November 2017 - Hans on the Bike

Heron Road Bike Infrastructure at Transitway

November 30, 2017 Hansonthebike 4

Reading Time: 4 minutes This week, I was at an open house for new bike infrastructure on Heron, between Bank and Data Centre Road. At that stretch, Heron is a wide arterial with 60 kph speed limits but where it is easy to roll at least 70 kph. It is a spaghetti of roads and railway tracks in that area, and after 19 years in Ottawa I still have a hard time to orient myself if I don’t drive on Heron Rd. There is LRT, VIARail, the Transitway, Heron Rd and the Airport Parkway/Bronson and its on and off ramps. Data centre road winds [Read more…]

When MUP’s Run Along Parking Lots

November 28, 2017 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s one of those design flaws that you don’t see coming. But once you know it, we should incorporate it in the manual for proper bike infrastructure: never run a bike path right next to parking. This is what you get: drivers rolling their car against the curb. Obviously drivers don’t realise what they are doing, so you have to design in a different way. Do we? A few years ago, residents complained that the cars were sticking over the pathway in the half circle at the Mill Street Brewery in Ottawa. Especially bigger cars such as trucks, usually backed [Read more…]

Open: Ottawa River Pathway Behind Parliament Hill

November 21, 2017 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 5 minutes 2019 update: during the spring flooding of 2019, a number of pathways are closed. Check the NCC website for updates here: http://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/news/impact-of-rising-water-levels-on-capital-pathways Just before the first snow came down in the weekend of November 18-19 I thought I’d go for a bike ride to check out the repaired Ottawa River multi use pathway behind Parliament Hill and the Supreme Court. Shoreline and pathway washed out As you remember, the path was closed since the heavy rain in spring and had to be repaired over the course of another year as the Ottawa river had washed out parts of the pathway. [Read more…]

Bike Ottawa ‘Lights on Bikes 2017’ at Cork Town Bridge Ottawa

November 8, 2017 Hansonthebike 3

Reading Time: 4 minutes Since 2012 BikeOttawa organises once a year a quick campaign to draw attention to bike lights. We usually do that in the first week after daylight saving (not savings) time. I remember in the first few years that tons of cyclists were cycling without a light but I have this anecdotal feeling that it is getting a lot better. Of course I still see people cycle on Bronson late at night without any type of light, but if you stand along the ‘big commute’ routes, I am impressed how many residents have lights on their bikes. you kind of need [Read more…]

Raised Bike Tracks on Ottawa’s Richmond Road

November 7, 2017 Hansonthebike 3

Reading Time: 7 minutes Last week I went to Lee Valley to buy a new shovel. The wooden stem was broken and even though the shovel itself is made of heavy duty metal, the stem could not be replaced. So far for buying quality products. Luckily Lee Valley gives lifelong warranty, but as the shovel was about 10 years old, it had become 14 dollars more expensive, so I paid extra for the shovel. Still it was painful to hand over the otherwise perfectly fine old tool. Richmond Road bike tracks The next stop was National Capital Freenet on Richmond Road to drop of [Read more…]