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Calgary Bike Lanes and Bike Paths

CBBarnett said:
Depending on where you are starting from and where you are going, I'd agree with you that 12th Avenue is typically best for more bike/scooter commutes from outside the Beltline, particularly now that they extended it past the death-trap that is 14th Street SW into Sunalta.

But 12th Avenue can't work for all trips, just as 9th Avenue doesn't work for all car trips into and out of the core. We wouldn't close off 12th and 11th Aves to cars because it's only 3 blocks from the "better" corridor on 9th, cycling and scooters need the same approach. Specific to this area of the Beltline, we can't underestimate uniquely high volumes of local, evening and weekend circulation and the highest non-car mode share in the city as well. Because the main corridors have been dedicated for non-local commuter flows, the local circulations have been relegated to side streets so it's appropriate to optimize them for active modes and local trips.

The other forgotten piece in this debate is that 15th Avenue is already the compromise. The real demand for active mobility is directly on the 17th Avenue corridor, pretty much the whole way across the inner city.

Of course, 17th Avenue space is hotly contested already - a major bus corridor, patios, BIAs, high pedestrian and traffic volumes. So the alternative is to go a block off 17th. Unfortunately 16th Avenue is cut short, and anything south of 17th Ave doesn't connect well or runs into topography issues in Mount Royal. So we land on 15th Ave by default. It's not perfect, but it's an appropriate compromise and will be well used.
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Fair enough. I was ok with 14&15th being painted lanes, don't think we need the protected lanes, but I see your point.
 
The scope for these lanes is too short. I would have extended to Macleod Trail in the east and to at least 16 Street in the west, which would then connect "wheelers" to Sunalta Station on 16 Street.
 
CalgaryTiger said:
calgaryherald.com

New Beltline bike lane has drivers swerving away from seniors' home

A protected wheeling track is under construction along 15th Avenue S.W. Residents expressed concerns over features and parking removal.
calgaryherald.com calgaryherald.com

I forgot about this new Bike Lane, I can't exactly picture the issue they're talking about but good on the City for accommodating the senior's needs for a loading zone while not severely sacrificing the usability of the bike lane.

It is crazy how parking always comes up as an issue, parking is such a waste of public space, and isn't actually a huge issue for most people, especially downtown but there are certainly a very vocal minority. Maybe those people should just pay for off street parking? Or, not so much in this case clean out their garage and not use it as a storage locker and instead use it for their vehicle.
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It's funny how the complaint in the article is that there's no parking so people would park illegally. The solution to that is probably parking enforcement rather than allow a single person to take up so much public space for free, in fear that they will park illegally otherwise. People that complain about parking in Calgary, or traffic in general, have no idea how good we have it.
kora said:
The scope for these lanes is too short. I would have extended to Macleod Trail in the east and to at least 16 Street in the west, which would then connect "wheelers" to Sunalta Station on 16 Street.
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I'd think the future plan is to go 15th Ave, 8th Street, 12th Ave for the Sunalta connection, and of course also the 8th street station itself. Extending all the way to McLeod trail is probably not important right now, because of the Stampede Station project. The city should require bike lanes and bump outs in the sidewalk rebuild in the DP.
 
trtcttc said:
I'd think the future plan is to go 15th Ave, 8th Street, 12th Ave for the Sunalta connection, and of course also the 8th street station itself. Extending all the way to McLeod trail is probably not important right now, because of the Stampede Station project. The city should require bike lanes and bump outs in the sidewalk rebuild in the DP.
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An extension into Sunalta has additional benefits. It improves coverage for Sunalta and Bankview residents and visitors
 
trtcttc said:
I don't disagree, but I think a N/S connection would be more useful than a parallel cycle track on 12 and 15th
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What's with the scarcity mindset? Connectivity for active mobility should always be increased, everywhere - you need both new N/S connections and E/W connections! :)
 
Bike lanes are in a fight for their life people! As far as I can tell though, as long as we keep them away from provincially funded roads then we can build all the lanes we want. Just have to minimize parking impacts and not make things too difficult for delivery drivers.
 
CBBarnett said:
What's with the scarcity mindset? Connectivity for active mobility should always be increased, everywhere - you need both new N/S connections and E/W connections! :)
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It's just the reality of the city we live in. There's a budget for bike lanes and street modernization and there's probably better ways to spend it than on parallel 12 and 15th Ave connections into Sunalta. I agree it makes sense for the Beltline because 12 to 15 may seem short, but in reality the traffic is 12 and 17, and 15 is the compromise, which I think you had mentioned in a previous post. Ideally we'd build 12 and 15 across the whole way, but within the budget constraints, we should probably deploy the funds elsewhere.
 
The bike lane is already going to Macleod, they finished building a new intersection across it connecting to the CTrain at vicpark
PXL_20250610_040705279.NIGHT.jpg
 
The city has fully paused work on this. I really don’t understand why.
 
IMO 15th and 14th should have been managed with speed humps, diverters, and daylighting.

They are inherently slow and quiet streets already. Create the expectation that a motorist should never even have the opportunity to pass a bike on here, because a motorist should never even drive more than 2 consecutive blocks.
 
whatchyyc said:
The bike lane is already going to Macleod, they finished building a new intersection across it connecting to the CTrain at vicpark
View attachment 676991
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Ya, what is with the future traffic light poles being positioned right in front of where the cycle track should cross Macleod Trail? That seems dumb. Am I missing something here?
 
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