-born cyclist as of 2008. Until my mid 20's, I probably logged 5000 kms a year cycling, and I am in that same range again now. This City was bad enough then, it is a scary, horrific nightmare most days now. I own 3 bikes. 1 high end road bike, a pretty decent mountain bike I mainly ride in winter, and I just built a pretty sweet commuter, by flat barring a low end road bike. The reason I built the thing, is this city destroys wheels on good road bikes (which run $2-500/piece), and with the lack of bike parking, you would have to be a moron to lock a $2000 bike to a chain link fence.

Personally, I think a 88 page PDF that probably cost a million bucks is excessive as well. They could have pulled 50, 35+ cyclists that have lived and cycled in this city for years, and understand the value of a dollar, put them in a room for a weekend, and just consulted with them.

It is not difficult.

- Major thorough fairs (Crowchild, Mcleod, Glenmore, Centre, Sarcee etc...) should have a twinned bike path running parallel within 100 m. Most of these roads currently have massive amounts of green space lining them already. It is a gong show trying to find a safe route parallel to McLeod from Shawnessy up to about Chinook Centre without having to criss cross to the east and west sides up to half a km in either direction (Bonaventure/Elbow/Horton/etc).Get the major routes taken care of, then the rest solves itself. Navigating the minor side streets and Aves, is rarely scary or dangerous.

- Clean the frikkin shoulders on the major biking routes first, so you can ride in them safely, and not impede traffic.

- Fix the damn potholes in the shoulders. I got an idea, send a few city workers out on bikes, with a GPS and just tag all the spots each spring. You could do this on an iPhone for gods sake. 5 or 6 guys could do it in a week, only problem is finding a city worker that is willing to do work.

- And lose the bloody speed limit on the paths! Any experienced cyclist that is riding at a pace that exceeds it for long stretches, is probably safer than some tool on his custome built chopper bike with no brakes, weaving all over the sidewalk, listening to Fiddy cent on his iPod.

Yes obviously there is more to it, but that report is just silly. You have all of these trgets, and projections, etc. Make the city safe and convenient to ride in, and people will ride more. It is a simple organic process. You'll never convince Cummins deisel truck balls guy to ride a bike, his truck is a penis thing with him. But for the better part, cities that give cyclists priority, will naturally get more cyclists.

[ricosuave]

Originally Posted by pylon

only problem is finding a city worker that is willing to do work.

hey, cmon. no need to slag all of us

[Knut]

Where in the report is the option of exterminating all cyclists... I think they should at least consider that option.

[JustAnotherGuy]

Originally Posted by Mass_nerder

......I think mandatory education on how to deal with bicycle traffic, before attaining a license would be great. Going the other way...I find a lot of cyclist commuters don't really know how they should act on the road either. Maybe there should be some kind of licence needed to be allowed to ride in the core?

.....

When I am driving and I see somebody on a bicycle on the road I treat them like a vehicle. But when they start breaking rules I say the hell with them. I will block them every chance I get. I don't mean do something dangerous. I just mean I will try to block his access at the next set of lights. I shouldn't have to pass him after he runs a red light or blows through a stop sign.

Yesterday in Bowness the guy on the bicycle rides between the two lanes of cars as we wait for the red light. He goes through the red light after he see no cars coming. Next red light he goes right through again without slowing down. The cars catch up to him in a couple blocks and we all have to pass him.

Those are the kinds of people who are ruining it for everybody. I bet 50% of the cycliest ride like that.

[HotHotHeat]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I think if the city spent more money on road/path maintenance and snow clearing, and less money on 82 page pdfs assembled by consultants, more people would cycle downtown.

I think you just tried to make a witty post and fell flat on your face.

[Coys1882]

As someone who cycles to work when able - one of the most discouraging things is to see other cyclists act like ######bags. You're either a 'vehicle' sharing the road or a pedestrian - you can't be both. Pick one. Also - when a car spends 5 minutes on a narrow road trying to get by you - don't scoot up along side them at the next red light so they have to do it all again. This makes drivers hate you and indirectly hate me - I don't like being crowded out by drivers who are sick of sh1thead cyclists.

[Coys1882]

Also - I'd rather pay for 25 of these 84 page visions than one footbridge

[bossy22]

I've been bike commuting for years. I either ride from Cochrane or Valley Ridge, depending on time. A couple of things for myself. The off leash area at bowmont clearly states that dogs must be on-leash while on the pathway, however, 90% of the dogs aren't. It's like that all of the time. A buddy ended up killing a golden retriever that ran across the path in front of him. He ended up with a broken collarbone.

There is also the section along the river where we have split pathways. One for people on foot, the other for people on wheels, yet we have people on foot walking along, side by side where the bikers are.
In these cases by-law needs to step in to educate people, but I've yet to see anyone doing that.

In regards to riding on city streets, I've learned the hard way that you should be a vehicle. I was riding on the shoulder and a lady in her escalade didn't turn her signal on, but did turn, right in front of me. I put a huge dent in her door, and ripped her mirror off with my shoulder. Now, I take up the lane, I stop at lights, wait my turn, etc. I seem to get way more respect from drivers that way. I'm not any slower, except from the start, and I seem to flow just as easily as the traffic. It does take longer to get to work, because I don't cut across crosswalks or run red lights, but at least I'm in one piece.

Also, designated bike lanes should be just that. Not parking for cars. It kinda makes them useless when you have to ride on the car lane because the bike lane is full of cars. There are quite a few lanes like this in Calgary.

[JustAnotherGuy]

Speaking of bicycle lanes.

Sometimes with the car lane and the bicycle lane there is enough room for two cars side by side. The light is red and I want to turn right. Am I allowed to go into the bicycle lane and then turn right? I am talking about driving one or two cars lengths in the bicycle lane.

I have to cross the bike lane sometime as I turn. I assume I have to yield to anybody who is on a bike in the bike lane.

[Coys1882]

Originally Posted by bossy22

I was riding on the shoulder and a lady in her escalade didn't turn her signal on, but did turn, right in front of me. I put a huge dent in her door, and ripped her mirror off with my shoulder.

What was her reaction to you btw? Was she apologetic or pissed you hit her truck?

[JustAnotherGuy]

Originally Posted by bossy22

I've been bike commuting for years. I either ride from Cochrane or Valley Ridge, depending on time. A couple of things for myself. The off leash area at bowmont clearly states that dogs must be on-leash while on the pathway, however, 90% of the dogs aren't. It's like that all of the time. A buddy ended up killing a golden retriever that ran across the path in front of him. He ended up with a broken collarbone.
........

I have walked my dog in that area for years. It was only in the last three years that I read the sign and saw the fine print about all paved paths being on-leash. Is this a city wide rule? I was not aware of it before and I am very sure most people aren't aware of it now. We just see the signs about it being an off-leash area.

Your buddy must have been going pretty fast to kill a dog.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

Right. That's exactly what I said.

After all, there's no middle ground between an 82 page report filled with consultant's time and surveys and a summer student doing random things.

Less talk, more action is precisely the idiotic mentality which helped create some of the design flaws in the city.

"Middle ground" sounds a lot more like "half assed".

You've obviously got zero experience in project management.

[Tinordi]

Originally Posted by bizaro86

I think if the city spent more money on road/path maintenance and snow clearing, and less money on 82 page pdfs assembled by consultants, more people would cycle downtown.

Such a cynical and stupid remark.