BRONZED!!

Still basking in the sweet glow of our athletes' performances at the Olympics, Burlingtonians get to add another bronze medal!

This bronze was awarded by Share the Road Cycling Coalition, a cycling advocacy group founded by Eleanor McMahon.  She has taken the Bicycle Friendly Community platform used by the League of American Bicyclists, adapted it for Canada and spread the word.

The award is recognition for Burlington's effort to provide and promote safer cycling for transportation and recreation.  Each city is examined on its efforts in the following categories: Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement, Evaluation and Planning.  You can get more details here. 
Its a fantastic accomplishment and tribute to the efforts of many at city hall and the dedication of many members, past and present, of the Burlington Cycling Committee.

Thank you to all who have made our city a better, safer, enjoyable place to live.

As a result of Burlington's application process for BFC recognition, we have a road map of improvements that need to be made to attain Silver or even Platinum.  We can do it!

Tour de Mississauga - come & join us!

Our cycling friends in the bronze awarded City of Mississauga are having a bike Tour de Mississauga.  Its free and it sounds like a lot of fun.  Several cyclists from Burlington will be joining them for the ride and festivities to see how its done.  If you can make it, there's still time to register.

Over 1,000 cyclists participated in 2011 in this engaged community!

The 2012 Tour POSTER has just been released.  Click image and print if you wish to post at your place of business.  Registration is fast and one-stop this year, with PIN numbers for new registrants being assigned immediately.  What if you don’t remember your PIN# from last year?  Just call the Customer Service Centre at (905) 615-4100, and they will be able to assist you.  Note the August 20 date (below) for pre-ordering T-shirts (with Online Registration) and Jerseys (through the e-Store) to guarantee sizing. 

 

Tour Jerseys -- You can now reserve a Tour jersey ($60 all-in) by pre-ordering online through the City’s e-store.  Our primary sponsors’ logos are on the back pockets.  TO ENSURE WE HAVE YOUR SIZE IN TIME FOR THE TOUR, PLEASE ORDER BY AUGUST 20.  Please consult the Jersey size chart before ordering.

 

The Tour T-shirt design has been finalized (it’s green!) and ALL our our 2012 Tour Sponsors are printed on the back, along with a ‘Share the Road’ graphic.  Our sponsors are helping us to grow and improve the Tour event and we are so proud to have this wonderful collection of ‘backers’ on the T-shirt and the new POSTER (shown above).  Order your Tour T-shirts ($12 all-in) when you register online.  TO ENSURE WE HAVE YOUR SIZE IN TIME FOR THE TOUR, PLEASE ORDER BY AUGUST 20.  Please consult theT-shirt size chart before ordering.

 

 

Good Enough is NOT Good Enough!

I don't use an Apple, iPhone or iPad but I, and legions of Apple users recognize, appreciate, and will pay for great design.  It's reflected in the company's valuation as one of the world's most valued companies!

The same principal holds true for cycling on roads.

Old York Road is a hilly, fun stretch of road that is a gateway from Hamilton & Burlington to iconic, winding Snake Road.  During the past several weeks, my cycling has been interrupted by road repairs as the road was patched.
This week, to my dismay the entire road has been given a gravel surface.

Tar and Chip road.

According to mavens at city hall, Old York Road is undergoing surface treatment also know as Tar & Chip.  Surprisingly, they assure me that Old York Road was never an asphalt road but I've cycled this road for years but it felt like and looked like an asphalt road.  They've assured me that after a year or two, surface treated roads are "similar" to asphalt roads.

Old York Road with patching.

This weekend, I cycled several combined asphalt / tar & chip roads of various ages.  Cyclists and motorists easily know when they are on a tar & chip road!  It's the difference between night & day.  These roads are not meant for cycling.  They are rough, bumpy and strewn with loose gravel from the edges of the road which have not been compacted by the weight of cars.

Caution loose gravel on Old York Road.

Tar & chip replacing asphalt is another case where good enough is NOT good enough.  The legions of cyclists from Hamilton and other areas will find alternatives to Snake Road, probably outside of Burlington.

If you feel asphalt roads shouldn't be downgraded to tar & chip surfaces, let your councillor know.

Car Free Sunday Events come to Burlington in 2012

Map, details and links below.

 Its going to be a fabulous event.  Get involved!

Spread the word.  


Have your organization, group or corporate entity participate.  Details at www.burlington.ca/carfreesundays

Surrounded!

At the 2012 Ontario Bike Summit, a peloton of communities received awards designating them as Bicycle Friendly Communities.

To win the award, a community must complete an intensive questionnaire regarding the state of cycling and cycling infrastructure in their community.  It is not an easy application.  You are required to answer a comprehensive cycling centred inquiry focusing on engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation of cycling facilities in your community.

The completed application is reviewed by a panel of municipal planners, transportation engineers and bike experts.  Depending on the level of commitment in your community, your municipality will receive a platinum, gold, silver or bronze award.  It will also have in its possession a roadmap of strengths and weaknesses that must be fortified if the community wishes to advance its standing.

Bicycle Friendly Communities realise the benefits of cycling and have taken concrete steps to improve the quality of life in their municipalities.

