Advocacy

A complete separate pathway s the right solution for Maitland

The Maitland Overpass: the cycling issue with on ramps and slip lanes

March 6, 2018 Hansonthebike 8

Reading Time: 6 minutesLast week I spent some time at the Maitland overpass open house at the most unknown arena in Ottawa, the J. Alph Dulude arena. When you Google his name, nothing but arena results come up, plus 48 restaurants ‘near JA Dulude arena’. So if you know more, let me know. Update: Christopher send me this information when I put this blog out: It was a small and quiet open house, with only a handful of panels. However, I did manage to talk to a few staff, councillor Jeff Leiper and Giacomo Panico (not in function, he stressed), as well as [Read more…]

Ottawa’s inner greenbelt bike commute approaches 5%

January 9, 2018 Hansonthebike 5

Reading Time: 7 minutesOttawa is a large place. We have a photo of my wife’s father standing in front of a row of brand new houses. The trees behind him look about 5 years old at the most. He is four years old and the neighborhood is called Old Ottawa South. ‘Old’ was likely added later as there was no New Ottawa South. Ottawa stopped at Billings Brickyards, now Billings Bridge Mall; Altavista didn’t exist. We are talking about the mid 1920’s. The automobile was just 40 years old. Amalgamation Through amalgamation Ottawa is now ridiculously large. Several small European countries fit together [Read more…]

Approaching a non signalised intersection

Ottawa Commute Census Data Show Growth in Cycling Commute

December 12, 2017 Hansonthebike 4

Reading Time: 6 minutesRecently, Statistics Canada released commuter data for 2016. Over the last 20 years, commuter trips grew considerably. That is not a surprise as the population grew, from 29.6 million in 1996 via 32.5 million in 2006 to 36.3 million in 2016. Yes, that is 7 million people extra in 20 years. This growth is about the equivalent of the entire population of Bulgaria. In other words, in twenty years we took in the equivalent of the population of an entire European country. And they move around. But how did Ottawa fare in the ‘journey to work’ census? I put some [Read more…]

Heron pathways

Heron Road Bike Infrastructure at Transitway

November 30, 2017 Hansonthebike 4

Reading Time: 4 minutesThis 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…]

parking lot Mill St brewery

When MUP’s Run Along Parking Lots

November 28, 2017 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 4 minutesIt’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…]

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

November 8, 2017 Hansonthebike 3

Reading Time: 4 minutesSince 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…]

Halloween

Halloween: 13 Spooky Scenarios for Cyclists

October 31, 2017 Hansonthebike 1

Reading Time: 9 minutesToday is Halloween so I wrote up 13 scary cycling scenarios for you. Some of them are infrastructure related, others are law related and yet others are behaviour related. I hope it doesn’t scare you away from cycling. Storm sewers Storm sewers are usually placed within about 60 cm of the curb. This is also where cyclists ride. Some storm sewers have a design so that it makes no difference how they are placed, but others still have a pattern that allows for bike wheels to get stuck, causing serious falls. Warn your municipality that this has to change. In [Read more…]

Brookfield MUP Update

October 11, 2017 Hansonthebike 2

Reading Time: 5 minutesLast night I attended the open house for the bidirectional MUP on Brookfield in the Brookfield High school cafeteria. Some of my friends went to this 1962 school in the seventies and eighties and it was interesting for me to see this heritage school from the inside. Here are a few pics for the fun of it including the heritage bike rack I tweeted out earlier. Itsy bitsy teeny weenie very much preliminary The City of Ottawa plan was shown on one board. It is a very preliminary plan and the city is open to all suggestions. Sam Roberts collected [Read more…]

New Multi Use Pathway on Brookfield Road Planned

October 9, 2017 Hansonthebike 9

Reading Time: 7 minutesThis Tuesday, October 10, you should go to Riley Brockington’s Open House at Brookfield High on Brookfield. For many years, better cycling infra is planned for the route between Hog’s Back Falls and Saw Mill Creek and on Tuesday, you will have a preview of what the plan is about. Councillor Brockington’s invitation already mentions that this is going to be a bidirectional multi use pathway link.  Initially I thought it wasn’t a good idea to design a  bidirectional solution until I realized that it is part of a larger network and then it does make sense. Prince of Wales [Read more…]

Car blocking side walk dresses at Summit

Transportation Equity Summit – Ottawa

September 20, 2017 Hansonthebike 3

Reading Time: 2 minutesThis Friday, September 22, I am speaking about cycling advocacy at City Hall. Not to the mayor, not to Transportation Committee but at the Transportation Equity Summit put on by the Healthy Transportation Coalition and Envirocentre. The summit starts at 8 am with beverages and snacks and lasts until around 3:30 pm with a number of speakers from Ottawa and two speakers from Portland and Toronto. The entrance is $30 but if you can’t afford it, there are special arrangements possible. Affordable and Accessible Transportation for All One of the issues is that residents with a low income might need [Read more…]