Ward One Improvements to Cycling

The City of Hamilton has now completed a two-way bike lane on the north side of King Street between Macklin St and Paradise Rd. There are plans to continue the bike lane network on both sides of King between Paradise and Cline Ave. N. (by the TD Bank). This work will be completed in the spring. 

This link is part of the plan outlined in Shifting Gears Hamilton's Cycling Master Plan.

See http://www.hamilton.ca/CityDepartments/PublicWorks/CommunityServicesRelatedPoliciesAndGuidelines/Cycling/shiftinggears.htm for more details about the plan.

A map showing the Ward 1 cycling network is at http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/95D5B06A-32D2-46E0-839D-E25C3D52E1DF/0/FinalShiftingGears2009May1611lrgprintChp5.pdf.

Climbing Up on Greensville Hill

TLC members will recall taking part in an Environmental Assessment process to look at the plans for cycling and pedestrian access up the Highway 8 hill between Dundas and Greensville, back in 2010.

The City Cycling page contains this statement: "Hwy 8 crossing the escarpment - between Greensville (Park Avenue) and Dundas (Bond Street), a study is finalized for future implementation," however, the "a study is finalized" link leads to a page with no final study, just references like:

"Due to public input and study scope changes this project is no longer following a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment process. It is now referred to as "Highway 8 Bond Street to Park Avenue Study"

There doesn't appear to be any information on what is being planned for this site. I e-mailed the project leaders and they got back to me right away.

"The study’s website will be updated when we’ve finalized the last documentation. Basically the study has changed since its inception, due to public feedback. The projects identified/changed by the study no longer require/trigger EA process to be followed so we are not going to be following this process as originally planned. We have finalized the last planning concepts with the input from the Community Liaison Committee and will be sending out a newsletter in the New Year 2013. The study scope has changed and study area increased to accommodate transportation as well as drainage issues. 

We have you on the mailing list for this project and so you will receive a copy of the newsletter when it’s been sent out. Once you have received it please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions. 

 Thank you, Margaret Margaret Fazio, B.Sc., C.C.E.P., MCIP, RPP

I have as many questions now as when I contacted them. Why and how the study has changed remains a mystery at this point. What was the public feedback? Who is the Community Liaison Committee?

Looks like we will wait for an update in the New Year, and hope that pedestrians and cyclists concerns are addressed as part of the new finalized study.

The city cycling plan "Shifting Gears" has two projects marked for this area:

162. Bike Lane

Highway 8 from Brock to Hillcrest. Includes road reconstruction: $69 000.

176. Multi-Use Path

Hwy 8, Bond to Hillcrest, multi-use path on south side
$654,000

It remains to be seen how these projects will do given the unknowns before us.

Longwood Letter

Deadline for comments to the city regarding Longwood Road (between Main and Aberdeen) is Thursday, April 5, 2012 - the e-mail address for Lorissa Skrypniak, the city staff person responsible for receiving comments, is tplanning@hamilton.ca. Remember: Your voice DOES MATTER! 


_____________________________________________________


Transportation for Liveable Communities tlchamilton.org
tlchamilton@gmail.com
905-525-9140 ext. 26026


3 April 2012

To: Lorissa Skrypniak, MCIP, RPP, Senior Project Manager 
Subject: Longwood Road Class EA


Transportation for Liveable Communities (TLC) is a citizen advocacy group established in 2000 to address sustainable transportation in Hamilton Ontario.


TLC is very concerned with the Longwood Road “Preferred Alternative” presented at the Public Information Centre Wednesday, March 21, 2012.


Beginning with the “Problem and Opportunity Statement” referencing the Kirkendall Traffic Management Plan’s statement that “Community concerns indicated a need for enhanced pedestrian and bicycle access and improved safety along the existing corridor,” the trajectory seems clear enough.


Yet we are next informed that because the city will not pursue an onramp to Highway 403 westbound from Main at Columbia College, “the implication...is that four general purpose lanes will be required between Aberdeen Avenue and Main Street.”


So, it is clear that any changes that would address the prime problem and opportunity statement to “enhance pedestrian and bicycle access” begins with the core assumption that Longwood road will act as an extended on/off ramp to Highway 403 westbound (and eastbound), requiring 4 lanes for cars.


This is a surprising turn of events, especially considering the main objective began as an effort to make the street safer and friendlier for cyclists and pedestrians.


Cyclists are especially aggrieved after seeing the Shifting Gears Cycling Plan for this stretch of road crumble: project number 196 in that plan for Longwood has: “Bike Lane with Road Diet, Longwood, Main to Aberdeen.”


Continuous connection is an important consideration when building a comprehensive bike network. As it is, the preferred option of the city planners seems to suggest cyclists using the new southbound bike lane between King and Main will have to dismount at Main, cross in a crosswalk to the east side of Longwood to continue through another crosswalk to the south side of Main where there will be a bike path on the east side of Longwood.

At the same time, cars will continue to have two lanes in each direction, ensuring the status quo of a hostile environment for cyclists and pedestrians. This is entirely unacceptable to TLC.