Burlington is surrounded by Bicycle Friendly Communities!
        Hamilton - Silver
        Waterloo - Silver
        Guelph - Bronze
        London - Bronze
        Mississauga - Bronze
        Oakville - Bronze
        Oshawa - Bronze
        Welland - Bronze

             


Did I mention it's FREE!  And even if your community does not receive an award, it has a list of deficiencies, a roadmap outlining exactly what steps it must take to become Bicycle Friendly.

Come On Burlington!!!  Despite hosting the 2009 Ontario Bike Summit, Burlington has not yet submitted an application!  If Hamilton, Guelph, London, Mississauga, Oakville, Oshawa, Waterloo and even Welland can put in the time, effort and resources to become Bicycle Friendly, what are we waiting for????

Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of times, the age of wisdom, the spring of hope.  It's 2012 and Burlington ranks as Canada's second best city to live.  


Burlington's impressive standing was despite ranking 163 out of 190 in the Walk/Bike to Work Category.

Can Burlington continue its ascent up the rankings or even maintain its lofty position?





At the 2012 Ontario Bike Summit we learned that Richmond, B.C. fell from number 62 on the list to number 100 in 2012.  As the article to the right points out, some feel the lack of cycling options in Richmond, helped to lower its ranking.

It is said the Chinese character for Crisis consists of two characters representing Danger and Opportunity.

The danger in Richmond's lack of focus may have contributed to its fall from 62 down to 100 in the bottom half of the 50 percentile.

Burlington's 2009 Cycling Master Plan targeted an average 6.2km of new bike lanes each year from 2012 to 2015.

In 2012 Burlington's Roadways Capital Projects report is forecasting only 1.5km of new bike lanes in 2012 followed by 1.8km of new bike lanes in 2013.

We should learn from Richmond, B.C.  Some will see the danger in Burlington's rank in the Walk/Bike to Work category.  The more prescient ones will take it as an opportunity to move up the rank and take action to get more cycling infrastructure done to solidify our position as Canada's 2nd best place to live.

(With apologies to C. Dickens.)

Go on a walk.

Or ride a bike instead.

"Jane’s Walk is a series of free neighbourhood walking tours that helps put people in touch with their environment and with each other, by bridging social and geographic gaps and creating a space for cities to discover themselves.  Since its inception in 2007, Jane’s Walk has happened in cities across North America, and is growing internationally.


Jane’s Walk honours the legacy and ideas of urban activist and writer Jane Jacobs who championed the interests of local residents and pedestrians over a car-centered approach to planning. Jane’s Walk helps knit people together into a strong and resourceful community, instilling belonging and encouraging civic leadership."

Beautiful Burlington Jane’s Ride           Guided by Kevin Love

Date:  Sunday, May 6, 2012                       Start Time:  2:00 pm          Est. Duration:  1.5 hours

Here's a better link.   The route details are here.

Doubting Thomas - Built it and they will come!

To the Doubting Thomases on Burlington Council goes the award!

In Feb., after a tedious 90 minutes debate at the Committee level, new bike lanes for Appleby and Walkers, an investment of $45,000, were approved with a provision to re-examine the efficacy of the bike lanes in 2 years.  

The bike lanes will go ahead but not before the ugly debate reared it head again at the Council level and was narrowly defeated by a 4-3 vote.  To those 3 councillors goes the Doubting Thomas award.

Studies have shown that if you build it, cyclists will use it.  The better you build it the greater the number of cyclists that will use it.  

"Rutgers researcher John Pucher - he studies what seems like common sense in transportation, and then makes it sound good.

Studying bike lanes in 90 or the 100 largest American cities, Pucher and collaborater Ralph Buehl used Pearson’s correlation, bivariate quartile analysis, and two different types of regressions to measure the relationship between more and longer bike lanes and quantity of cyclists.

Their conclusion: cities with a greater supply of bike lanes have more bike commuters. And according to the researchers, that correlation exists even when controlling for things like land use, climate, socioeconomics, gas prices, public transport supply, and cycling safety."

A 2009 study found that bike lanes work.  In Portland, Oregon Professor Dill found that although only 8% of the city streets have bike lanes, 51% of the trips were taken on them.

Bike lanes on Walkers and Appleby were first discussed in 2007.  It shouldn't take 5 years to pass a $45,000 investment that will result in traffic calming, slower speeds and safer roads for cyclists and pedestrians. Let's get them done already.  

Thank you to Mayor Golding and councillors Dennison, Craven and Lancaster for realising the logic in staff's recommendation and getting the original proposal passed!  

Reinventing the Wheel - Square Peg in a Round Hole?

Burlington council debated for 90 minutes over a $45,000 expenditure that would result in traffic calming, slower speeds and safer roads for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.  The lengthy debate was most likely due to the large number of emails and phone calls the councillors received in opposition to staff's report recommending converting 1 vehicle lane into 2 bike lanes on Walkers and Appleby Line.

The same night, Burlington council passed a motion to spend $380,000 to repair the Drury Lane bridge extending its life for 5 years after which an additional $1.5- $2+ million expenditure would be needed.  In January several councillors were "dead set" against repairing the bridge.  What happened?

