walk review

Notice of Project Completion for the Pedestrian Mobility Plan

Review period ends January 18

The City of Hamilton has completed the following study and related policy reports:

• Pedestrian Mobility Plan
• Pedestrian Signal Program
• Traffic Calming Policy

The Pedestrian Mobility Plan (PMP) addresses pedestrian planning and design across the City of Hamilton for citizens with varying mobility abilities and needs. This plan documents the recommended implementation approach that the City will apply to projects in the future.

The studies noted above will be available for public and agency review for a review

period starting from December 5, 2013 to January 18, 2014.

The reports will be available for review at 77 James Street North, Suite 400 as well as at the following locations:

Westdale Library

955 King Street West

905-546-3456

Central Library

55 York Boulevard

905-546-3200

Information about the Pedestrian Mobility Plan, the Traffic Calming Policy and the Pedestrian Signal Program is available at http://www.hamilton.ca/PedestrianMP

.

Lost on Longwood?

Councillor Brian McHattie, 

City of Hamilton

RE: Longwood Road Environmental Project Report Notice of Project Completion

Dear Councillor McHattie,

I am writing on behalf of Transportation for Liveable Communities (TLC) to voice our extreme dissatisfaction with the notice of completion for the Longwood Road environmental project report.

The City of Hamilton has a unique opportunity to seize on McMaster University’s expansion into Longwood Road and the potential to attract numerous young professionals who can further invigorate the Kirkendall neighborhood. Such young professional have made it loud and clear that they seek to live and work in lively communities where they can walk and bike.

Despite the assertion in the city report, there are no solid MTO plans in the near future that involve widening highway 403, according to the MTO’s “Southern Highways Program 2012 to 2016.” Planning for such a project would not even begin until after 2016. 

Disappointedly, the city’s plan for Longwood Road uses future highway widening as reason to create a people-hostile 5-lane highway on Longwood, with inappropriate accommodation of pedestrian and cyclists. Moreover, the plan effectively is to do nothing in the foreseeable future despite latent demand which requires immediate accommodation of safe pedestrian and cyclist routes.  

  

Our vision for Longwood Road is simple, sensible and feasible: wide sidewalks and bike lanes on both sides of the road, from its start at Princess Point in the north to its terminus at similar people-friendly facilities on Aberdeen Ave. Only such a plan would accommodate the people who wish to live and work in Kirkendall and the McMaster Innovation Park. In our vision, we could readily travel by foot and bike between the Innovation Park and neighborhood destinations at all directions, including Westdale and McMaster University.

We find it absurd that, even though the motivation for the Longwood Road environmental project was “a need for enhanced pedestrian and bicycle access and improved safety along the existing corridor” (quotation taken from the project Problem and Opportunity Statement), it has resulted in a backward conclusion reflecting mid-Twentieth Century car-centric thinking that fails to adequately address the Problem and Opportunity statement.

Giving that the notice of completion makes it clear that we have been blocked from appealing with a part II order, TLC intends to take other available democratic actions to advance the local cause of sustainable transportation. Such actions will include wide broadcasting of the fact that plans for the major transportation corridor to the McMaster Innovation Park are anything but innovative. We hope to find allies in the McMaster community including McMaster Innovation Park so that the best interests of this new facility are served by a multi-modal transportation network.

Sincerely yours,

Randy Kay

CC 

Dr. Patrick Deane, President, McMaster University

Mr. Zach Douglas, President and CEO, McMaster Innovation Park

TLC is a citizen-powered advocacy group formed in 2000 that seeks to improve conditions and infrastructure that supports and actively encourages healthy and sustainable transportation modes, including walking, transit, cycling and car pooling.

Life Along Cannon: Bike To Work Day

Yes We Cannon!

Cannon East, Google Maps Street View

Transportation for Liveable Communities is happy to be supporting the Yes We Cannon campaign for bi-directional bike lanes the length of Cannon Street.

TLC reps recently met with Justin Jones of Yes We Cannon to share information and to donate $100.00 to the campaign. We were mightily impressed with the many hours they are putting in as volunteers to see this happen, and obviously very well organanized with lots of community support. Thanks to Justin and the Yes We Cannon team!

