GO Buses in the Hamilton corridor will soon be sporting bike racks, and eventually you'll be able to bring your bike on buses across the system. The user-friendly racks allow you to load and unload your bike yourself. We're introducing bus bike racks to encourage customers to combine cycling with public transit for a healthier lifestyle and community.
The city is upping the speed limit on Cootes Drive after reducing it for public safety a year ago.
The limit of 40 kilometres an hour, reduced from 60 last May, was just too slow, said Councillor Russ Powers, chair of the public works committee.
"It's an unreasonable speed," he said, noting police handed out numerous speeding tickets. "Nobody drove 40."
As a compromise, the limit is being increased to 50 km/h.
Powers said McMaster and the city have also agreed to split the cost of installing a speed meter on the bridge over the road to tell drivers how fast they are going as they drive in from Dundas. The device costs roughly $25,000.
The city, police and the university have been working to make the pedestrian crossing on Cootes safer. Mac student Heather Watson, 19, was killed at the crossing in 2006.
This event will be a feet and wheels on the ground opportunity to examine the area from a non-automotive perspective.
The aim is to bring to light some of the traffic safety issues effecting pedestrians and cyclists on this road. A facilitated de-brief will conclude the hour or so walk, to be conducted at Sir William Osler school (330 Governor's Road at Bridlewood)
The aim is to bring together recommendations to enhance the area for walkers and cyclists, including the many children and young adults attending the three schools in the immediate area, and area residents.
TLC received a grant from Safe Kids Canada to bring about this event as part of Safe Kids Week 2008.
Come out if you are interested in making this area safe for all!
A majority of people who responded to an on-line survey about the pedestrian-controlled traffic lights on Cootes Drive support keeping the current 40 km-h speed limit, and adding a pedestrian countdown display to the walk signal.
But Hamilton Police expect the city will soon raise the limit from 40 to 50 km-h. Police apparently have no records of speed enforcement on Cootes Drive just south of Main Street West.
Recent city studies found last summer's speed limit drop had no effect on speeding drivers. A total of 239 people answered at least part of the five question survey.
The current speed limit was preferred by 102 people, or 44 per cent of those who answered the first question, asking which of three speeds the limit at the crossing should be. An anticipated increase to 50 km-h was supported by 29 per cent, while 26 per cent backed a return to the previous limit of 60 km-h.
Just over 80 per cent of those surveyed said they support a digital countdown display for pedestrians.
Although 71 per cent of pedestrians said the wait time for the walk signal is fine as it is, nearly half (44.9 per cent) admitted crossing when there is a break in traffic, rather than waiting for the right-of-way.
That left just over 57 per cent of respondents saying they normally wait for the walk signal before crossing Cootes Drive.
Sgt. Jo Ann Savoie, current crime manager for the West Town zone, said she had been briefed by another officer who attended a meeting about the Cootes speed limit last month. A year ago, previous crime manager Sgt. Tim O'Keefe acknowledged a speeding problem on Cootes Drive and suggested an unofficial enforcment blitz at the time may become common on Cootes Drive.
"Don't be surprised if you hear more news about this spot, because when police officers find a successful spot, they habitually return there," Sgt. O'Keefe said last June.
But since the speed limit dropped to 50 km-h, there's been no evidence of a police presence.
"It's something we don't track," Sgt. Savoie said, when asked if there was any information about speed enforcement on Cootes just south of Main Street West since June.
A 2004 study of Cootes Drive safety by Synectics Transportation Consultants found 85 per cent of drivers travelled up to 100 km-h in the posted 80 km-h zone.
Subsequent studies show lowering the posted limit to 60 and 40 km-h had no effect on that rate of speed.
Synectics found the excessive speeding and high volume of pedestrians and cyclists "create a potentially hazardous situation."
The study recommended a pedestrian-controlled crossing of Cootes Drive, at Sanders Boulevard, lane narrowing, other changes to the roadside to decrease speeding and increased police enforcement.
Originally, the city only adopted the recommended pedestrian-controlled crossing and none of the other suggestions were acted on.
Just a few months after the pedestrian crossing started operating, a McMaster student was struck and killed by a truck in the crosswalk.
The city lowered the speed limit around the crosswalk to 40 km-h and dropped the approaching limit from 80 to 60 km-h, without following any of the other recommendations from the Synectics study.
Dundas resident Randy Kay, of Transportation for Liveable Communities, has called on the city to make the other recommended changes in addition to the crossing and speed lowering.
The group also supports a pedestrian countdown signal, letting walkers and cyclists know how much time they have to get to the other side of Cootes.
"I have no idea where the speed discussion is at," Mr. Kay said this week.
"The compromise politically was looking like 50 km-h but, really, without changes to the roadside environment, cars will still be speeding at whatever feels comfortable."
Hart Solomon, the city's manager of traffic engineering and operations, said this week no final decision on a possible speed increase has been made.
Metrolinx is releasing a long-term regional transportation plan this fall, and the transit body wants to know what you think about it.
It's launched a new project called Metronauts to include the general public in transportation discussion and planning.
Metronauts is a joint effort between Metrolinx (formerly the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority) and the Toronto Transit Camp community, a grassroots movement that started online with the goal of improving the TTC, then organized its own brainstorming event last year.
A series of informal Metronauts gatherings will be held across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas -- including an all-day event in Hamilton on May 3 -- to get the public's thoughts on transportation.
Topics at the first Metronauts meeting held in Toronto on April 5 included social networking, cycle paths, sidewalks and improvements to train stations.
Area residents can also join the debate online. On the Metronauts website, launched March 25, site members can share their thoughts on the drafts of the regional transportation plan, or other transportation ideas, in the conversations section. Membership is free.
Metrolinx has plans to add an interactive map function so members can virtually trace out their ideas for bicycle routes, new sidewalks, and extra roads, lanes and bus routes in their city, said Colleen Bell of Metrolinx.
The Hamilton meeting will be held at McMaster University from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more details, see the Metronauts website (metronauts.ca).
Hamilton residents can also attend the Metrolinx public meeting on June 26 from 4 to 9 p.m. at the Hamilton Convention Centre.