TLC instead strongly supports bicycle lanes on each side of Longwood, which would create a continuous connected cycling route from Aberdeen to King Street (and eventually all the way to Princess Point) – it is our position that the road diet planned in the Shifting Gears Cycling plan should be implemented to help calm traffic and create the space required for cycling lanes.


With three lanes of traffic, rather than four, the city could consider using the centre lane as a morning southbound, evening northbound lane (Jarvis Street in Toronto has used this method to adopt to demands of flow at peak times), which would maintain two-lanes when required, however TLC adamantly insists that the priority should return to improving pedestrian, cycling and transit opportunities.


A pedestrian sidewalk on the east side of Longwood will have to suffice until the City decides to improve the pedestrian crossing on the west side of Longwood at Main.


The “preferred option” of a bike path only on the east side of Longwood will, at Aberdeen, isolate cyclists on the north side of Aberdeen, which means another disconnected crossing to get to the bike path south of Aberdeen by the Chedoke golf course. Therefore, TLC supports the recommended roundabout at Longwood and Aberdeen, but with cyclists and pedestrians given proper consideration for safe access.


We hope you will take our concerns seriously, since we see the emphasis of the “preferred alternative” wrongly placed on maintaining automobile traffic flow at the expense of an integrated cycling and pedestrian environment. 

Cancelled

From the City of Hamilton Cycling Page: the following Shifting Gears Cycling Plan projects have been cancelled, a situation made possible by a council amendment to the cycling plan upon adoption, allowing Ward councillors to veto projects. Projects are mapped by TLC here.

• Mohawk Road (McNiven Road to Filman Road) - wider asphalt platform was not included in the resurfacing [project #127 in Shifting Gears; Councillor Ferguson, Ward 12]
• Nash Road - as Councillor approval was not granted [project #76 in Shifting Gears; Councillor Collins, Ward 5]
• Barton Street (Nash Road to Centennial Parkway) - relocation of utilities/poles impeded the project [project #13, Councillor Collins, Ward 5]
• Queensdale Avenue - as Councillor approval was not granted [project #83 in Shifting Gears; Councillor Jackson, Ward 6]

Not There Yet...

Some observations based on the "Bike Friendly" article from the Hamilton Spectator, January 9, 2012 (copied below).

"delayed" - while it's understandable that delays with specific projects will occur, the big delay not mentioned is the potential 40-year timeline to implement the cycling network based on city council spending.
"$300,000 per year" has been the amount annually budgeted for cycling since well before the updated Shifting Gears Cycling Plan, and has had years where this amount was cancelled (most notably in 2003 during World Cycling Championship in Hamilton). This rate would mean the cycling network would have trouble being completed even in the long 40 year time frame quoted. The city would need to spend $1.25 million a year to complete only the urban portion, or $2.5 million to complete the urban and rural plan in 40 years.
"Patchwork, disconnected" is an ongoing complaint with bike lanes ending abruptly and leaving cyclists to contend with multiple lanes of vehicles including transport trucks.
"high speed traffic" is one of the unaddressed problems in the city, and traffic calming, like two-way traffic on what are now fast and wide one way streets, should be implemented sooner rather than later to make streets safer for all users.
"better parking facilities" - nothing says you're not welcome like a lack of bike parking at key destinations.
"separated infrastructure...along major roads" - while other cities like Ottawa, Vancouver and Toronto are moving toward physically separated lanes to encourage more people to cycle, there is nothing in Hamilton's cycling plan acknowledging this latest innovation. Major roads have not been included in the Shifting Gears cycling plan and cyclists feel this is to keep cars moving as fast as possible while relegating bicycles to back streets along disjointed routes.
"new lanes currently planned" - the list given here are lower city streets primarily west of downtown; are other city wards getting lanes, or are they getting cancelled?

Official Opening of Rail Trail extension over Highway 403

Councillor McHattie's office is extending an invitation to cyclists to attend the official opening of the new rail trail extension from Kirkendall to West Hamilton, past the railyard and over Hwy 403. A formal ceremony to celebrate the opening happens Wednesday, October 26 at 10 a.m. on the west side of the railyard at Stroud - so show up to celebrate cycling style!

Note that the city is still waiting for a decision from the Niagara Escarpment Commission about the cycling path link between Studholme and Glenside, across the Chedoke Golf Course.

VELO VETO at CITY HALL

bike lanes that just end, bike routes that don't connect.

Councillor veto power over bike lanes

The cancellation of an east-west bike lane across the east mountain leaves that area with no alternatives either in place or promised in the cycling master plan. The veto power invoked by the ward councillor to block the Queensdale Avenue route wasn’t specifically provided for in the council resolution or in the debate that led up to it but seems to have become an accepted practice.

Tom Jackson cancelled the 3.2 kilometre route last year despite its inclusion in the approved master plan and the Queensdale Avenue reconstruction went ahead without it. Jackson’s opposition to commuter cycling facilities could threaten three other approved bike lanes in his ward.

The master plan went before the city’s public works committee in June 2009 prompting Jackson to voice some concerns. Initially he askedif voting for it would mean “that I’m supporting what looks like about 300 or more cycling links that have been highlighted in this report.”

