City to spend $3.6M on new bike routes
Close to 20 kilometres of improved cycling lanes are planned, with the intention to make it easier to get around during the pandemic
Hamilton plans to add close to 20 kilometres of new bike lanes, paths and pedal-friendly improvements this year amid a focus on COVID- safe mobility.
The city has plans for at least $3.6 million in new cycling infrastructure, featuring the start of a curb-protected cycling track on Victoria Avenue, “bicycle boulevards” on residential streets and beefed-up safety measures for existing bike lanes.
Close to $3 million of that total will come from city taxpayers — the highest amount of local spending on the bike budget in years. (Last year, the city spent a record $6 million on cycling projects, but the majority of that cash came from provincial or other grants.)
“We are spending a higher amount, but it is to meet an obvious demand,” said director of transportation planning Brian Hollingworth, who pointed in particular to the city’s pandemic mobility plan that highlights the importance of helping residents safely move around the city during COVID.
That means some projects will focus on “upgrading safety” on existing bike lanes, for example via new protective separation between cars and bikes — think curbs, planters and bollards — or by “filling gaps” on bike routes along streets like Hunter near the GO station.
Coun. Nrinder Nann applauded work that will start this year to build the Victoria Avenue cycle track, a major north-south protected bike route that will eventually link the popular Cannon Street bike corridor to the Jay Keddy Trail up the escarpment.
“It’s that kind of connectivity that I’m glad we’re going to see a lot more of in 2021,” said Nann at a public works meeting Mon
day.
The newly opened trail was named in honour of cyclist Jay Keddy, who died after being hit by a truck on the Claremont Access. The trail opened late last year and is the first dedicated, protected bike and walking path up a Mountain access.
Hollingworth said the city will start building the north end of
the new protected lanes on Victoria this year and continue designing the southern end for future construction.
The city is also looking at adding a “bicycle boulevard” on residential streets like Pearl and Kent, and through the Hamilton Amateur Athletics Association grounds park. A bicycle boulevard is meant to pri
oritize bike traffic on low-traffic streets but still allow for lowspeed local motorists.
Overall, the city hopes to add about 11 kilometres in standalone bike improvements all across the city’s cycling network, with another eight kilometres expected as part of road reconstruction, bridge work or repaving projects.
Private development projects in Waterdown, Binbrook and at McMaster Innovation Park are also expected to add multi-use paths or cycling path improvements in the next year.
Design work continues on other projects — some of which could still be built this year if new provincial grant money comes through, Hollingworth added.