For anyone who hasn't yet had a chance to go by there, here's a picture of the new 9A St NW contra-flow bike lane in Kensington. The picture is looking north, taken from the end of the pathway below the Memorial Drive pedestrian overpass, just at the start of the bike lane.
Where else in the city would you like to see one of these contra-flow lanes? I'll collect responses and send them along to the City.
8 St SW downtown
Submitted by ride on
I'd like to see a contra-flow bike lane on 8 St SW between 6 Ave and 4 Ave. Bike traffic naturally enters downtown off the bikepath onto 8 St SW, but can't presently proceed south because 8 St is one-way for those two blocks. There's a very wide curb lane for those two blocks, so there's easily room for the bike lane, which would improve access to the south side of downtown along 8 Ave.
'ride' at 'bikecalgary.org'
Bicycles aren't obstructing traffic, they're part of traffic
ditto this
Submitted by mikewarren on
Great idea! The one problem might be how to handle the triple-turn-lanes onto 4th...advance green for counter-flow bikes?
advance green
Submitted by ride on
Yep, I'm thinking that the only practical way for this to work would be a pedestrian / bike light that starts 2 seconds before the oncoming cars get a green. That way, the peds and bikes are out in the intersection, and visible, before the cars get to move.
A contra-flow bike lane on a residential street is one thing, but one in the downtown core, and requiring special treatment at signalled intersections, is another. We need some advice, from another city where they do this, on the best way to handle those signals. Probably someone in Montréal can help us.