Traffic chief Hart Solomon replied that “the intention is to implement the network as shown” but noted that at the master planning stage “you can’t perceive every circumstance, every constraint, that you’re going to run into”.

Jackson said the response made him “nervous” and asked if staff would push ahead if “there’s feedback from community” and “they feel overwhelmingly it’s just not going to work”, or would staff be willing to abandon some proposed lanes. Solomon indicated a willingness to do so, but stressed the importance of “continuity” in the cycling network.

“It’s sort of the weakest link in the chain approach.  If there’s a kilometer or kilometer and a half the cyclist doesn’t feel comfortable riding, he will not make the journey,” he explained. “But having said that, we depend on the support of the members of council and council as a whole in implementing this and will simply, as the note up there says, on contentious issues we’re going to work with you and try and work our way through this.” 

“At the end of the day, if it’s simply not possible then the plan will have to be revised,” Solomon continued.  “There’s a possibility after 5 years we’ll revise, certainly after 10, and we’ll have to revise the plan to find alternate routes to achieve the continuity we need in the network.”

Jackson went on to repeat that he was “just not detecting a clamouring from a large number of our citizenry from a commuter standpoint to spend the money, taxpayer money, to convert a lot of our road network”, although he was supportive of strictly recreational trail development. He subsequently sought an alteration to the staff request for endorsement of the master plan.

“Could I respectfully suggest that after the word ‘endorse’ could I put in an amendment conditional upon individual links being subject to community feedback in consultation with the ward councilor in affected neighbourhoods,” he moved. “That captures what Mr. Solomon said to me in response, but I want to put that in writing.”

It’s apparently that wording that led Jackson to order city staff to cancel the Queensdale bike lanes after taking a “straw vote” at a neighbourhood meeting last April. Prior to organizing that meeting – attended by about 40 people, some of whom supported the lanes – the councillor had attempted to put off “bike markings” until after the re-construction work on the road.

At this point, the only bike lanes in Jackson’s ward run along Stone Church Road and had been put in place prior to the adoption of the cycling master plan. Recreational pedestrian/cycling routes are in place on a rail trail running along the eastern edge of the ward and through conservation lands near Albion Falls.

North-south lanes are proposed for Upper Ottawa and Upper Sherman, plus a short east-west section at the eastern end of Limeridge Road, but none of these have are currently at an active planning stage. The “building the bike network” page on the city’s website lists projects “in the works” and being planned as well as a category of “projects not proceeding” that contains just one line: “Queensdale Avenue – as councillor approval was not granted”.

CATCH (Citizens at City Hall) updates use transcripts and/or public documents to highlight information about Hamilton civic affairs that is not generally available in the mass media. Detailed reports of City Hall meetings can be reviewed at hamiltoncatch.org. You can receive all CATCH free updates by sending an email to http://hamiltoncatch.org/newsletter/?p=subscribe. Sharing links are available on thehamiltoncatch.org.

First Bicycle Casualty of ward politics

"Queensdale Avenue - between Upper Wellington Street & Upper Ottawa Street.  This project is not proceeding."

As TLC feared, a comprehensive cycling network is subject to parochialism, and any gains from good planning are in jeopardy.

This kind of political interference does not support provincial planning objectives around transportation. What good is a city-wide cycling plan if it can be broken by bad arguements from nervous or misinformed councillors. 


Is there a role for the province here?


Read the exclusive interview with Councillor Jackson about this at Raise the Hammer

feedback on shifting gears

Transportation for Liveable Communities Hamilton
PO Box 19, 1280 Main Street West
Hamilton ON L8S 1C0


March 5, 2010


Dear Daryl Bender and Hamilton Council,
re: Shifting Gears Cycling Master Plan

Transportation for Liveable Communities (TLC) Hamilton is pleased that the Shifting Gears Cycling Plan is completed with an integrated network of cycling routes mapped out, and we commend the staff who worked so diligently to provide a very reasonable plan and listened to the input provided by the community who attended the Public Information Centres and sent comments by e-mail.

TLC recognizes the need for such planning if we are to ensure an effective use of routes to encourage cycling, which benefits not only cyclists, but the entire community, especially in areas where bicycle lanes help calm traffic, and provide safer walking and cycling environments.

We view Shifting Gears as vital to meeting policy directives of the city, including the Transportation Master Plan, and Shifting Gears, and Making Hamilton the Best Place to Raise a Child, by getting more people out of cars and into more active modes of transportation, yet, TLC feels the plan has been weakened by changes to the original staff recommendations that were made by council.

We want our city to meet its goals, and we want to help the city to get there; yet despite several community consultations, spanning from November 2008 to April 2009, the recommendations of senior staff and the Alternative Transportation Coordinator to the Public Works Committee on June 15, 2009 were essentially stripped of effectiveness by council-driven amendments before approval of the altered plan on June 24, 2009.

Despite the strong correlation between the density and connectivity of cycling infrastructure to increasing the number of cyclists, council ignores these data, erring on the side of nervous ward parochialism.

