Hans on the Bike

As 2023 comes to an end, I made an overview of the cycling projects that are (nearly) finished in Ottawa this year. Here is part 1 of 2 posts.

Part of Byron Ave in Ottawa recently went through an integrated road, sewer and watermain upgrade. The city used that as an opportunity to upgrade the road with separate bike infrastructure. Let’s have a look!

Dutch authorities are increasingly worried about the rise in traffic deaths among seniors on e-bikes. They would like to see Dutch seniors and children starting to wear helmets. That’s not an easy task.

It was time for me to start looking for a new bicycle helmet. And just like that someone called me and we discussed the Melon helmet this spring and I ended up trying one out. One of the most contentious debates in the world of urban cycling is to wear or not to wear a helmet. While the vast majority of the Dutch absolutely despise the idea, actually can’t even imagine wearing one, the Danes are kind of split about the idea. In Canada it’s generally accepted that you wear a helmet while out on a bike, although there are [Read more…]

We cycled a stretch of Portuguese coast line from Cascais to the Atlantic Ocean and were surprised to find some very Dutch looking cycling infrastructure.

The Estriade is a 22 km bicycle route on a former railway bed. Combined with a route through a National Park, it makes for a lovely 52 km route, all on separate pathways.

Do you find yourself wondering how fast traffic moves through your neighbourhood? Here is a simple method to roughly calculate just that.

Mr. Walter Shanly (1817-1899), a civil engineer, touched the ground to inspect the land underneath his snow shoes. He was on a mission: recently he, and a group of investors, had agreed on building the first railway track into Bytown (now Ottawa), all the way from Prescott on the St. Lawrence river, to connect the lumbertown on the Ottawa River with the ports in Prescott. A distance of about 50 miles (80 km). Not everyone was excited about their plans though and it had taken time to get the funds together. Thomas McKay, who built Rideau Hall, put forward money [Read more…]

A large piece of new active transportation infrastructure finally opened yesterday. Here is all the background you want to read about the historic Prince of Wales bridge, now the Chief William Commanda bridge, connecting Ottawa with Gatineau and an easier gateway to Gatineau Park.

Last year I built my own little library. I was nervous it would be vandalised but now, a year later, I can confirm it is a big success. Ottawa’s Transportation Committee will soon discuss new (modest) rules for curb site little libraries.