Infrastructure

A pedestrian and cycling bridge next to the current heritage bridge at Billings could make a huge difference for cyclist coming from the south end.

How About a 2nd Billings Bridge in Old Ottawa South?

July 24, 2018 Hansonthebike 5

Reading Time: 3 minutesA hotly debated area for safe cycling in Ottawa is the intersection at Riverside and the Billings Bridge, built in 1916. According to BikeOttawa’s website, the intersection at the south side is the one that has the most reported collisions in Ottawa, including a deadly one, when Meg Dussault was waiting on her bicycle at a cramped sidewalk/MUP and a right turning truck caught her bars. Vision Zero From a Sustainable Safety or Vision Zero point of view, this intersection needs to be changed, so that this can never happen again. There are plans to build a path underneath the [Read more…]

New pathways Along Hospital Link in Altavista-Riverview

July 11, 2018 Hansonthebike 8

Reading Time: 6 minutesAlthough the Hospital Link is not completely finished yet, I decided to go out and take a look recently. The weather was finally a pleasant 20 degrees again, unlike the sweltering 34-36 Celsius (nearly 100F) last week. I had been doing some 20 km and 30 km bike tours with tourists in the heat, and although it is bearable when you are moving, the sun really hits you when you stop cycling. I cycled there first on my own; later in the weekend I went back with Heather Shearer after a meeting at city hall. We approached the link from [Read more…]

Are ankle bands the solution for the casual summer cyclist?

Cycling in Quebec: don’t get caught without reflectors!

June 28, 2018 Hansonthebike 12

Reading Time: 6 minutesIn Quebec province a new law aims to make cycling safer. More reflectors on your bike, cycling with prudence on cross walks, no more demerit points for cyclists, no more signalling of an intention to stop for cyclists, hands on the bar override signalling when needed. Read more about the details here: some good and some questionable regulations. July 2, 2018 UPDATE from Steve Truttmann:  Out cycling on the Quebec side yesterday morning, a QPP officer kindly told me that I must now remove my ear buds, law is now in effect. I was advised they will crack down on [Read more…]

The K&P Trail in Kingston, Ontario

June 26, 2018 Hansonthebike 4

Reading Time: 8 minutesSummary During a stay in Kingston, I explored the city’s waterfront and the K&P Trail. A lovely 30 km route that touches on many different aspects of Kingston. It needs a few improvements, such as crossing the VIA Rail tracks on Division Rd and access to the trail right after the overpass and the Sydenham Rd crossing. Wayfinding could be improved: despite some prep at home, I still managed to miss part of the trail. You can do it in two hours or take a whole day if you stop for museums, craft beer and lunch in the park. I [Read more…]

One of the several walk and bike bridges in the ravines

Cycling in Toronto was a challenging experience

June 14, 2018 Hansonthebike 5

Reading Time: 11 minutes“It is safe infrastructure that makes people bike, not more uniforms”.Last week we visited Toronto. Karen had meetings and I tagged along for a day and a half. Because we booked the train in time, our tickets were only $100 return each in economy class. On the way in I had to listen to Dora the Explorer on the Ipad of the young traveller in front of me for an hour and a half. The lady across the aisle at the windows seat had her feet up on her partner’s lap. For reasons unclear to me, we were an hour [Read more…]

The proposed extension and paving of the Trillium pathway

Trillium Pathway Design Watered Down

June 5, 2018 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 5 minutesProbably about half a decade ago, Karen and I were driving in our car, turning on to Prince of Wales at Dow’s Lake Pavillion. We were about 50 meters on our way, when a car came screaming down the hill from the roundabout at the Arboretum, totally out of control, flying into the opposite direction, more or less towards us. The driver corrected his speed somewhat, overcompensating his steering at the same time wildly to the right (for him) and veered back into his own lane in a 45 degree angle. But he was still going so fast he had [Read more…]

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…]

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…]

Open: Ottawa River Pathway Behind Parliament Hill

November 21, 2017 Hansonthebike 0

Reading Time: 5 minutes2024 update: the pathway is closed. It should open again in the Fall. There is work being done near the Supreme Court. There is a cliff where some rock came down several years ago. This is being worked on. More here: https://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/projects/parliament-hill-escarpment-rehabilitation 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 [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…]