How else does a recommendation like “(a) That the City of Hamilton Cycling Master Plan be endorsed:” become, “That the City of Hamilton Cycling Master Plan be endorsed, conditional upon individual links being subject to community feedback and consultation with the Ward Councillor and affected neighbourhoods” ?

The amendments to the original recommendation unduly add another layer of potential delays to a process that involve “community feedback” opportunities at scheduled Public Information Centres, and for the entire time the plan was being studied.Already there is a proviso in the recommendation that allows for further legitimate consultation:

“Further EA Approvals are required for any Schedule C projects including additional consultation requirements and publication of an Environmental Study Report consistent with the requirements of the MEA Class EA (October 2000, as amended in 2007) for Schedule C projects. As noted above, at this time all projects identified are considered Schedule A+ or approved under the RTMP (2007), subject to confirmation prior to project implementation.”

As city staff pointed out in their recommendation, “Cycling will become much more effective when there are continuous road segments as part of the network. Missing links can greatly reduce the attractiveness of a cycling route.”

TLC would like to see the policy strengthened by ensuring that important city-wide links are not subject to political interference. The changes to the original recommendations create uncertainty where we need firm direction. This has the potential to negate the gains that will only come when the cycling plan's goals are enacted in such a way to ensure an integrated network of cycling infrastructure.

TLC's primary concern is to seek ways to ensure the spirit of the cycling plan is prioritized so that implementation is supportive of the plans goals to create a city-wide cycling network. We are eager to meet with project staff to discuss this issue further.


Thank you for your consideration,


Transportation for Liveable Communities



--
Transportation for Liveable Communities
(TLC) Hamilton
tlchamilton.org
tlchamilton@gmail.com
905-525-9140 ext. 26026
PO Box 19, 1280 Main Street West
Hamilton ON L8S 1C0

Advocates for sustainable transportation in Hamilton since 2000

cycle coin

CATCH News – January 3, 2010

Little funding for bike improvements

Over the next ten years, the city is budgetting to complete only about one-fifth of the cycling improvements endorsed by council last summer. Thanks to a volunteer community group, the full plans can now be viewed on-line.

Transportation for Liveable Communities (TLC) hopes their on-line map will encourage residents to lobby councillors to speed up implementation.

“We decided to make the map available online so people can see where the new bike lanes and multi-use trails will be and think about how the new routes can be used in their day-to-day routines.” said Nicholas Ellens of TLC in a media release last month. “We encourage people to pick up the phone and let their councillors know that they support the plan".

The city’s long-term plans were approved in principle last June and call for 223 projects to improve Hamilton’s cycling network in the urban area plus 49 in the rural region. The projected total cost is $51.5 million – somewhat less than the $55 million council has decided to take from the Future Fund to cover the city’s contribution to the 2015 Pan Am Games.

For 2010, the city has approved capital budget spending of $1.3 million to complete eight bike lane projects. But the expected expenditures over the rest of the decade average just $950,000 a year for new cycling infrastructure.

New lanes are to be established this year on Woodward Avenue, Burlington Street, Queensdale Avenue, York Boulevard, and Wilson Street at a total cost of just over $1 million. The remaining $250,000 will go to rehabilitating existing cycling facilities on Longwood Road and Stone Church Road.

The Woodward project is the most expensive at $400,000 and will add bike lanes between Melvin and Brampton as part of a $3.5 million road reconstruction project. This year’s new lanes on Burlington Street will run from Birch to east of Ottawa – the first phase of a planned bike route all the way from Ferguson Avenue to Parkdale.

A multi-use bridge over the QEW near the Red Hill Parkway for the use of both cyclists and pedestrians is also expected to be opened in 2010. That’s being paid for by a provincial government grant. TLC argues more bike lanes will help reduce auto dependency and encourage increased numbers of commuters to cycle.

“Cycling is a healthy, clean, efficient, and affordable alternative to driving,” said Ellens. “A connected network of lanes, paths, and in some places bridges will make cycling in the city a much safer option, overcoming a major obstacle that discourages many from participating.”

Last month Reuters reported that cycling to work in the United States has increased 43 percent in the last decade. The US Census Bureau figures put Portland Oregon at the top of the list with 6 percent of commutes carried out by bicycle, but these numbers are still far below European cities.

More than a third of the residents of Greater Copenhagen, for example, use a bike to get to work or school and that number climbs to 55 percent if you only count those within the city limits, reports Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason.

“Bikes are everywhere: in vast lots outside train stations, leaning against buildings, locked to racks that are as ubiquitous as Carlsberg signs,” he observed. “The people riding them are dressed for all occasions. You see men in pin-striped suits and women in skirts and high heels. Few ride anything but old, traditional one-speeds.”

Copenhagen’s efforts to build a “bike culture” have included setting traffic signal coordination for cycling speeds instead of car, stop lines for bikes five metres ahead of cars, and giving cyclists a green light several seconds ahead of cars.

In Canadian developments, Montreal added 104 kilometres of bike lanes in the last two years to bring their total to over 500 km. And last spring they joined Paris, London and New York in putting thousands of rental bikes on the streets, a move described as “huge boost to cycling” in the Quebec city.


