What could it cost to make Barrie roads more travelled by cyclists?
Council gave final approval to a motion Wednesday night that city staff produce a costing analysis of separated bike lanes on existing collector and arterial roads.
Off-road or separated (by the curb) bike lanes are considered safer than those created by a painted line to show the cycling lane on the side of a street.
Barrie has 1,583 kilometres of roads and 47 kilometres of cycling infrastructure consisting of multi-use paths, bicycle lanes and signed routes.
Wolter Wagter, who lives on Blake Street, made a written deputation to council and asked some pointed questions which could be answered in the staff analysis.
“Has any study been conducted on the use of bicycles on Blake Street?” Wagter wrote. “How many cyclists actually use Blake Street? This winter I saw three cyclists.
“My feeling is that someone drew up a bicycle route map many years ago with very little thought as to how it would hinder normal living on the affected streets," he added.
If this staff analysis finds there is no additional cost to implement separated bike lanes, they could be built as part of the reconstruction of Grove and Duckworth streets, although the planning for these projects is well underway.
Should separated bike lanes come with additional cost, however, unspecified safety measures would be taken to provide additional protection to painted bike lanes on Duckworth and Grove streets.
Wagter has some ideas on the safety front as well.
“Road narrowing at certain locations will definitely slow traffic down all year. This can be done on Blake Street,” he said. “Paint a solid white line 2.8 metres from the curb to visually narrow the road. This will slow traffic down.
“Lower the speed limit on Blake Street to 40 kilometres per hour.”
Wagter added Barrie should also look at how bicycle safety works in other countries.
“Look at how the Dutch do bicycle lanes on collector roads. Sidewalks are divided from bicycle lanes, parking and traffic lanes,” he wrote. “Sidewalk and bicycle lanes are divided by a concrete strip, as are bicycle lanes from traffic lanes/parking lanes. To accomplish this, the municipal right-of-way has to be wider or the grass boulevard strips are narrowed.”
Council also approved on-road cycling lanes on Grove Street from Bayfield Street to Johnson Street, and Dunlop Street/Blake Street from Berczy to Steel streets by narrowing the road, and to change the traffic bylaw to remove on-street parking where currently permitted.
Staff are to assess the feasibility of accelerating the implementation of separated cycling lanes, including those on Grove Street from Johnson Street to Bayfield Street, and on Duckworth Street from Grove to St. Vincent streets.
