Imagine safe, comfortable travel options – and more – in our communities
The City of Calgary is looking for public input on the new Neighbourhood Streets Policy that is currently being piloted in several communities. This should be of great interest to Bike Calgary members and anyone else looking to significantly improve the communities that we live, work, and play in.
The last day to provide your online input is December 17th. After you’ve read this blog, please go to https://engage.calgary.ca/neighbourhood-streets-pilot-policy to learn more about the policy itself and submit your comments. In June 2022, City administration will recommend a final version Neighbourhood Streets Policy to Council for approval – please let your voices be heard.
An important step in making our community streets safer for all users was the reduction of residential speed limits to a default of 40km/h city wide. But new signage alone is not sufficient to truly improve the safety and overall vibrancy of our community streets. As clearly illustrated in this informative video by Not Just Bikes (https://youtu.be/bglWCuCMSWc), the way our streets are typically built makes it almost impossible for the average motorist to naturally adopt a safer speed of travel in our communities – regardless of the posted speed limit.
This is where the Neighbourhood Streets Policy steps in: it provides city planners and communities with an important framework and set of tools to achieve traffic calming along with other street environment improvements. Great examples and the importance of effective traffic calming measures are provided in this engaging video (https://youtu.be/bAxRYrpbnuA).
The goals of this new Neighbourhood Streets Policy go beyond just making our streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and other active transportation modes – it also encourages us to imagine more connected and vibrant communities. Our public streets and spaces can go beyond transportation. They can be places to host block parties, celebrate art and culture, and create a more human scale, livable environment. Through these new policies and pilot programs, let’s see if we can breathe real life into our neighbourhood streets. Let the City of Calgary know about your thoughts and priorities before the December 17th deadline.