CATCH (Citizens at City Hall) updates use transcripts and/or public documents to highlight information about Hamilton civic affairs that is not generally available in the mass media. Detailed reports of City Hall meetings can be reviewed at www.hamiltoncatch.org. You can receive all CATCH free updates by sending an email to info@HamiltonCATCH.org.

sifting through shifting gears

View SHIFTING GEARS CYCLING PLAN in a larger map

passing lanes

A few of the cyclists leaving the City Council meeting at the Hamilton Convention Centre, after council passed the Shifting Gears Cycling Plan last night. The task remaining is to see that council funds the program at budget time. It will make the difference in seeing this long-overdue plan in place during the next decade, or in forty years. To get active on this issue, please contact tlchamilton@gmail.com and help us make it happen!

shifting gears at council

Gary Yokoyama, the Hamilton Spectator

Cycling plan gets votes, but cash? Not so fast TheSpec.com - Local - Cycling plan gets votes, but cash? No so fast

Nicole Macintyre, The Hamilton Spectator
(Jun 25, 2009)

They came on two wheels, helmets in place, to remind council that not every Hamiltonian wants to drive to work.

About 20 cyclists attended last night's council meeting to encourage the city to approve and fund its new cycling master plan.

Councillors unanimously backed the plan without debate, but referred any funding commitments to the budget process.

It will take $51.5 million to implement the integrated cycling network on city streets, a cost of $2.5 million a year if it was completed over 20 years.

Staff recommended the city only commit $1.25 million a year and focus on urban bike lanes.

The investment, which would be staged over numerous years, would more than quadruple the city's designated bike lanes to 566 kilometres.

However, several councillors have expressed concern about the size of the investment, questioning if the bike lanes would be used enough to justify the cost.

They want to consider the expense in relation to the city's other financial demands.

Randy Kay of Transportation for Liveable Communities Hamilton wants the city to fast-track the plan. The yearly price tag, he argued, is affordable and offers the city a cheap way to improve its image.

"Hamilton is moving in the right direction, keep going. Don't be left behind," he said.

"People want choices in their transportation."

In a letter to council, cyclist Brendan Simons said he's lived in several cities, but finds Hamilton the most "hostile to cyclists."

"No matter which roads I take, I have to contend with cars and trucks whizzing by my elbow at 70 plus kilometres per hour," Simons wrote.

Kay said local cyclists intend to follow the plan to next year's budget process.

"We're hoping this is just the start of a campaign to see this through."

press for bike lanes

CATCH News – June 23, 2009

Council pressed on cycling master plan

Cyclists are being urged to attend tomorrow night’s council meeting to support increased funding for bike lanes and multi-use paths. Last week, the public works committee refused to confirm funding for a proposed master plan for cycling infrastructure and also deferred making the staff coordinator’s job permanent.

Transportation for Liveable Communities is calling for sufficient funding for a cycling infrastructure master plan developed by city staff.

“The best case scenario: City councillors approve $2.5 million in funding each year, which would see the urban cycling network completed in 10 years and the rural web of bike paths completed in 20 years,” says a flyer issued by the group. “If you cycle, or know someone who does, we need you to let your local politician know that you support an integrated cycling network of bike lanes and paths.”

The proposal for $51.5 million for cycling infrastructure was accepted by the public works committee on June 15, but only after amendments to defer any funding commitments until future city budget discussions. And a specific recommendation that “the position of project manager, alternative transportation be made permanent” was also put off.

That position, the only one focused on cycling programs, is currently held by Daryl Bender, the main author of the master plan. He’s been a temporary employee for the last two years, and prior to his hiring, the annual $300,000 budget for bike lanes had repeatedly been unspent.

Tom Jackson asked that the “part about the permanency of the position … be referred to next year’s budget” discussions. He was assured that the change would not have any financial implications.

“This is simply taking a position which exists in our complement but which has been designated as a temporary contract position,” explained Hart Solomon, the city’s traffic manager. “The source of funding is already in place.”

But Jackson insisted that any decision on this be deferred, and the committee agreed. He also pushed through an amendment to make all proposed bike lanes “conditional upon individual links being subject to community feedback in consultation with the ward councillor in affected neighbourhoods.”

Earlier in the meeting, Chad Collins had challenged the wording of another part of the recommendation that he felt might mean “setting in stone” funding for the plan. Staff had suggested the annual budget for cycling infrastructure be increased to $1.25 million from the current $300,000 a year.

“How do we accommodate the increased figure that you’re proposing here, given the current capital budget, without creating problems in other areas when we know we have a capital budget infrastructure deficit,” Collins asked of Solomon, noting pressures to address storm flooding and improved transit services.

“Obviously the priorities are going to be set by the members of council and we’re simply presenting you with a plan that will have to be evaluated in comparison with all the other priorities – and we’re quite cognizant of the financial difficulties,” responded Solomon. “We’re simply suggesting that if cycling rises far enough in the priority system to be implemented at that stage, then that’s the amount of funding necessary to do it.”

