Tuesday, December 21, 2010
bollards and barriers - the case for physically separated bicycle lanes
http://streetswiki.wikispaces.com/Physically+Separated+Bike+Lanes
Monday, December 20, 2010
Hamilton Transit in Crisis
There have been 26 assaults on HSR drivers this year, a situation being blamed partly on an overloaded transit system where service has shrunk by over 40 percent in the past two decades. Demands for immediate improvements were delivered to councillors last week by several delegations and their transit staff, but to no obvious effect.
In his presentation to the general issues committee, bus union president Budh Dhillon compared today’s HSR with the one he drove for in 1989 when “we used to have 1,264,335 hours of service as opposed to 710,000” reported for 2010 for a considerably larger geographic area. When he began driving a bus 31 years ago he recalled that even on a Sunday “you didn’t have to wait more than 10 minutes for the bus” during daytime hours.
“We have about 767 less hours of service on a daily basis on the road now, where we cover a lot more area than we used to in 1989,” noted Dhillon. “And also we’ve added responsibility on the drivers for seniors, special need riders, and it takes more time to provide that service.”
He pointed to the extra time required to handle passengers with walkers, wheelchairs, scooters and bicycles, and the situation on several HSR routes where full buses are unable to pick up waiting riders.
“We have to leave the people at the stops to wait for the next bus, and chances are the next bus might be full. That happens on a daily basis, especially on the major routes King, B-Line and going into the university, Upper James. That’s where you get the frustrated clients, frustrated passengers. They’ve been waiting for the bus in the cold and can’t get on.”
In 1989, the HSR had 272 buses on the road, compared to 217 today, and it carried six million more passengers than the 21 million this year. And the city population served by transit has climbed from 400,000 in 1989 to 475,000 today.
Dhillon’s call for more transit funding was echoed by John McIntyre, the vice-president of the McMaster Students Union who argued improved service must occur before any fare hikes. He noted that McMaster student passes contribute $2.5 million a year to the HSR, about 8 percent of the transit budget, and they have a referendum in February to decide on whether or not to continue the contract.
The drivers’ observations were supported by the Transit Users Group represented by Peter Hutton.
“You have a crisis; it’s getting worse,” he emphasized. “It’s not only on the west-end routes, it’s in the Mohawk routes, it’s in all sorts of different places, and you’re not going to get additional riders on the system until you address this.”
The message was also similar from Tom Cooper of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction and Maureen Leyland of the Common Coalition Campaign working to alleviate poverty. Both expressed strong support for the recommendations from HSR director Don Hull to immediately add $3 million to the transit operating budget by using monies not currently needed for bus purchases.
Although that proposal won’t raise taxes, councillors voted to again defer a decision until they debate the city’s 2011 budget that is scheduled to be ratified in April. Shifting the $3 million to expand service on eight HSR routes has been discussed since November 2009 and was also put off by councillors last summer.
The deferral last week was proposed by Tom Jackson who called Hull’s recommendation “noble” and “probably needed to some degree” but argued that no decision should be made until councillors “see how it all measures up in light of other departmental pressures and in light of the overall capital and operating budgets that we’re going to see over the next few months.”
Transcript available
The transit presentation made by St Thomas More teachers and one of their students was reported on in the Hamilton Spectator on Saturday. A transcript of their presentation, as well as questions and comments by councillors in response, has been prepared by CATCH volunteers and is posted here.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
sELFish season?
People with strollers, or walking side-by-side sharing good cheer would have had a difficult time getting past this obstacle.
Parking in bike lanes, now parking on sidewalks. What's next, parking in the store?
BFCL 549 - you win some kind of Grinch award!
Friday, December 03, 2010
ham il to n bi k e lan es
A quick check with city cycling staff confirms that the bike lane will not be continuous from the existing lane ending west of Dundurn, and the new lanes, east of Queen. There are "sharrows" from Dundurn to Locke.