Citizens were engaged.  Nine delegations and a room filled with children and parents!  A concerted effort by a community to let council know how they collectively felt about the issue.  Obviously, numbers and children work.  They swayed council and the vote to spend $380,000 was unanimous!

Perhaps Burlington's attempt to engage public involvement by the creation of its own community engagement charter is placing a square peg into a round hole - forcing the issue.  Turnout at several meetings has been sparse.  Media coverage has waned.  Re-inventing the wheel is the long way to get there and will take time.
In my opinion, the secret for an successful engaged community is right before our eyes.  

The Drury Lane bridge revealed citizens of all ages, professional and labourer, housewife and businessman, will effectively mobilize in their own self interest.  This shouldn't be a surprise.  What's needed is a way to channel the concerns & issues of groups around the city.  The creation of a Burlington Ratepayers Association with subgroups for areas around the city would accomplish this.  Local ratepayer groups could delegate, make their wishes known through their councillor or ask the executive to lobby on their behalf.

Its not a new idea and a working template can be found in another community.

Engaged Mississauga citizens created MIRANET  the Mississauga Residents' Associations Network to bring their concerns to city hall.   Citizens banded together to provide a wide range of input into the governance of Mississauga.  Check out the website.  Created entirely by the engaged citizens without city hall input.


I attended their meetings, experienced their energy and ability to make things happen transforming Mississauga into a better place to live.  The depth, scope and involvement of the community into so many projects in Mississauga is astounding!  All the ratepayer groups are connected to the executive board.  It is the connectivity between the city-wide groups that enables MIRANET to mobilize an army of citizens to appear before council with their concerns and position on any issue deemed important.  The "network model encourages distributed leadership and ongoing cooperation among residents' groups in order to exchange timely information, share best practices and foster community engagement in the public decision-making process.


Individual residents' groups continue to work with their Ward Councillors and other elected representatives as usual, but the City-wide issues involve all Councillors, and all citizens, and we will help the work of the City by consolidating our input, where and when we can.  We have an open, research-oriented process designed to inform and confirm consensus among all groups before officially taking a united position on any issue."  

Ratepayer groups works!  Mississauga's model can be done in Burlington.  It should be done in Burlington.

Full moon shines on Burlington council!

As a university student I worked weekends as a bartender.  Full moons were often the strangest, most trying times.  On Feb. 8 city council also came under the influence of a full moon.
Council debated ad nauseam, staff's recommendation to keep the bike lanes on Guelph Line and add new bike lanes on Walkers & Appleby between New St. & Lakeshore Road.  It should have been a slam dunk.  It was only $45K to get 2km, or 4km if you count both directions.  That worked out to be $11.25 per meter of a safer, buffered bike lane.  You won't find a cheaper, better infrastructure investment anywhere!


In the report, emails favouring keeping Walkers and Appleby as 4 lane highways out numbered those promoting change by 25 to 10.   Countering the onslaught of negative emails who argued for the status quo were 2 delegations.  Eleanor McMahon, CEO of the provincial wide Share the Road cycling advocacy group spoke to the numerous benefits (health, tourism environment, live able city etc) of cycling and in favour of the report.  STR surveys indicated 60% of people do not ride because of a perceived fear that road are not safe.  The 1.5m bike lane buffered by a .7m hatch lane will be a huge step for safer cycling.  It's not perfect but the city must do with limited resources.

A sampling of the negative questions faced by staff:

• bike lanes to nowhere
• why did Oakville back out of BurlOak?
• other cities e.g Hamilton had physical barriers - doing it differently
• no data measuring the # of cyclists before & after the Guelph Line pilot
• lack of connectivity
• $45K would be better spent on a location joining the network
• use the money for a segregated lane on New St.
• lack of before/after accident data in the report
• local residents negative emails
• local residents should have been able to vote on this issue effecting their area
• couldn't the work be done when the roads would be re-surfaced saving $45K
• didn't connect to the Centennial pathway, why do it etc. etc.

Vito Tolone, Bruce Zavinga & Scott Stewart answered council's questions with well spirited explanations supporting the report.  Councillor Dennison dismantled all of the negative concerns from council citing well reasoned explanations.  One of the more revealing comments was that existing home owners on Guelph Line that Jack canvassed during the past election were pleasantly surprised and very pleased with the more peaceful, residential  current configuration of Guelph Line.  Changed does have it's benefits.

Where do cyclists go as they approach the intersection????

It's not perfect!!  Sadly, despite all the rhetoric, posturing and debate, the project has deficiencies.  Like other bike lanes in Burlington as they approach major intersections, they disappear.  The bike lanes end just before they reach New St.  Motorists and cyclists will be wondering where they should go.  This uncertainty is risky for both.  To be effective all future bike lane projects should go to and even through the intersection.  We've got to put the bike lanes where they are needed, not just where it's easy to do!!!
 
An incredulous one hour and 15 minutes later the $45,000 motion promoting traffic calming, fewer accidents, safer streets for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists was passed as a pilot to be re-examined in 2 years.