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Calgary Bike Lanes and Bike Paths

Warms my heart to see lots of bikers today on the cycle tracks today - more than I can remember seeing for a while even in summer. Going north on 5th st this morning there were 3 to 4 on-coming bikes at each set of lights.
It's particularly satisfying when the northbound lanes of traffic are in a gridlock while cyclists are cruising by. I hope that maybe just one of those drivers might consider switching when they see that (that or it just further reinforces their disdain for elitist cyclists and cycling infrastructure)

This is one of my favourite quotes and I think of it when I see lots of cyclists like today:

“Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.”​

― H.G. Wells
 
I was using the cycle tracks downtown on Saturday and they were the busiest I've seen them in a while. Also the section of pathway between Eau Claire and EV was super busy, maybe the busiest I've seen it. Things are really coming back.

I have to go into the office tomorrow, and will be biking it in. It'll be interesting to see how the commute traffic is.
 
Mountain Man said:
That guy with the dog on the pathway is so typical of the mindset of people in this city, drives me nuts.

Ice on the glacier pathway still quite thick, even after all the warm weather. Will be sometime in June when it melts, unless the city get a bobcat out like they did last summer. View attachment 473654View attachment 473655

View attachment 473656
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Pictures can be deceiving and probably flatten the slope, but that looks a lot easier to cross than previous years, where the ice looks a lot more slipper and at a steeper angle
 
Here are 3 photos to compare. The first is Jan 24 2020, before this year, this was the thickest I had seen the ice, and the rest of winter was dry and mild that year so it never got any bigger. The second is Feb. 8 this year, the depth at the fence is similar but the angle of the ice coming down the slope is much steeper, a good hint at what's to come. The 3rd picture is March 23 of this year, the fence is almost gone and the point I'm standing on is 2-3' higher than the fence side. This was a very snowy winter, that's why the ice got so thick.
20200124_171153.jpg

PXL_20230208_151649723.jpg


PXL_20230323_183759421~2.jpg
 
CBBarnett said:
The area is shaping up nicely - one thing I don't like though is that the asphalt pathway separation does not continue around the conflict points west of Centre Street Bridge in Sien Lok Park. For most of the upgrade, the same design motive continues as in the existing pathway sections - pavers for walking areas, asphalt pathway for cycling - however in this area the pathway reverts to the pavers and merges in with the overall pedestrian space kind of randomly.

This is not ideal. It will inevitably create major congestion and risks collisions, as is the situation currently with the non-separated pathway section here. I would have hoped this upgrade improved the capacity of the pathway system as it's a ton of work and the area is far too busy and will increase in traffic in the coming decades. Full separation of cycling is required.
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From the 'General Discussions' thread. There is a separated asphalt bike lane through this section but there are also two paver / walking lanes here as well. One that directly abuts to the bike lane (similar to the path east of Center St) and then one on the south side of the flood barrier. I rarely see anyone using the south paver path and the unfortunate trade off here is the northmost paver / walking path that everyone uses narrows considerably between Waterfront and Center St. I've already noticed walkers / runners using the bike lane to avoid congestion and we're only just starting to see higher use.

I agree that I wish they could have just replaced the south walking path with the bike lane and kept the north portion entirely for walking / running

My other complaint here is that the paved bike lane crosses the pavers to go under the Center St bridge and there is no differentiation in the pavers / marking to highlight that this is a mixed use crossing / high traffic section . The same issue exists at the Peace Bridge when you leave the bike lane going to the bridge. I wish they could have a used a different coloured paver to highlight these 'desire' lines that cyclists will be using.
 
Checked out the west side ramp on the river pathway that leads to Centre Street Bridge. Pretty much the same as the one of the east side. Also checked out some of the new pathway along Eau Claire, so far so good but will be so much better when the separate bike path connects all the way through. It was nice to see it busy on a Friday afternoon at 2:00pm

 
Surrealplaces said:
Checked out the west side ramp on the river pathway that leads to Centre Street Bridge. Pretty much the same as the one of the east side. Also checked out some of the new pathway along Eau Claire, so far so good but will be so much better when the separate bike path connects all the way through. It was nice to see it busy on a Friday afternoon at 2:00pm

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Thanks for posting it is looking good.

The part I still don't get in the pavers here, rather than continuity of the asphalt:
1684158779857.png


1684158842232.png


Why wouldn't we maintain the paved surface through the transition zones? I assume some sort of line marking will be painted to indicate the pathway continues.
 
