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Calgary Bike Lanes and Bike Paths

The project came into being as a temporary detour for the Eau Claire pathway construction. I think the intention the City of Calgary had was to make it a high quality detour and just leave it as permanent part of the network once the work requring the detour was done. The problem was that commercial property owners and the Chinatown BIA (who was being led by the current Ward 7 Councillor) caught on to the fact that the City of Calgary was trying to sneak in a permanent addition to the network and raised a huge stink about it. The City had to back down on any talk 3rd Ave was going to involve permanent planning and return to the idea that this is only temporary detour. It's a weird touchy subject as I've had a few conversations with City staff in multiple departments about this and they all look like they just got tazered when 3rd Ave and permanent cycle track get mentioned in the same sentence.
 
outoftheice said:
The project came into being as a temporary detour for the Eau Claire pathway construction. I think the intention the City of Calgary had was to make it a high quality detour and just leave it as permanent part of the network once the work requring the detour was done. The problem was that commercial property owners and the Chinatown BIA (who was being led by the current Ward 7 Councillor) caught on to the fact that the City of Calgary was trying to sneak in a permanent addition to the network and raised a huge stink about it. The City had to back down on any talk 3rd Ave was going to involve permanent planning and return to the idea that this is only temporary detour. It's a weird touchy subject as I've had a few conversations with City staff in multiple departments about this and they all look like they just got tazered when 3rd Ave and permanent cycle track get mentioned in the same sentence.
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Thanks - it's unfortunate that all that effort was spent on something temporary. On the other hand, I do think Fourth or Fifth Avenues (or both) would be better options for an E/W bike route for a few reasons:
- There's plenty of available lane capacity to spare
- They would provide a slightly better interface with the Bow River pathway on the east end
- Closer to centre ice for bike commuters
- The presence of bike lanes would help 'soften' the streetscape and improve the avenues as urban thoroughfares
 
outoftheice said:
The project came into being as a temporary detour for the Eau Claire pathway construction. I think the intention the City of Calgary had was to make it a high quality detour and just leave it as permanent part of the network once the work requring the detour was done. The problem was that commercial property owners and the Chinatown BIA (who was being led by the current Ward 7 Councillor) caught on to the fact that the City of Calgary was trying to sneak in a permanent addition to the network and raised a huge stink about it. The City had to back down on any talk 3rd Ave was going to involve permanent planning and return to the idea that this is only temporary detour. It's a weird touchy subject as I've had a few conversations with City staff in multiple departments about this and they all look like they just got tazered when 3rd Ave and permanent cycle track get mentioned in the same sentence.
Click to expand...

Hopefully it serves as exposure therapy for these folks and maybe even wins their hearts and minds.

artvandelay said:
Thanks - it's unfortunate that all that effort was spent on something temporary. On the other hand, I do think Fourth or Fifth Avenues (or both) would be better options for an E/W bike route for a few reasons:
- There's plenty of available lane capacity to spare
- They would provide a slightly better interface with the Bow River pathway on the east end
- Closer to centre ice for bike commuters
- The presence of bike lanes would help 'soften' the streetscape and improve the avenues as urban thoroughfares
Click to expand...
I wonder if 6th Ave might be best of all? It would have the best interface of all at the eastern terminus. The 8th ave route is pretty piece-meal and doesn't work well at either terminus.
 
I would be happy with any of the those option (4th, 5th or 6th) If I had to pick, I would be inclined to take 4th only because of the geographical distance from the 8th ave track and Eau Claire river pathway. 6th ave would be much better in the east half of DT though.
 
This seems insane. Even though the cyclist was hit by someone who ran a stop sign, they are making billing the cyclist for repairs, saying he was an un-insured driver. Anyone know if this is the same situation in Alberta?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1508954714540425217
 

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That makes me so sad 😞
 
Surrealplaces said:
This seems insane. Even though the cyclist was hit by someone who ran a stop sign, they are making billing the cyclist for repairs, saying he was an un-insured driver. Anyone know if this is the same situation in Alberta?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1508954714540425217
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Does ICBC even sell coverage for cyclists? A quick google search indicates that home/renters insurance tends to cover you when you're out on your bike. https://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/insurance/where-insurance-fits-into-bicycle-accidents-1004165099/
Another good synopsis, albeit from a US Insurer: https://www.progressive.com/answers/bicycle-accidents/
 
Surrealplaces said:
And now for the new section of path between Ogden Road and Glenmore. One word sums it up, fantastic. So nice not to have to jog to the other side of the river and climb the hill only to go down again. Another thing I love about the new pathway section is it is much wider than other sections of the Bow River pathway. 👍

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People must have thought I was crazy when I rode this route a while ago...I couldn't shit up about how much better this section is and so smooth! Too bad people have already tagged the tunnel but it's nice that the city included lighting even during the day!
 
GoVertical said:
People must have thought I was crazy when I rode this route a while ago...I couldn't shit up about how much better this section is and so smooth! Too bad people have already tagged the tunnel but it's nice that the city included lighting even during the day!
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The tunnel had a fair bit of graffiti, though some of it was actually nice and colorful for a change and not just tagging....I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be art or not.
Disraeli said:
That makes me so happy. That was by far the biggest hole in the SE pathway system.
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Big time. It's so much nicer now with that section done.
 
Took my buddy to the new Inglewood pump track yesterday. Was pretty well used for 1:30 on a Wednesday. The lady there said she gets her kids to ride in and out after every cycle through the track, so that the tubes reading usage read way higher numbers, and therefore hopefully lead to more pump tracks! 🤣 she clearly rocks.

My fourth bike ride in like 20 years! 🥳 can’t wait for more, finally get to enjoy Calgarys amazing pathway infrastructure on wheels.



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Disraeli said:
I don't see why it would matter if the driver of the truck was at fault.
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Of course it shouldn't...presuming the driver (of the Merc, not truck) was actually 100% at fault. I'll definitely give the cyclist the benefit of the doubt, but these situations can be messy.

I just found it to be a useful reminder of some hidden benefits of home insurance policies. Kinda like credit card coverage that you might not think of when it could actually be relevant.
 
For sure, insurance is one of those things that you don't think about until something shitty happens. It's not a terrible idea if you do alot of cycling
 
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