TLC hopes our active base will help spread the word if you haven't already, and get friends and family to support the cause! TLC will be writing a letter of support in the near future.

yeswecannon.com

Bike for Mike Ride

FYI: 

The third annual Mike Ride is happening on Sunday, May 5 at Hamilton's Bayfront Park. The Mike Ride raises awareness of cycling in the city while raising funds for projects that help make Hamilton a more cycle-friendly city. The major initiative is Mike's Bikes, an effort to ensure every child in Hamilton can have a bike. Last year Mike's Bikes provided over 100 bikes to children and their families in Hamilton. Please join us on May 5 for a beautiful ride and to raise money for a worthy cause!
For more information and to watch a short video about the event please visit: http://bikeformike.org

Hamilton Womyn Powered

How Is McMaster Doing with Parking?

For at least a dozen years, McMaster’s administration has been encouraged to institute measures related to Transportation Demand Management (TDM), starting with McMaster’s “Balanced Transportation Strategy.” 

In 2000 the Board's Planning & Building Committee recommended “the adoption of the strategy comprising the following components:

·      parking supply expansions limited to at-grade only (no garage);

·      participate with the Hamilton Street Railway to subsidize faculty and staff transit passes;

·      assess parking permit rates to make transit more attractive for faculty, staff and students (changes should be implemented before 2003); and

·      implement additional travel demand management 
measures.”

McMaster’s Campus Master Plan (2002, updated 2008) recommends an 18 point TDM strategy which include, in part: 

• Capping parking levels on North Campus…limiting the increase in peak hour and single-occupancy trips to today’s levels (5.2.1)
• potentially limit on campus parking to certain groups (5.2.2)
• improve transit, pedestrian and cycling access (5.2.3)
• encourage City and HSR to implement a transit strategy to ensure transit routes are efficiently and effectively serving campus and surrounding neighbourhood. “This strategy may also include the development of an HSR turn-around serving the McMaster Community on or adjacent to the campus” (5.2.8)[McMaster’s demand to remove 50 bus trips per day due to a squabble with the city over construction trucks does not reflect well on this subject from a planning perspective[i]]
• identifies a preferred location for an HSR transit turn-around as north of the Sterling Street entrance (5.2.9)
•  reduce transit fares for the entire McMaster community, improve service levels, schedule buses to coincide with class schedules (5.2.10)
• GO service and price improvements (5.2.11)
• off campus housing coordinated with transit routes (5.2.12)
• work with city to determine its potential role in accommodating more high occupant vehicle trips to campus… transit priority systems, carpool programs, commuter parking lots around periphery of campus at access points to the HSR (5.2.13)
• classes will continue to be scheduled evenly throughout the day and week to reduce peaks in parking and travel demand (5.2.14)
•  increase parking rates (5.2.16)
• work with city to enforce parking bylaws off campus (5.2.17)
• carpool program, park closer or at reduced rate (5.2.18)

Given the commanding success and popularity of the undergraduate bus pass, a major omission in the CMP is that there is no mention of 2000’s Balanced Transportation Strategy’s recommendation that a subsidized transit pass for staff and faculty be pursued.

Light Rail Streaming from Hamilton City Hall

Trendy in 1970

We're still trying to undo the damage. 

The future was 1941...

Local historian Brian Henley blogs today about gasoline rationing as reported in the Hamilton Spectator in 1941. Three key ingredients to a more sustainable future are contained within the full article, including, trading the car for bicycles, driving slower to cut fuel consumption, and electric vehicles, apparently an old and efficient technology. It's too bad that there isn't the same recognition of our need to change how we get around today. Check out the entire blog post with more photos at http://henleyshamilton1.wordpress.com/2013/01/26/summer-of-1941-gasoline-rationing-begins/

“THE BICYCLE IS HERE TO STAY — There is one family in this city that took to heart the government’s request to conserve gasolene and oil. They are Mr. And Mrs. Henry Reseigh, 219 1/2 King Street East, who sold their car when the new gas regulations came into effect and bought these bicycles. They are pictured with their six-year-old son, Billy, as they were leaving yesterday for a picnic to Albion falls. The lunch may be seen in Billy’s carrier. They have gained a healthy hobby, they are being patriotic, and they are “having a better time than they ever had driving a car.”

The Hamilton Spectator. July 24, 1941.

Countdown Downtown

 A very short video of a pedestrian crossing signal in the downtown core of Hamilton Ontario. The very short walk phase (7 seconds) is followed by a 20 second "Don't Walk" phase.

