Some good news for Hamilton cyclists…hopefully.
The federal government is putting some more cash money into Hamilton’s growing cycling network. It’s part of a targeted project aimed at improving connections through one of the city’s key corridors. With all of the recent news with debates about killing present or even future cycling infrastructure, it’s welcome news. Whether it’s Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal or Halifax, to name a few, there’s been so much friction towards adding cycling infrastructure.
The funding comes through the Active Transportation Fund. It will support new bike lanes and multi-use paths around Victoria Avenue. Ottawa is contributing just under $250,000, with the city adding roughly $166,000, as was announced Thursday.
The project itself is relatively small in scale, however. It’s just over 500 m of new infrastructure. However, it plugs into a much larger plan.
Hamilton just OK’d a massive hike in fines for parking in bike lanes
Hamilton is working toward more than 150 km of cycling routes under its accelerated rollout strategy.
Officials say these shorter links are critical to making the network usable. If you’re a cyclist who’s ever been riding on a nice stretch of bike lane, only to have it abruptly stop, you know how important it is for it all to connect.
Construction will focus on Victoria Avenue between Hunter and Stinson streets. There are also additional upgrades along Stinson. Plans include a two-way, barrier-separated cycle track, short stretches of multi-use trail, updated signage and pavement markings and a new bike share hub.
The goal is to make it easier to move between neighbourhoods, particularly between upper and lower Hamilton, and into the downtown core.
The latest investment won’t transform the network overnight, although over the past few years there’s been more and more lanes added, notably on Cannon street. Riding across town has certainly become safer–for the most part. Given some of the kerfuffles between the provincial government toward bike lanes in the province, it’s also nice to see the feds stepping up.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…