The redesigned streetscape for 11 Street SE / 12 Street SE through the communities of Ramsay and Inglewood has been released, and the City of Calgary is requesting feedback on the preferred design concept. Check out the plans and survey at the link below:
https://engage.calgary.ca/ramsay-inglewoodTOD
The design drawings call for a two-way wheeling path on the west side of 12 Street SE in Inglewood and under the CP rail tracks, similar to the current adaptive roadway on this street.
South of the underpass, however, the pathway switches to the east side of the roadway. No rationale is given on the website for switching sides of the road, and no details are given for how crossing over will be accommodated.
Edit (Jan 27/2022) A member of the City of Calgary project team reached out via the comments and provided the following insight:
“Since the pathway is on the west side of the zoo bridge, we stayed with that alignment north of the underpass. We propose to switch it to the east side south of the underpass to reduce the number of conflict points – we count 18 conflict points on the west side, versus just 9 on the east side. The west side also features trees and seating that could pose additional user conflict.”
Bike Calgary is concerned about the potential conflicts that would arise with this switch, which may encourage some people on bikes and scooters to ride on the sidewalk through Ramsay. The east side pathway through Ramsay is also more difficult to access from the residential portion of the neighbourhood, local businesses, and Ramsay School which are all located west of 11th Street.
Some encouraging elements of the project are the reallocation of vehicle space to walking and cycling and the potential for a high quality connection between destinations like Crossroads Market, local breweries and restaurants, the Bow River pathway, and the 9th Avenue Main Street in Inglewood.
The project is currently unfunded and construction will begin no sooner than 2023, so there is still plenty of time for your feedback to have an impact on the final designs for this important link in the 5A Network.
I share your concern about the pathway switching to the east side of 11th St in Ramsay when it’s on the west side of the same street in Inglewood.
I look forward to a good pathway as I bike to Crossroads every weekend from Inglewood.
But crossing over two lanes of traffic is not ideal.
Maybe the city has had complaints from some of the business owners along 11th st in Ramsey regarding the current set-up. There are certainly many crossings that a cyclist must negotiate on the east side of the street. That being said forcing a cyclist or pedestrian to cross 4 lanes of traffic to access infrastructure on the opposite side of the st. will not work.
From what I can see, cyclists would only have to cross two lanes of traffic not four. On the south section the east side makes sense to me because there are so few intersections to have to pass through. What makes the cycle tracks downtown so brutal is hitting a red light every block. I just hope there are lots of crosswalks across 11th Street. Man, drivers must be sh***** their pants seeing this haha.
Hi. I’m working on this project for The City and just wanted to leave a brief message about the multi-use path. Since the pathway is on the west side of the zoo bridge, we stayed with that alignment north of the underpass. We propose to switch it to the east side south of the underpass to reduce the number of conflict points (as Bicyclism mentions above) – we count 18 conflict points on the west side, versus just 9 on the east side. The west side also features trees and seating that could pose additional user conflict.
Thanks to Bike Calgary for posting the proposed cross-sections and link to our engagement page. We’re taking comment until January 31.
David, it sounds like your project team has made its decision. One commenter agreed to help you justify. I think it’s a huge conflict (equivalent to 10 small conflicts if you want some math) making pathway users cross from the west to the east side. Since it sounds like decision is already made, please make sure it’s done safely, efficiently without delay, conflict free and accommodates all pathway users from children to adults.
I disagree with your conclusion
“The west side also features trees and seating that could pose additional user conflict.”
There are virtually no trees in the surrounding green space incl Jeffress Park. We desperately need trees to dampen the excessive noise and pollution (air and noise) from the rail yards.
Please reconsider you position in consideration of residents of Ramsay and promote the return of trees to our neighbourhood.
Thanks!
Thanks for the response David. Yes there are lots of conflict points on the West side of the street South of the underpass. You currently need to ride defensively there because of cars crossing etc. But how can crossing the street be made efficient and not onerous for the pathway users?
I personally ride this bikeway Southbound a lot to connect to 21st Ave to ride west. I doubt I’ll cross the street to ride on the pathway, but probably just continue on 11th St.
The more I think about the construction of this bike lane the more it makes sense to have the entire stretch on the east side of 11 and 12 street. If riding north you could just continue past Spolumbos and join the bow river pathway. Riding southbound you would cross at 9th Ave to join the two way bike lane. I rarely make the light at 9th Ave so crossing wouldn’t be wasted time. The city come add some street paint to identify where to cross and keep cars from stopping in that area.
This removes the much less efficient crossing of 12th street somewhere south of the train bridge.
After several months of riding the current bikeway from Dandy Brewing to 9th Ave I can say that with all the conflicts on the west side of the road, it is not ideal. I probably have 1-2 incidents a week where an aggressive driver pulls across the “pathway” requiring emergency braking on my part. I’ve been riding very defensively, but people in cars just don’t look. It’s especially bad in the dark. This infrastructure really needs some rethinking and rebuilding.
I agree with moving the pathway to the east side of the street, but maybe the crossing should be at 9th Ave or even 10Ave? having a crossing at the bottom of the hill below the railway crossing, in an area of poor visibility may cause issues.