 Pedestrians are not supposed to start crossing during the don't walk phase, meaning that they would conceivably have to wait 19 seconds of a "don't-walk" phase for the light during the traffic green-phase, then the entire red-phase of the traffic light, before being able to make their crossing.

 A countdown timer would give pedestrians access to accurate information about the timing for the crossing, and enable them to make an informed decision about crossing. There are a few countdown timers in various parts of the city, like Bay and King, and Cootes at Sanders. We need more.

Transportation as Social Justice Issue

http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2013/01/04/hamilton-commuter-study.html

Kids in low-income areas at higher risk of being hit by commuters, prof warns

By Kaleigh Rogers, CBC News 

Posted: Jan 7, 2013 7:04 AM ET 

Last Updated: Jan 7, 2013 12:35 PM ET 

Read 7comments7

Children living in downtown Hamilton may be at a higher risk of pedestrian injury, according to a new study out of McMaster University.

The study shows a link between high-levels of commuter traffic — as opposed to local traffic — and higher levels of pedestrian child injury.

Geography professor Nikolaos Yiannakoulias studied Toronto neighbourhoods and compared local traffic (drivers coming from that neighbourhood), arriving traffic (drivers arriving at their destination in that neighbourhood) and flow-through traffic (drivers passing through the neighbourhood on their way somewhere else).

'It [commuter traffic] is definitely a concern to many people living in lower Hamilton. They're scared to let their children walk to school.'—Nikolaos Yiannakoulias, McMaster University

He discovered certain neighbourhoods, especially lower income areas, with higher levels of flow-through traffic also saw higher levels of pedestrian child injury.

However, areas with high levels of local traffic did not see the same levels of injury. Even if the neighbourhood had very high volume of traffic, if it was local the levels of injury did not increase, the study found.

"It may be that drivers going through a neighbourhood may not know where children are or where schools are," Yiannakoulias explained. "Their decision to commute or not commute has an impact on everyone."

Yiannakoulias said he plans to continue the research to identify exactly what the connection is between commuter traffic and pedestrian injury. He hopes to expand the research to other cities, especially Hamilton, where Yiannakoulias says many similar issues exist.

"There are major East-West throughways in Hamilton with schools very close," he pointed out.

"There are kids walking to school and many are having to cross these major streets where there is a lot of traffic going fast and this is the same kind of commuter traffic we saw in Toronto."

Winter Wondering?

The City of Hamilton is looking for input on winter snow clearing on selected bicycle lanes:

Dundurn at Jones, January 5, 2013

"During the 2012 - 2013 winter season a pilot project will continue to test enhanced maintenance activities for a specific section of the "on-road painted" bike lanes to measure the benefit and cost of extending availability of bike lanes further into the winter season. The enhanced activities include additional inspection, ploughing, anti-icing, and street sweeping when warranted and feasible (excluding snow removal for the specific benefit of the affected bike lanes). This pilot project includes the bike lanes on Sterling Street, Longwood Road, Dundurn Street, and Sanders Boulevard. The pilot will be assessed and recommendations developed for future consideration. The pilot was initiated last winter, but the mild conditions have us continuing the pilot this winter.

To provide feedback on this project please access the web survey. You can complete the survey multiple times as conditions vary and please share it with other people."

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/winterbikelanemaintenance

Why some cyclists stop riding in winter

King Street West bike lanes, December 3, 2012

The lack of proper snow removal in winter creates conditions that undermine cycling infrastructure like these new bike lanes in West Hamilton.

The city is supposed to be prioritizing walking and cycling over cars, yet with snow comes the truth: cars get the full treatment, while sidewalks remain the responsibility of individual home-owners and businesses, and bike lanes, well, you can see for yourself. Snow and ice on the sidewalks and bike lanes while the roads are clear and dry.

Of course there are still winter cyclists braving the spotty paths to and fro, but how many more would still be riding if there was the same level of service offered to cars?

High Numbers: Impaired Driving Up in Hamilton and Province

http://www.cbc.ca/hamilton/news/story/2013/01/03/hamilton-drunk-driving-numbers.html

• Hamilton police made 538 impaired-driving arrests in 2012, five more than in 2011, a 15-year-high
• 166 of arrests came as a result of citizens calling in on 911 to report suspected drunk drivers
• A record of 228,315 drivers were stopped in RIDE programs (170,000 vehicles in 2011)
• The Ontario Provincial Police charged 693 people across the province with impaired driving between Nov. 24 and Jan. 2., an eight-year high according to the OPP
• The OPP laid around 8,000 impaired-driving charges in 2012, about the same as 2011's total
• There were 72 alcohol related fatalities, up from 60 the year previous

STOP! Is this Hamilton's first bike-traffic light?