A fully integrated bike lane is included in the Cycling Master Plan, but according to staffer Daryl Bender "the challenge" is the narrow width of the existing asphalt.
A frequently voiced complaint among Hamilton's cycling, and would-be cycling community is the lack of continuous bike lanes. This latest project will, unfortunately, be another such example.
If we want to see more cycling, these broken links stand as barriers. Why not solve the challenge by taking one of the three one-way lanes on York in the "narrow" stretch and making it available to cyclists? Only then will the integrity of the lanes be intact.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Starving Transit?
CATCH News – November 22, 2010
Bus improvements and fare hikes on agenda
The new council will grapple with possible bus fare hikes and route changes before the end of the year. Fares were raised last January, but not as much as recommended by staff, and a provision of more monies to the HSR for service improvements is also up for debate.
The new council takes office on December 1 in a strictly ceremonial inaugural meeting, but will be asked to make several key decisions before Christmas – including raising water and sewer rates and other fees, and finalizing the transit budget before discussing other aspects of next year’s budget. The rush to raise fees is intended to ensure these can be collected as early as possible in 2011.
The transit budget is scheduled for debate on the morning of Tuesday, December 14, but actual proposals from staff won’t be made public before December 10. Ridership this year was higher than expected and bus repair costs were lower, but those revenue gains have already been shifted to reserves – leaving the overall 2010 budget at “a net zero position”.
HSR cash fares have climbed more than 20 percent since June 2007, while the price of adult monthly passes has jumped by a third and school-age passes have gone up 40 percent (see table below). But rising fuel prices and regular wage increases of transit employees could be used to argue for another fare hike for 2011.
Last year’s recommended increase was 20 cents a ride, but some councillors wanted less and a 15 cent increase was eventually adopted by a narrow 9-7 vote. Three of those who voted in favour aren’t part of the new council – Fred Eisenberger, Margaret McCarthy and Dave Mitchell – all of whom supported the 20 cent hike.
The seniors’ annual pass was left at the $205 level it’s been fixed at since 2003, but adult and student passes each climbed $8 a month to $87 and $71 respectively. That translated into $96 more per year for each regular rider – and much more for those with several family members using the transit system.
Council refused to consider the alternative of raising taxes to cover increased HSR expenditures. It also ignored commentary in the staff report that suggested that might be the best option:
The city receives $32 million a year in these payments, but so far has used none of it for bus services. Brian McHattie has been advocating that $3 million of that money be shifted to the HSR to pay for more bus service.
In August, council decided to put off that re-allocation to the 2011 transit budget, so that proposal will also be up for decision on December 14. Some councillors suggested this amount is “pie in the sky”, but it was strongly defended by transit director Don Hull who said the system really needs ten times that amount.
“$30 million is just what it would take over the next five years to keep moving towards the Transportation Master Plan,” he explained. “The $3 million that we’re asking for in alternative to the $30 million is simply what we feel we need in the very short term to prevent the public satisfaction with this program from deteriorating.”
Hamilton is one of only two municipalities that currently use none of their federal gas tax for transit. The other is Durham Region which plans to spend its entire share on a new incinerator. Hull’s August report indicated the extra monies could fund weekend service on the King, Stone Church and the B-Line routes and weekday expansion on the Delaware, Upper Kenilworth, Rymal, Locke, York and Aberdeen lines.
Bus improvements and fare hikes on agenda
The new council will grapple with possible bus fare hikes and route changes before the end of the year. Fares were raised last January, but not as much as recommended by staff, and a provision of more monies to the HSR for service improvements is also up for debate.
The new council takes office on December 1 in a strictly ceremonial inaugural meeting, but will be asked to make several key decisions before Christmas – including raising water and sewer rates and other fees, and finalizing the transit budget before discussing other aspects of next year’s budget. The rush to raise fees is intended to ensure these can be collected as early as possible in 2011.
The transit budget is scheduled for debate on the morning of Tuesday, December 14, but actual proposals from staff won’t be made public before December 10. Ridership this year was higher than expected and bus repair costs were lower, but those revenue gains have already been shifted to reserves – leaving the overall 2010 budget at “a net zero position”.
