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Calgary Bike Lanes and Bike Paths

Once the 15th Ave and 8th Street cycle tracks are complete. I'd like the city to implement the following:

1. Turn 5th street into a one-way street and extend the cycle track to the Elbow River
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2. Construct a Cycle Track on 1st Street from the Bow River to the Elbow River:
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3. Construct a cycle track on the north side of 5th Ave from the West End to Bridgeland.
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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?
I think the idea is to dismount at the intersection and or at least slow down.

I did find it funny the person in the article about the 15th Ave bike lane complaining about how they have to think when driving down the avenue now. People think driving is supposed be easy and involve no critical thinking. That's not how I see it, forcing people to slow down and pay attention is what traffic calming should do.
 
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.
They did this successfully in Victoria and it radically reduced car traffic on the street. Local access for cars was unaffected. On Vancouver St and Richardson St they deadended the street for cars and replaced it with a small plaza of sorts in the middle of the street complete with sidewalks and bike lanes for through access. This is perfect for those quiet Beltline streets.

Richardson1.pngVancouver1.png
 
Once the 15th Ave and 8th Street cycle tracks are complete. I'd like the city to implement the following:

1. Turn 5th street into a one-way street and extend the cycle track to the Elbow River


2. Construct a Cycle Track on 1st Street from the Bow River to the Elbow River:


3. Construct a cycle track on the north side of 5th Ave from the West End to Bridgeland.
Those would be great top see. Especially 5th street all the way to Elbow. For the one downtown, myself I would like to see it go through 6th ave and into EV and connecting to the main river pathway. But I can see the benefits of 5th also.
 
They did this successfully in Victoria and it radically reduced car traffic on the street. Local access for cars was unaffected. On Vancouver St and Richardson St they deadended the street for cars and replaced it with a small plaza of sorts in the middle of the street complete with sidewalks and bike lanes for through access. This is perfect for those quiet Beltline streets.

View attachment 677120View attachment 677118
The city did something like that in the Balmoral Circus Park redesign and quite a few of the Kensington streets are deadended. Agreed the city should be doing more of these.
 
The city did something like that in the Balmoral Circus Park redesign and quite a few of the Kensington streets are deadended. Agreed the city should be doing more of these.
The Richardson St. example is more like the Kensington context. The Vancouver St. example is more applicable to how we can change the Beltline for the better. When I think about it, the Beaulieu Gardens park already provides a great example of what could be. 6 Street was shut off between 13 and 14 Avenue. Let's have more of these great urban spaces
 
1. Turn 5th street into a one-way street and extend the cycle track to the Elbow River
I think 5th can still work as a two way road, with the cycle track extended from 17th to the river.

To be honest I have no idea how the 5th st cycle route at 17th ave was approved though. When traveling south to continue on 5th st you need to:
  1. Cross the northbound cycle lane
  2. ride your bike onto the sidewalk at a very busy pedestrian corner
  3. cross the north side of the intersection to the west
  4. cross the west side of the intersection to the south
At the very least they should have built one of those waiting areas for cyclists to use when waiting to cross the road, like they have when traveling west on the 12th ave track at 5th street. Better yet would be a cycle light which allows cyclists to use that southbound cycle lane and make a diagonal cross to continue onto southbound 5th on the right side of the road, similar to 50th ave and 5th st at the corner of Chinook Centre.

I'm probably bringing up a grievance here from a while ago in the thread, but I just cannot believe this one every time I use this intersection.
 
I think 5th can still work as a two way road, with the cycle track extended from 17th to the river.

To be honest I have no idea how the 5th st cycle route at 17th ave was approved though. When traveling south to continue on 5th st you need to:
  1. Cross the northbound cycle lane
  2. ride your bike onto the sidewalk at a very busy pedestrian corner
  3. cross the north side of the intersection to the west
  4. cross the west side of the intersection to the south
At the very least they should have built one of those waiting areas for cyclists to use when waiting to cross the road, like they have when traveling west on the 12th ave track at 5th street. Better yet would be a cycle light which allows cyclists to use that southbound cycle lane and make a diagonal cross to continue onto southbound 5th on the right side of the road, similar to 50th ave and 5th st at the corner of Chinook Centre.

I'm probably bringing up a grievance here from a while ago in the thread, but I just cannot believe this one every time I use this intersection.
Yeah its so dumb, and what most people do is just cross 17th on the east side when the pedestrian light comes on, then go onto the sidewalk, then cross 5th at some point when the coast is clear. Its a gong show.
 

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