Surrealplaces said:
Checked out the west side ramp on the river pathway that leads to Centre Street Bridge. Pretty much the same as the one of the east side. Also checked out some of the new pathway along Eau Claire, so far so good but will be so much better when the separate bike path connects all the way through. It was nice to see it busy on a Friday afternoon at 2:00pm

Click to expand...
The exposed steel sheeting looks awful. Too bad it couldn't have been buried or even concrete
 
potatopizzafan said:
My guess would be that it makes people pay attention/yield when going through the "intersection", as the walking pedestrians coming from the left or right would have the right of way
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Yup, it should be more incumbent on cyclists to yield and proceed safely through a mixed zone like that. I would be nice if there was a visual indicator for pedestrians, too, but I'm not sure how much that would really move the needle for pedestrian awareness
 
lemongrab said:
Yup, it should be more incumbent on cyclists to yield and proceed safely through a mixed zone like that. I would be nice if there was a visual indicator for pedestrians, too, but I'm not sure how much that would really move the needle for pedestrian awareness
Click to expand...
Agreed it's incumbent on cyclists to yield and be aware, but errs on the side of mixing modes too much here IMO. The busiest stretch of the entire pathway system should be the one with the highest quality and highest capacity designs, which includes both extra width and clear separation between modes of different travel speeds. Some sort of visual edge in paint, bollards or pavement type should indicate the difference between a walking space and a cycling space as much as possible.

Of course, overall the pathway is far more attractive, but it feels like a missed opportunity to go to all this work and still have excessive and unclear mixing zones of traffic in the busiest stretch of the whole network. It's a small manifestation of a big pet-peeve that creeps into our designs from time to time - that river pathways and cycling really is just to create a nice space is for fun and leisure, not serious transportation infrastructure. The pathway can (and must) be both IMO and mixing zones like these aren't quite hitting the mark.
 
CBBarnett said:
Agreed it's incumbent on cyclists to yield and be aware, but errs on the side of mixing modes too much here IMO. The busiest stretch of the entire pathway system should be the one with the highest quality and highest capacity designs, which includes both extra width and clear separation between modes of different travel speeds. Some sort of visual edge in paint, bollards or pavement type should indicate the difference between a walking space and a cycling space as much as possible.

Of course, overall the pathway is far more attractive, but it feels like a missed opportunity to go to all this work and still have excessive and unclear mixing zones of traffic in the busiest stretch of the whole network. It's a small manifestation of a big pet-peeve that creeps into our designs from time to time - that river pathways and cycling really is just to create a nice space is for fun and leisure, not serious transportation infrastructure. The pathway can (and must) be both IMO and mixing zones like these aren't quite hitting the mark.
Click to expand...

Here's a Netherland's example of a trying to solve a somewhat similar issue of pedestrians/bicycles mixing - a ferry terminal adjacent to Amsterdam's central station:

1684177076108.png


From the west side, there is a giant rolled curb circled in Blue, that transitions from an extra wide cycling area into the ferry loading/pedestrian zone. Clear signs mark it's a pedestrian space and the pavement colour changes. All that space allows for crowds to get on and get off their bicycles simultaneously, after crossing the ferry.

1684177135882.png


From the east side, there's this stub of a cycletrack and weird crosswalk - complete with signage, rolled curbs and even dedicated drainage (!):
1684177903464.png



Takeaways:
  • Calgary's pathway actually looks much nicer - but it's totally leaves up to randomness what cyclists are supposed to do when they meet a mixed zone. This results in slower speeds and isn't resilient to wide fluctuations in the number of users throughout the year and day.
  • Despite nothing more than curbs and slight changes in brick colour, Amsterdam really makes it clear when you enter a shared space - rolled curbs, signs, wider areas to allow mixing. Far more generous spacing and widths to allow for surge capacity at busy periods
Conclusion:
Take the functionality and intentional transportation-centric design system of Amsterdam, and layer it onto our river pathway. Makes it safer, higher capacity, more inuitive for all users on busy summer days or rush-hour pathway commuters.
 
CBBarnett said:
Agreed it's incumbent on cyclists to yield and be aware, but errs on the side of mixing modes too much here IMO. The busiest stretch of the entire pathway system should be the one with the highest quality and highest capacity designs, which includes both extra width and clear separation between modes of different travel speeds. Some sort of visual edge in paint, bollards or pavement type should indicate the difference between a walking space and a cycling space as much as possible.

Of course, overall the pathway is far more attractive, but it feels like a missed opportunity to go to all this work and still have excessive and unclear mixing zones of traffic in the busiest stretch of the whole network. It's a small manifestation of a big pet-peeve that creeps into our designs from time to time - that river pathways and cycling really is just to create a nice space is for fun and leisure, not serious transportation infrastructure. The pathway can (and must) be both IMO and mixing zones like these aren't quite hitting the mark.
Click to expand...
Completely agree, but I also think there are times where that just may not be possible. I look at this like a cycling version of Deerfoot NB to Glenmore WB...it's a spot that would absolutely warrant an optimal flow design for all users, but some constraints just make it not feasible.

At least we aren't getting accessibility barriers for cyclists to navigate like we probably would have in the past. I'm sure there is a way this could be done a little bit better, but ultimately if you have multiple travel modes going multiple possible directions the only real answer is for the fastest mode to slow down

There are plenty of places where wheeling lanes should get more of the freeway treatment, though.
 
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