HSR cash fares have climbed more than 20 percent since June 2007, while the price of adult monthly passes has jumped by a third and school-age passes have gone up 40 percent (see table below). But rising fuel prices and regular wage increases of transit employees could be used to argue for another fare hike for 2011.
Last year’s recommended increase was 20 cents a ride, but some councillors wanted less and a 15 cent increase was eventually adopted by a narrow 9-7 vote. Three of those who voted in favour aren’t part of the new council – Fred Eisenberger, Margaret McCarthy and Dave Mitchell – all of whom supported the 20 cent hike.
The seniors’ annual pass was left at the $205 level it’s been fixed at since 2003, but adult and student passes each climbed $8 a month to $87 and $71 respectively. That translated into $96 more per year for each regular rider – and much more for those with several family members using the transit system.
Council refused to consider the alternative of raising taxes to cover increased HSR expenditures. It also ignored commentary in the staff report that suggested that might be the best option:
“Ideally, transit program managers recommend fare increases to generate new revenue to fund service level increases stipulated in corporate strategic objectives,” stated the report. “Less desirably, in a challenged fiscal environment, fare increases are applied to meet fiscal goals for program budgets versus strategic goals. Finally, fare increases where the new revenue is used to offset increases to the general tax levy are detrimental to the sustainability of transit programs.”In its final resolution, council directed staff to come up with a policy for automatically raising fares without a council debate, but that hasn’t happened yet. A second issue facing councillors is a proposal to use federal gas tax monies for transit.
The city receives $32 million a year in these payments, but so far has used none of it for bus services. Brian McHattie has been advocating that $3 million of that money be shifted to the HSR to pay for more bus service.
In August, council decided to put off that re-allocation to the 2011 transit budget, so that proposal will also be up for decision on December 14. Some councillors suggested this amount is “pie in the sky”, but it was strongly defended by transit director Don Hull who said the system really needs ten times that amount.
“$30 million is just what it would take over the next five years to keep moving towards the Transportation Master Plan,” he explained. “The $3 million that we’re asking for in alternative to the $30 million is simply what we feel we need in the very short term to prevent the public satisfaction with this program from deteriorating.”
Hamilton is one of only two municipalities that currently use none of their federal gas tax for transit. The other is Durham Region which plans to spend its entire share on a new incinerator. Hull’s August report indicated the extra monies could fund weekend service on the King, Stone Church and the B-Line routes and weekday expansion on the Delaware, Upper Kenilworth, Rymal, Locke, York and Aberdeen lines.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
cycling update: Burlington
Burlington Councillor Rick Craven reports that delayed improvements to Northshore Blvd will be completed in the spring 2011:
View Northshore Paved Shoulders in a larger map
View Northshore Paved Shoulders in a larger map
North Shore Boulevard Improvements
The plan to improve shoulders on North Shore between Eagle and Glenwood has been delayed. The work, aimed at improving pedestrian and cycling safety, was scheduled for the fall. The delay results from an opportunity to add federal/provincial infrastructure dollars to the pot allowing the city to completely resurface the road at the same time we do the shoulder work. Unfortunately, we still have not received word from Ottawa about these additional funds. Now, it’s too late to do the shoulder work this fall, but it will be done in the spring regardless of whether we receive the additional money.
Friday, November 05, 2010
The Novice Cyclist Series: Commuting 101 – McMaster to Harbourfront
What: The Novice Cyclist Series: Commuting 101 – McMaster to Habourfront
When: Friday Nov. 12 @ 12pm (noon)
Where: Meet in front of Wentworth House
View 101 Bike McMaster to Harbourfront Hamilton in a larger map
Learn how to get from Point A to point B on your bike! This friendly afternoon bike ride will show you how to get from McMaster University to the Hamilton Harbourfront on two wheels. Meet in front of Wentworth House at 12pm (noon). We will start at Mac, go east on Sterling, east on King, north on Longwood and take the Harbourfront trail to the Williams Coffee Pub (maybe grab a bite there too!). Before the ride, we will review sk...ills such as riding within traffic, signaling, stopping at stop signs, changing lanes, and making left turns. This is the first ride in the Novice Cyclist series. Beginner cyclists are especially welcome, but experienced cyclists are also encouraged to come out to help facilitate learning.