Collins remained concerned that the plan could be “written in stone” and moved an amendment that would make the cycling improvements authorized “for consideration in the 2010 and future years’ capital budget deliberations.” He also argued that actual city spending on cycling is already greater than $300,000 a year – pointing to the $14 million in provincial monies allocated last year to a pedestrian/cycling bridge over the QEW as part of the Red Hill Valley trails system.

Margaret McCarthy said she would not support the proposed spending, pointing to “the restricted movement of traffic and vehicular movement around the city” and suggesting that “encouraging cycling in that mix” is an “unsafe practice.” She was also concerned about “our weather conditions” and air pollution that cyclists “would be sucking in as they’re going along those busy intersections.”

The budget for capital projects, including bike infrastructure, is drafted by city staff and usually approved in December for the coming year with very little council discussion. High city debt levels, as well as major recent spending on waste management facilities, the Linc and the Red Hill Valley Parkway, has restricted the size of the capital budget.

In the most recent capital budget, next year’s spending was forecast to drop from $236 million down to $181 million – but that doesn’t include one-time federal and provincial stimulus spending that has so far provided an extra $122 million earlier this month. The city has applied for an additional $84 million for recreational projects.

CATCH (Citizens at City Hall) updates use transcripts and/or public documents to highlight information about Hamilton civic affairs that is not generally available in the mass media. Detailed reports of City Hall meetings can be reviewed at www.hamiltoncatch.org. You can receive all CATCH free updates by sending an email to info@HamiltonCATCH.org.

cycling: the new kid on the block?

Bike paths: Heed the younger generation TheSpec.com - Opinions - Bike paths: Heed the younger generation

Terry Cooke, The Hamilton Spectator, (Jun 20, 2009)

They built the Great Pyramid in ancient Egypt in 20 years. But in Hamilton it's going to take us 40 years to construct a network of bicycle paths. Maybe we should be just a little more ambitious.

Or perhaps our city councillors should ask any randomly selected group of younger Hamiltonians what they think about encouraging the use of alternative forms of transportation to the private automobile.

Because young people just get it. They have figured out that our political future looks very different than the recent past on a bunch of different issues. Take gay marriage for instance, about which people of my generation remain deeply divided. Yet everybody I've talked to under 30 believes it's a no-brainer -- live and let live.

Just as young people know successful urban areas have to move away from planning that focuses exclusively on moving large numbers of vehicles quickly through the heart of our cities.

I guarantee that a city council comprised of 25-year-olds would jump at the opportunity to convert a five-lane urban expressway such as Main Street into something that actually nurtures local neighbourhoods and businesses while encouraging people to cycle and walk along it.

But in Hamilton, the car remains king and political change never seems to happen easily.

I learned that lesson the hard way as a political novice when I initiated the creation of a regionwide system of bicycle paths in the late 1980s.

We formed a committee to oversee the process, hired technical experts to design a plan (including both on-street bike lanes and rail trails) and got council to approve a capital budget. So far so good, I thought.

But when we actually converted one of the five lanes on Main and King streets to dedicated bicycle paths in 1993, all hell broke loose. Angry drivers who experienced some minor delays due to the changes literally lit up the switchboard at City Hall. The Spectator then piled on with front-page coverage of an accident in which a cyclist was hit on Main Street.

Regional council quickly caved to the pressure and abandoned the project. That political debacle remains seared in the memory of veteran councillors, explaining in part their trepidation about moving too aggressively now on bike lanes.

It's too bad because had we stayed the course Hamilton today would have a cycling network that would be the envy of mid-sized cities in North America.

Meanwhile, places like Portland, Ore., and Montreal have managed to get up to 15 per cent of their commuter traffic out of cars and onto bikes, helping the environment while reducing the demand for new road construction.

Thankfully much has changed in Hamilton in the last 15 years. Both our civic attitudes and our infrastructure are better equipped to support a fundamental shift in favour of neighbourhoods, transit, pedestrians and cyclists.

Not the least of these changes is the opening of the Linc and Red Hill expressways which provide a better way for drivers interested only in getting across town quickly.

There are political champions for change such as downtown Councillor Bob Bratina and Mayor Fred Eisenberger who are pushing for a more aggressive approach to building the cycling network in perhaps five or 10 years rather than 40.

Let's hope council considers not only the wisdom of Bratina and Eisenberger on this issue, but also takes the time to listen to our next generation of leaders in trying to figure out the future.

Terry Cooke is a director of the Canadian Urban Institute. He is president of Cooke Capital Corp. and former Hamilton-Wentworth chair.

tcooke@thespec.com

http://thespec.com/Opinions/article/586576

cyclists to city council

Help distribute a leaflet encouraging cyclists to contact their councillors, and to attend the next City Council Meeting where the voting will take place to fund the Shifting Gears Cycling Plan for Hamilton, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, at 7PM Hamilton Convention Centre, 1 Summers Lane.

If cyclists attend one city council meeting, this is the one! Come out and bring your friends!

shifting gear to a brighter future

Transportation for Liveable Communities
tlchamilton.org
905-525-9140 ext. 26026
PO Box 19, 1280 Main Street West
Hamilton ON L8S 1C0

Dear Councillors,

How can we make Hamilton a better place to raise a child, address poverty issues, and prove to the rest of the world that Hamilton is interested in attracting bright young professionals?

