Staff report on the New Street pilot road diet will be released November 17th - Stand By.

News 100 yellowBy Staff

October 10th, 2017

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Ward 4 Councillor Jack Dennison wants you to know that the New Street Road Diet Pilot is not about the number of bicycles that are on the road – it is about making New Street safer, more accessible and calmer without significantly increasing travel times.

New street - being rebuilt

New Street with lanes for cyclists on each side – under construction.

Dennison said he has been advised “that the report with staff’s recommendation will be presented on Monday, November 27, 2017 at a Committee of the Whole meeting.”

The report will be made public on Friday, November 17, 2017. We will get the details to you.

Bike lanes - New street

What we used to have on the left – what we have now as a pilot on the right. In between – more public engagement that this council every expected.

Anyone interested in speaking to this item at the meeting, please be sure to register.

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19 comments to Staff report on the New Street pilot road diet will be released November 17th – Stand By.

  • Eva Amos

    It will be interesting to see if there has been an increase in cycling on New Street since the bike lane was put in and also, if safety is the concern, is it now safer and how will this be determined. I hope the report will include pre and post accident rates on New Street. Are we trying to fix a problem that didn’t exist.

    • Steve

      “It will be interesting to see if there has been an increase in cycling on New Street since the bike lane was put in”

      Of course not. And we have already been told that actual usage will not be a factor in deciding in favour of its continued existence. Which it seems has already been decided. Unless they need to do more selective research to support it and how we (the majority) are better off with it.

      Vote them out in 2018, like they care, hahaha.
      We need more “intensification.” NOT!!!

      Rexway = speedway.
      Spruce Ave. the new, New Street.

      To grow blindly like no city has grown before.

      • Hans

        Your city motto (To grow blindly…) is very accurate, IMO.

        If usage had been high (in Dennison’s and Goldring’s dreams!), no doubt that would have been used to provide the rationale for permanently impairing New Street.

        Maybe Moneysense should add some new criteria for its rating of municipalities; e.g., is the political leadership competent? The state of our public transit system would suggest that it is not, for starters.

  • Eva Amos

    If the average speed was 70 km what was the enforcement rate of speeding tickets. Also you refer to cycle tracks and then bike lanes. A cycle track to me is a separated bike path which people would actually use and feel safe. Not a painted line on a major artery with no physical barrier between bike and car. The bike lane that exists now on New Street which many cyclists say they will never use because they do not feel safe.

    • Jeff

      The funny thing about enforcement for speeding is that the majority of time cops will not pull you over if you are doing 10km or less over the limit unless your doing something stupid, being careless or speeding in a flashing 40km zone or a particular road where speeding occurs but a significant safety concern exists as well. A cycling track was originally proposed but the cost is high this the pilot for separated bike lanes.

  • Stephen White

    By all means create bike lanes….on secondary residential streets like Spruce! However, putting bike lanes on major routes such as New Street, Fairview, etc. is just an invitation to more accidents and fatalities. Why anyone would want to ride on major streets and risk their personal safety and security is a mystery to me. I am a casual cyclist but there is no way in hell you’d get me cycling on New Street.

    Bikes are never going to be a viable transportation medium in this City for the majority of residents. Most employed residents commute outside the Region to work. We aren’t generating sufficient jobs in Burlington to accommodate our growing population. Unlike Toronto there isn’t the density or the number of cyclists to make this a viable transportation option. You can’t carry bags of groceries from Metro or lug lumber from Loews on a bike. Four months of the year the bike lanes are virtually unusable anyway due to snow and ice. When there are accidents on the Skyway and the QEW the traffic unloads onto local streets and bike lanes compound the congestion problem. That congestion directly contributes to driver impatience and road rage.

    We need to get people moving in this city. Providing free public transportation on Burlington Transit for commuters and seniors, and improving the quality of sidewalks, would be a better use of funds than spending it on bike lanes. Get the bike off Fairview and New Street and jack the speed limit to 70 km. as exists in Mississauga.

    As for Dennison and Goldring they had better listen this time or both of them are toast in 2018!

  • Steve

    What’s wrong with using the trail space under the hydro towers. It parallels New Street/Fairview and could go from Burloak to Guelph Line with no problem. Certain times of day traffic is very slow, what happened to “going green.” How will city busses impact travel on New Street if a barrier is put up?

    Traffic at times overflows onto Spruce and Rexway. And those are neighbourhoods that should not be subjected to higher volumes. And some cars do not heed the speed limit. After four pm it is terrible driving in some directions. I suppose though that driving/travel time, from say city hall going east to get home is still easy enough.

    “To boldly grow like no city has grown before!”
    It doesn’t take an study to show things will only get worse with intensification. What is the master plan, to be like Mississauga in places?

    • Phillip

      I can’t speak for Rexway but on Spruce, NO MONITORING of traffic volume has been done during the “new” data collection period.

  • Jeff

    The City of Burlington has applied to the Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling Program created by the Province to build cycle tracks on New Street between Guelph and Walkers, Walkers to Burloak, upgrade the Francis Road Bikeway and establish bike parking and repair stations throughout the City. Regardless of what happens, traffic needed to slow down on New Street which has an average speed of 70km. Bike lanes are here and more are coming even if you choose to vote new people in by draining the swamp (come on people really grow up) they aren’t going anywhere.

  • B. Wayne

    Greg, you would actually have your children ride their bikes on New St. and Fairview St.? Keep the bike lanes off the main roadways for safety’s sake.

  • steve

    @James

    It’s the tail wagging the dog, and the voters should do their best, to show up, and show them out the door.

  • James

    Ahhh, now it makes sense! “Traffic calming” = increased idling, travel times, and road rage! That’s what this is all about, that’s what city hall wants, this was never about bike lanes! Please, give me a break.

  • Greg

    They pay the extract same amount for municipal roads through there property taxes George. As well most adult cyclists are also drivers and pay the gas tax that is partially granted to the city. Even if you don’t cycle I think bicycle lanes are an important thing to have for our children who are not in a position to contribute (road taxes)

  • Hans

    I disagree with Dennison – it most certainly IS about the (small) number of bicycles that use the road. And that’s not up to him in any case.

    • Phillip

      Just look at Dennison’s quick response to the survey on the New Street Fiasco conducted by Eva Amos. NO FACTUAL BASIS for most of Jack’s observations; he is totally in the “hip pocket” of the Cycling Lobby. In fact, although the New Street Lane Closures run right through the middle of his ward, Jack has NEVER sought input from any of his constituents. This councillor along with Goldring are at the top of my “get rid of them list” in November, 2018.

      • Steve

        Phillip said, “Jack has NEVER sought input from any of his constituents.”

        Hey, he asked if he could put a sign in my front yard once.

        Burlington is changing, it will be a congested mess. All that was good about it, will be lost.

        To grow blindly like no city has grown before!

  • George

    Tell me – how many dollars in road taxes do bicycles pay?

  • steve

    How is taking traffic lanes away from cars, and trucks, not going to be a problem as Burlington’s population keeps growing? I notice fairview is becoming a parking lot during rush hour now.