Presented by TLC (Transporation for Liveable Communities), The Novice Cyclist is a series of bike rides in Hamilton that is meant to foster learning. The ultimate purpose of these rides is to get more cyclists on the road and promote cycling as a viable method of commuting to get to work, school and other destinations. Participants will learn and practice essential skills (such as following traffic rules, changing lanes, and signaling) to break myths and fears associated with cycling on the road.
When: Friday Nov. 12 @ 12pm (noon)
Where: Meet in front of Wentworth House
View 101 Bike McMaster to Harbourfront Hamilton in a larger map
Learn how to get from Point A to point B on your bike! This friendly afternoon bike ride will show you how to get from McMaster University to the Hamilton Harbourfront on two wheels. Meet in front of Wentworth House at 12pm (noon). We will start at Mac, go east on Sterling, east on King, north on Longwood and take the Harbourfront trail to the Williams Coffee Pub (maybe grab a bite there too!). Before the ride, we will review sk...ills such as riding within traffic, signaling, stopping at stop signs, changing lanes, and making left turns. This is the first ride in the Novice Cyclist series. Beginner cyclists are especially welcome, but experienced cyclists are also encouraged to come out to help facilitate learning.
Presented by TLC (Transporation for Liveable Communities), The Novice Cyclist is a series of bike rides in Hamilton that is meant to foster learning. The ultimate purpose of these rides is to get more cyclists on the road and promote cycling as a viable method of commuting to get to work, school and other destinations. Participants will learn and practice essential skills (such as following traffic rules, changing lanes, and signaling) to break myths and fears associated with cycling on the road.
it happens
We could do a lot better for ourselves if we put the infrastructure in place for cyclists, and transit.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
TLC Meeting
TLC is meeting Thursday, November 4, 7:30pm at the McMaster University Student Centre room 224.TLC is ten-years-old this year, and there is still a need for citizen action to ensure Hamilton gets the sustainable and accessible transportation system we deserve.
We need people to take on specific tasks so whether your strength is research, web, maps, public speaking, video editing, etc. you have a role to play.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
our own private idaho law?
Bicycles, Rolling Stops, and the Idaho Stop from Spencer Boomhower on Vimeo.
Found this video with a comment over at raise the hammer. Check it out. Would you like this in Hamilton?
Monday, October 04, 2010
Great news for student transit - Guelph/Hamilton
Service that was dropped by Canada Coach between Guelph and Hamilton has been picked up by Aboutown Transportation! Looks like two trips a day, avoiding the grueling, out of the way route that became the substitute for direct service. Guelph bound folks: does this work for you? Let us know!
New bus service links Hamilton, Guelph
GUELPH — Daily bus service between Guelph and Hamilton is running again.
London-based carrier Aboutown Transportation Ltd. began providing twice-daily service between the University of Guelph and downtown Hamilton Monday
There has been no regular service between the two cities since Coach Canada cancelled its service last year.
Those brave enough to make the trip with GO or Greyhound have had to detour through Toronto, taking up to four hours and paying up to $46 to cover 52 kilometres.
There has never been rail service between the two hubs.
Ian Weir, the University of Guelph’s manager of parking and transportation says he was “delighted” at the news.
“This new service will fill a gap in our connectivity with the regions south of Guelph,” he said.
Coach Canada service expanded in 2008 to five trips daily and prompted the university to renovate its transit loop to accommodate the increase.
That’s why many were shocked when the company abruptly dropped its service in last October, one month after students, many of them from Hamilton, had returned to class.
The company said its hand was forced to act after ridership dropped to an average of 11 passengers.