Continue to support sustainable transportation, specifically at this juncture, the Shifting Gears cycling plan.

If you build it, will they come? Yes, they will.

Today we are constantly reminded that "Young professionals are attracted to diverse, explorable cities that are easily walked and biked, that have lots of green spaces and trails, exciting nightlife, clean air and water and good transit." (American consultant Rebecca Ryan, keynote speaker at the second annual Hamilton Economic Summit on May 6, "Young workers want a city they can love", Hamilton Spectator, April 27, 2009)

Getting the cycling network in place will help attract the "creative class" and will do much to "change Hamilton’s image as a faltering industrial city paralyzed by conflict and indecision....Hamilton must celebrate itself, recreate its sense of pride and stop listening to the naysayers." (Summit hears mega-region on road to prosperity, Hamilton Spectator, May 1, 2008)

In a city where 20% of households lack cars, and 40% of residents say they cycle regularly or occasionally (Hamilton-Wentworth Community Cycling Survey, 1997), investing in cycling provides long term benefit for comparably little cost: the bike racks on city buses are a good example of spending to invest in infrastructure that pays long term dividends, both in practical terms for cyclists, and in enhancing the city's image.

The argument that we can't afford to invest in cycling infrastructure that meets the stated objectives of city policies like Vision 2020, The Transportation Master Plan, Making Hamilton the best place to raise a child, and other long range planning goals does not get us where we say we want to be. Compare the annual operating bill for the 8 km valley parkway: $2.65 million, with the hoped for annual cycling investment of $2.5 million a year. Whereas the highway costs will likely rise over time, cycling infrastructure presents much lower maintenance costs for a city.

With these, and other considerations, such as public health and climate change in mind, Transportation for Liveable Communities encourages city council to fully support implementation of the Shifting Gears Cycling Plan, on a timeline that will allow us and our children to reap the rewards.

Thank you for your consideration,

Transportation for Liveable Communities

calling all cyclists!

CYCLISTS! ACT NOW TO ENSURE HAMILTON’S CYCLING FUTURE!
Contact Your City Councillor

If you cycle, or know someone who does, we need you to let your local politician know that you support an integrated cycling network of bike lanes and paths.

Council will be voting on how much they will fund the Shifting Gears Cycling Plan Wednesday, June 24, 2009!

7pm, Hamilton Convention Centre, 1 Summers Lane

If cyclists attend one city council meeting, this is the one!
Come out and bring your friends!

A full list of councillors, contact info and ward boundaries can be found here:

http://www.myhamilton.ca/myhamilton/CityandGovernment/YourElectedOfficials/CityCouncillors/

The best case scenario: City councillors approve $2.5 million in funding each year , which would see the urban cycling network completed in 10 years and the rural web of bike paths completed in 20 years

AGAINST:
“Councillor Tom Jackson frequently hears from residents who want more recreational trails.
He’s not sure if those same people want to bike to work on city streets. ‘I’m not detecting a huge clamouring for commuter lanes. ’”

Flamborough’s Councillor “Margaret McCarthy is sceptical additional bike lanes would be well used given the escarpment, weather, transit improvements and heavy traffic. ‘It seems to me an unsafe practice, ’ she said. ‘For my money, this wouldn’t go forward. ’”

Terry Whitehead: "Convince me that investing over fifty million dollars on a seasonal activity would be better than making this investment into public transit."

FOR:
Councillor Bob Bratina “If you’ve been to Europe and seen it, you believe it,” he said. “We need to evolve a little more.”

HOW?:
“The key to achieving high levels of cycling appears to be the provision of separate cycling facilities along heavily travelled roads and at intersections, combined with traffic calming of most residential neighbourhoods. Extensive cycling rights of way...are complemented by ample bike parking, full integration with public transport, comprehensive traffic education and training of both cyclists and motorists, and a wide range of promotional events intended to generate enthusiasm and wide public support for cycling.”

– from Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany by JOHN PUCHER and RALPH BUEHLER

COMPARE:
Annual Cost of Operating the Red Hill Parkway (8km total): $2.65 million
Annual Cost to Implement the Cycling Plan over 20 years : $2.5 million for a total of 566km of bike lanes

TRANSPORTATION FOR LIVEABLE COMMUNITIES HAMILTON @ tlchamilton.org
A working group of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) McMaster

how many more years?

Cycling plan sees bike path every 2 kilometres TheSpec.com - Local - Cycling plan sees bike path every 2 kilometres

John Kernaghan, The Hamilton Spectator, (Jun 15, 2009)

Bike shops are reporting more people selling second cars and buying commuter bicycles.

And Hamilton is trying to meet that growing interest with a master cycling plan that would quadruple annual budgets for bike paths.

But even that $1.25 million wouldn't complete a recommended network in 20 years.

And the plan, to be presented to the city's public works committee today, offers a more aggressive alternative that would ramp up investment to $2.5 million each year.

That would complete the urban network in 10 years and the rural web of bike paths in 20 years.