Some nice new cycling infrastructure in Ward One, including improved physically separated two-way bike lane over highway 403 (Ministry of Transportation Ontario), and a new extension of the two-way cycling lanes west of Macklin to Paradise (with a further extension to come in the spring) courtesy the City of Hamilton and Ward One councillor Brian McHattie (also some credit must go to McHattie for using a participatory budget process for his ward which identified cycling lanes as a priority).

The above photo reveals the first bike-specific traffic light in the city, newly installed to address the two way bike traffic on a one-way street. 

The other innovation is the raised bike lane with a newly relocated bus stop. A sign and pavement markings warn cyclists to yield to pedestrians who will cross the cycling lane to board and disembark the bus. 

Roads all the Rage at Province

A call for updated thinking around transportation from the Spec:

The Spectator’s View: A government obsessed with highways

What’s the best way to deal with growing congestion in the Golden Horseshoe? Back in the ’50s and ’60s, the answer was simple: Build more roads. Apparently, things haven’t changed much, at least not in the mind of the Ontario government. 

This week, Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli outlined the latest “highway expansion options” for the Hamilton and Halton areas. The good news is that Queen’s Park seems to be leaning away from a new superhighway cutting through Halton, up the escarpment and across to Niagara. The bad news is the province can’t see past roads. More lanes from Hamilton to St. Catharines, a new highway between Highway 406 and Fort Erie, widening Highway 6 and widening to 10 lanes or even adding a second level to Highway 403 through Hamilton. 

No mention of rail. No mention of where an expanded GO might fit into taking cars off highways. Sooner or later, the government needs to recognize simply adding more highway won’t solve the problem. We need future thinking, not rear-view vision. 

Howard Elliott

December 21, 2012

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.

Burlington Lakeshore - Left Turn or Bike Lanes?

"This was to be dealt with Dec. 3, but is deferred at least until January, coinciding with a public information centre on the sewer and road work. It also provides time for people who knew nothing about this to call their councillors. Staff contacted the Burlington Cycling Committee, which supports it."

CONTACT INFO FOR BURLINGTON COUNCIL: http://cms.burlington.ca/Page110.aspx

LITTLE: Lakeshore bike lane pilot both costly and frustrating

Hamilton Spectator, Dec. 20/12

A pilot project would eliminate the centre turning lane and add a bike lane on each side of Lakeshore Road, writes columnist Joan Little.

Any Burlington driver who ever uses Lakeshore Road will be left gasping in amazement at the latest hare-brained scheme for it.

There’s already frustration about its unnecessary narrowing at Brant Street, and resultant congestion, but wait till you hear about a “pilot project” from late summer to early fall in conjunction with the 2013 regional water main replacement from Torrance Street to Guelph Line. The pilot would eliminate the centre turning lane and add a bike lane on each side. The cost for painting lines on the new configuration is $35,000.

Councillor Jack Dennison wants the pilot extended easterly to Walkers Line. That would add $45,000 and be all summer — spring to fall. Tourist season. More bike lanes? Great! But bike lanes that totally disrupt traffic flow?

Fortunately, thanks to Councillor John Taylor, there’s a reprieve. This was to be dealt with Dec. 3, but is deferred at least until January, coinciding with a public information centre on the sewer and road work. It also provides time for people who knew nothing about this to call their councillors. Staff contacted the Burlington Cycling Committee, which supports it.

[NOTE: Ward 2 Councillor opposes the pilot project]
[Mayor asks for comments on bike lanes at his blog]

A bit of background: Burlington approved a cycling master plan in 2009. It directed staff to investigate widening Lakeshore Road to Burloak, “maintaining two narrowed travel lanes and a narrowed two-way left-turn lane,” and to begin design work. [I couldn't find any reference to this in the plan; see below for the actual recommendations in the cycling plan - rk]

walk into a great city

"The reason we’re not making that much progress is that our cities, day by day, are not being designed by their leadership. They’re being designed, street by street, by the public works director, who believes he is doing his job by responding to public sentiment — and the biggest complaint you hear in American cities, day after day, is about traffic."

http://grist.org/people/foot-forward-walkability-is-the-key-to-fixing-cities/