“You are not even covering the cost of the fuel,” Coach Canada spokesperson Brian Morehouse said at the time.
Starting Monday, Hamilton-bound buses will leave from the south end of the University of Guelph’s transit loop at 6 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. each day, arriving at Hamilton’s GO Terminal and McMaster University about an hour later. Return buses will depart Hamilton at 7:25 a.m. and 7:15 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased online or at the University Centre on campus.
The Guelph Mercury
Monday, September 27, 2010
next stop: transit
What: Rapid Transit Open House
Date: Thursday, September 30, 2010
Time: 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. - drop in event, no formal presentations will be made
Location: Hamilton City Hall, Main Lobby
You are invited to attend the Rapid Transit Open House to review the current status and background of the project, meet the Rapid Transit Citizen's Advisory Committee, discuss land use planning opportunities and issues along the B-line corridor and learn about next steps.
Add your voice, make sure your concerns are being heard.
For more information, visit http://www.hamilton.ca/ProjectsInitiatives/RapidTransit/.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
get it on!
Is anyone else getting tired of people coming from other jurisdictions and telling us how to build a more liveable city?: of course Olsen (and others before him) is right on all counts about what it takes to make a city safe and convenient to cycle. Hamilton's lags behind due to an inertia around the council table.
TLC has been pushing the city for 10 years to get the Shifting Gears Cycling Plan implemented, so hopefully we are nearing a tipping point that will see the job get done in (at most) 20 years, rather than 40 or 50 (or 100) years that the current council seems content with.
Here's the article from the Spec (so you can skip the angry anti-cycling comments section)
TLC has been pushing the city for 10 years to get the Shifting Gears Cycling Plan implemented, so hopefully we are nearing a tipping point that will see the job get done in (at most) 20 years, rather than 40 or 50 (or 100) years that the current council seems content with.
Here's the article from the Spec (so you can skip the angry anti-cycling comments section)
U.S. biking 'guru' offers city advice on cycling transition
September 22, 2010
THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR
BURLINGTON - A biking 'guru' who helped transform Portland into a cycling oasis has offered his expertise to Hamilton, a city he believes has "progressive potential."
Jeff Olson, partner at Alta Planning and Design and a speaker at yesterday's Ontario Bike Summit 2010 in Burlington, said a number of U.S. cities are using bicycles as a central theme in their shift from manufacturing hubs to modern urban centres. Included in that list are Buffalo, Dayton, Detroit and Cleveland.
And now Olson is interested in speaking with Hamilton.
He says that one great example is Portland, Oregon, which has managed to encourage its population to ride more bikes -- boosting ridership from less than 1 per cent in the 1990s, to about 8 per cent today.
The city, led by Mayor Sam Adams, who also spoke at the event on Monday, is aiming for 25 per cent ridership by 2030.
As part of that transition, the city of about 500,000 people has developed a biking industry worth $100 million. And now some streets, formerly used by 4,000 cars, are being utilized by 4,000 bikes daily.
"If Hamilton sets its sights on 2030, there is no doubt it can be done," said the architect and planner. "If someone from the city wants to chat to us we would be happy to talk. We have already worked in Vancouver, Halifax and York Region.
"In the U.S. we are working in many places with transitional economies, it's just a matter of having a vision."
Olson says the Portland project cost the city about $150 million over two decades, but insists that that price tag equals the cost of one mile of urban highway.
"If it's a matter of not enough money, then you have to look at everything that can be saved when people start biking, then it not only becomes affordable, but rational."
Olson says Hamilton needs to work on its biking infrastructure and must convince its population biking is safe and the rest will fall into place.
During the conference, organized by Share the Road Cycling Coalition, Toronto MPP Cheri DiNovo spoke about her hopes to make into law a private member's bill that would force motorists to give cyclists a one-metre berth when passing.
Attendees were also urged to encourage all municipal election candidates to sign the Active Communities Pledge, which ensures all signatories will promote and support cycling initiatives.