The plan prepared by Hart Solomon notes Hamilton would have to match per capita spending in Burlington and Toronto, of $5.25 per person per year, to achieve that. A lower amount of $2.50 per capita "reflects the reality of our limited capital budget for road improvements."

The plan updates the Shifting Gears plan devised by the former region of Hamilton Wentworth.

It suggests a middle ground between no real cycling network and the ideal -- an upgrade of all city streets for cycling use.

It seeks the "satisfactory" concept of a cyclist travelling less than a kilometre to access a formal cycling route. That means a grid with two-kilometre spacing for urban areas.

The total cost to upgrade about 270 links to create that grid would cost $51.5 million over time, split $22.6 million urban and $28.9 million rural.

In asking the plan to be adopted, the report recommended that the position of project manager, alternative transportation, be made a permanent job.

The plan follows a series of six public meetings that left two people in the bike business optimistic.

"It's moving slowly," said Sam DiBussolo, of All The Right Gears cycle shop. "But it is moving forward and I think they'll get it done."

And Elaine Pierik, of Pieriks Cycle in Westdale, said she was hopeful, "as long as they keep moving forward. In the past it's been one step forward, two steps back."

She said customers in her store are increasingly giving up cars and using bikes for work.

"We have a number of people buying folding bikes, so they can cycle to the GO station, then collapse the bike and carry it on the train to work."

http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/583607

catching up with cycling?

CATCH News – June 14, 2009

Comprehensive cycling network proposed
The city has prepared a master cycling plan that could put every urban resident within one kilometre of a bike lane or trail and establish a full rural network as well – for less than the city’s financial commitment to the proposed Pan-Am stadium. The plan goes to the public works committee tomorrow morning, but with recommended funding that would require over 40 years to complete the full network.
Over 260 bike lanes or multi-use paths in all parts of the city are listed in the plan to be added to the current network. Most of those (220) are in the urban area and are expected to cost $22.6 million to put in place. The 46 proposals for the rural area would add another $28.9 million, for a total price tag of $51.5 million.
“The core facility type will be the designated, painted lane,” explains the staff report. “The plan is based on the philosophy that a cyclist should be able to access the network in the urban area by travelling no more than 1 km, so a grid based on a 2 km spacing has been developed.”
The current budget allocation for cycling infrastructure is $300,000 a year. That was originally established at one percent of the road building budget, but has not increased for several years. Using that rate of annual spending, it would take 172 years to pay for all the projects. Staff are suggesting increasing annual spending for cycling to $1.25 million – enough to finish the master plan in 41 years.
That schedule could be cut to under 20 years if efforts are concentrated in the urban area – a direction that is suggested in the staff report.
“The funding level suggested in this report is about one-half that level and reflects the realities of our limited capital budget for road improvements,” says the staff report. “While $1,250,000 annually is less than the amount required to complete the entire network in twenty years, it will allow for good success on the urban portion and is compatible with staff’s ability to undertake these projects.”
An option offered to councillors is to double the allocation to $2.5 million a year – equivalent to five dollars per resident per year. That would bring Hamilton closer to Toronto’s annual per capita allocation of five dollars and twenty-five cents.
The city’s last major cycling plan was prepared ten years ago and staff say about 75 percent of its recommended projects have now been completed. But they note that 1999 “ Shifting Gears” plan “did not provide a comprehensive network of cycling facilities across the City.”
The new master plan has been developed over the last year in consultation with the public aims to correct this deficiency. It is “primarily focused on developing new on-road facilities, connecting wherever possible to existing or planned off-road facilities” says the report. It goes on to explain that the intent is to support both “commuter/utilitarian cycling and recreational cycling”, noting that the latter “is often the first step toward commuting or utilitarian use.”
Council is also being asked to approve permanent status for the “ alternative transportation coordinator” – a position that is currently only temporary.
“Integral to delivering the plan is the requirement for a full-time staff member dedicated to delivering the program,” advises the report. Before the temporary coordinator was hired, actual spending on cycling infrastructure was running far behind the annual $300,000 budget.
The majority of the proposed projects in the urban area are budgetted at less than $50,000 each. Of these 39 would cost less than $10,000 each, and another 93 are in the $10-50,000 range. Only two of the first 65 in the priority list attached to the report would cost more than $50,000.
Many of the more expensive projects are multi-use trails. Nine of the 215 in the urban area exceed $500,000 each with one of those budgetted at over $1 million.
Many of the more costly would be scheduled as part of road widening or reconstruction, with the cycling budget picking up any additional costs required for bike lanes. In the rural area, where over 250 kilometres of lanes are proposed, 70 percent of the projects would require paving road shoulders.
The completed plan, if approved by the committee and ratified next week by the full council, will then be posted for 30 days of further public comment required under provincial environmental assessment rules.


CATCH (Citizens at City Hall) updates use transcripts and/or public documents to highlight information about Hamilton civic affairs that is not generally available in the mass media. Detailed reports of City Hall meetings can be reviewed at www.hamiltoncatch.org. You can receive all CATCH free updates by sending an email to info@HamiltonCATCH.org.