The Active Communities Pledge can be signed at sharetheroad.ca.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Car Free Hamilton
 |
| car free day in Hamilton, 2000 style! |
H Magazine recently interviewed long-time TLC volunteer Randy Kay about the history of Car Free in Hamilton. Check out the interview here.
So this WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, take a day off from your car, and have some fun in the streets! And of course, Super Crawl on Saturday, September 25, and Open Streets, Sunday, September 26.
PLEASE REGISTER YOUR CAR-FREE COMMUTE: HERE!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
slowing transit
Fixing HSR problems on hold until next year
A proposal to fix problems with HSR service is on hold until next year. Transit director Don Hull hopes to start using federal gas tax funds to end overcrowding that is frequently leaving people behind at bus stops.
Hamilton is only one of two large cities which do not use federal gas tax monies for transit. Hull is calling for a shift of $3 million of these funds – out of the city’s $32 million annual allocation – to increase service on some HSR routes and take an initial step towards meeting the approved objectives of the city’s master transportation plan – but a council decision last week means no changes are likely before late 2011.
Hull notes new spending on the HSR over the last decade has been “marginal” and what has taken place has come entirely from senior levels of government. He told councillors last week that Hamilton really needs to add $80 million a year to the HSR budget to achieve the ridership levels of cities like Ottawa and meet the goals of council’s approved ridership goals.
“$30 million is just what it would take over the next five years to keep moving towards the Transportation Master Plan,” he explained. “The $3 million that we’re asking for in alternative to the $30 million is simply what we feel we need in the very short term to prevent the public satisfaction with this program from deteriorating.”
Ancaster councillor Lloyd Ferguson suggested the $3 million was Hull’s “real pie in the sky wish list”, but the transit director strongly defended the financial need to bolster existing HSR routes and get back to earlier service levels that have gone downhill in the face of growing pressures.
“We carry hundreds of thousands of frail, elderly and disabled on the conventional transit system every year. Those people take a lot more time to board and alight safely,” Hull responded. “I stand firmly behind that we need this $3 million just to sustain our permanent position in the community with respect to the current satisfaction level of the transit program.”
Ferguson noted the proposed priority service changes were all in the former city of Hamilton, but the federal gas taxes are currently being used for projects across the entire city.
“I didn’t see anything in the route enhancements in the suburban municipalities,” he noted. “It’s kind of a neat way to move $3 million from capital in the air, and then replenish the capital by going out to all municipalities, and yet the suburban municipalities aren’t benefitting at all.”
Waterdown councillor Margaret McCarthy suggested more transit is needed in her ward, and Dave Mitchell pointed to rising demands in Binbrook. Hull replied that those requests are among “three or four hundred items on the list” that HSR would like to address if it had more funds.
“We simply cut the list off at $3 million. There’s $30 million worth of requested enhancements behind the scenes here.”
West end councillor Brian McHattie who first proposed the funding shift last November was frustrated by the staff recommendation to put off a decision until next year’s budget, which he characterized as “the finance department holding sway” over transit. But he couldn’t find a seconder for a motion to shift the $3 million immediately.
“All the information’s here in this report that we have to invest in new service for transit, but I just don’t see any commitment for doing that. There’s no reason why we can’t make that decision today,” he declared bitterly. “At some point we have to stop approving these master plans, with clear recommendations in them, if we don’t really believe in them.”
Finance chief Rob Rossini noted the shift would mean other capital project commitments would be displaced and argued the change needed to be considered in conjunction with the city’s full financial picture as part of the 2011 budget deliberations. That could mean no decision until March or April, and some months after that for changes to be implemented.
This year’s budget allocates a third of Hamilton’s $32 million federal gas tax share to city hall renovations, and most of the rest to roads. Because the city’s population now exceeds 500,000 it will be limited in future to choosing just two categories, and an earlier council decision has identified those will be roads and transit.
A staff survey of other cities over 500,000 found only one besides Hamilton that currently doesn’t use any federal gas tax monies for transit.
“We canvassed every municipality, and only Durham and Hamilton aren’t using federal gas tax to supplement their transit program,” Hull explained to councillors. “Durham had one project in particular that they committed all of their federal gas tax to. Some municipalities in the GTA committed 100 percent of their federal gas tax to their transit programs.”
The provincial government also distributes gas tax monies to municipalities. Hamilton will get just shy of $11 million next year, a drop of $800,000 since the program began in 2004 because the city is falling behind other Ontario localities in both population and transit ridership. The formula used by the province to divvy up the funds is weighted 70 percent to ridership and 30 percent to population.
Just under $4 million of the provincial monies are being spent on already implemented HSR service improvements while $1.75 million is being used by DARTS. Council allocated an additional $2.6 million “in lieu of a fare increase” proposed in 2005.
The remaining $3 million is currently spent on bus purchases. If Hull’s proposal is eventually accepted, that would be replaced by the federal gas tax monies – which can only be used for capital projects, not operating expenses.
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.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
ward one: more bike lanes
New bike lanes along with a road diet (three lanes of cars to two) on Longwood between King and Main Streets in Ward One. These will (eventually) hook up with planned bike lanes to the north and south of this section on Longwood.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Getting over highways
The Spec is reporting that work is beginning on a new Pedestrian/Cycling bridge over the Lincoln Alexander highway at Arbour Road, and the work is resuming on a larger ped/cycling span over the QEW highway, with both projects slated for completion this October. The paper further reports that:
UPDATE: We alerted city staff and they have updated the links to the project descriptions mentioned above. Here are the new links:
Check here for a site map of the Arbour Road bridge, or here for an earlier article with an artistic rendering of the bridge over the QEW.
The East Hamilton Recreational Trail Hub & Waterfront Link project also involves an accessible paved trail from Nash Road North to Brampton Street and the extension of the Red Hill Valley Trail from Barton Street to Brampton StreetUnfortunately, the links to the detailed project descriptions on the city cycling page are broken.
UPDATE: We alerted city staff and they have updated the links to the project descriptions mentioned above. Here are the new links:
Check here for a site map of the Arbour Road bridge, or here for an earlier article with an artistic rendering of the bridge over the QEW.
Friday, July 30, 2010
petition to save the rail trail!
In case you haven't heard, there is opposition to the planned multi-use path from the Kirkendall area, around the Chedoke Golf Course, across the 403, and out towards the Brantford rail trail. (crossing the 403 without traffic! Imagine how important being able to do that would be for promoting cycling!)
Some of the people who own property adjacent to the Golf Course, that the new trail would be beside, are opposed to the planned path. Those of us who support the trail can do so with the following online petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/
We'll be able to bring the names from the petition with us as support at the Niagara Escarpment Commission hearing, where the opponents are appealing the NEC's approval of the plan.
Please take the time to add your name and let others know about it. If the NEC is even willing to delay the trail as a result of the appeal (even if they eventually uphold their decision to approve it ) this would increase the likelihood of it not being constructed this year. And with an election in October, there is no guarantee that the next city council won't reverse its decision to build it next year. This is one where it just might make a difference to sign a petition, and it only takes a small amount of time.
Thanks so much,
derek.
Some of the people who own property adjacent to the Golf Course, that the new trail would be beside, are opposed to the planned path. Those of us who support the trail can do so with the following online petition:
http://www.ipetitions.com/
We'll be able to bring the names from the petition with us as support at the Niagara Escarpment Commission hearing, where the opponents are appealing the NEC's approval of the plan.
Please take the time to add your name and let others know about it. If the NEC is even willing to delay the trail as a result of the appeal (even if they eventually uphold their decision to approve it ) this would increase the likelihood of it not being constructed this year. And with an election in October, there is no guarantee that the next city council won't reverse its decision to build it next year. This is one where it just might make a difference to sign a petition, and it only takes a small amount of time.
Thanks so much,
derek.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)