Special Report: Cycling

Cannon Street Cycle Track Official Opening Today

Today, Friday, September 12, at noon, the Cannon Street Protected Bike Lanes will be officially opened, just in time for Supercrawl.

By Justin Jones
Published September 12, 2014

It's hard to believe that just under a year ago, we stood in Council chambers and watched each and every City Councillor stand in unison to support a project to transform our community. Now we've moved from a dream to reality.

Cannon Street Cycle Track (RTH file photo)
Cannon Street Cycle Track (RTH file photo)

Today, Friday, September 12, at noon, the Cannon Street Protected Bike Lanes will be officially opened, just in time for Supercrawl. The event will be at the corner of James Street North and Cannon Street.

We would like to invite you to join us at James and Cannon for the official ribbon-cutting on this monumental project.

If you can't join us, please send your support our way via Twitter @BikeCannon2015, and be sure to tag the City of Hamilton @cityofhamilton when you tweet all the lovely words about this project.

There were so many people involved in making this project happen, it's impossible to thank them all. From Community organizers to neighbourhood associations to our amazing graphic designer Julie Van Huizen and the amazing folks at factor[e] for all their technical wizardry who helped us bring this project forward, to city councillors, staff and some amazing consultants who worked so hard to make this dream a reality.

This was all such an amazing journey, and we know that Cannon will be the first of many incredible transformative projects that will help to make our city more prosperous, more attractive, healthier and safer.

We couldn't have done all of this without your incredible support, and we sincerely hope that you're able to join us at lunch today. We're sorry for the short notice, but we just received word that this was being finalized, and we wanted so much to share it with all of you.

Community support for Yes We Cannon (Image Credit: Beasley Neighbourhood Association)
Community support for Yes We Cannon (Image Credit: Beasley Neighbourhood Association)

Look for people sporting Yes We Cannon T-Shirts at Supercrawl this weekend. Give them high fives and celebrate together - this is the kind of win that comes about when people truly care about their city, and when they're willing to work together to affect positive change.

Experience all that this amazing City has to offer you this weekend, celebrate our successes, and let's look forward to building upon them as we move forward together.

Thank you on behalf of the (eternally grateful) Yes We Cannon Organizing Committee.

See also:

Justin Jones is the Manager, Bicycle Friendly Ontario at the Share the Road Cycling Coalition. Justin is a project manager, sustainability professional and rabble rouser with nearly a decade of experience in the sustainability field. His work with student groups, municipal governments and NGOs has taken him all over the country. He is passionate about civic engagement, with a special focus on active transportation issues and the creation of liveable cities through better infrastructure and education.

13 Comments

View Comments: Nested | Flat

Read Comments

[ - ]

By stiefhaus (anonymous) | Posted September 12, 2014 at 07:33:30

AMAZING! Super stoked for these bikelanes!

Permalink | Context

[ - ]

By MattM (registered) | Posted September 12, 2014 at 07:43:03

whooo :)

Permalink | Context

[ - ]

By Ms Me (anonymous) | Posted September 12, 2014 at 08:24:58

Fantastic, and safe looking bike lanes. Keeping cyclist safe seems to be rare in our City, stay east and ride. The bike lanes in West Hamilton Hunter, King and especially Dundurn St. are a false sense of security and extremely dangerous. Good for Cannon Street!

Permalink | Context

[ - ]

By JWilbur (registered) | Posted September 12, 2014 at 09:45:29

Finally a safe bike lane in Hamilton! Amazing.

Permalink | Context

[ - ]

By Vroooom (anonymous) | Posted September 12, 2014 at 10:05:05

Comments with a score below -5 are hidden by default.

You can change or disable this comment score threshold by registering an RTH user account.

Permalink | Context

[ - ]

By jeffzuk (registered) | Posted September 12, 2014 at 10:42:12

Congratulations! And a good news story to boot. Impressive work Yes We Cannon organizers

Permalink | Context

[ - ]

By Yay! (anonymous) | Posted September 12, 2014 at 10:42:44

This is super exciting!

Permalink | Context

[ - ]

By jason (registered) | Posted September 12, 2014 at 11:12:49

Great work Justin and everyone involved. You truly have succeeded in turning Cannon into a complete street. Have been sure to time my car trips from Sherman to Queen the past couple weeks to see how much 'slower' it is. It takes 5-6 minutes on average during rush hour to make the trip in a car. No slowdown at all. Just no more highway danger nonsense.

Also, I suspect we will be in good position to widen the bike lane buffer in short order by adding 24-7 curb parking west of Victoria. The current parking restrictions are from 4-6pm. Morning rush hour is completely fine with only 2 car lanes the entire way. Not sure why the city made this an issue. Is there really a huge crush of people heading west on Cannon in the eve rush hour compared with morning??

Permalink | Context

[ - ]

By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted September 12, 2014 at 12:02:32

I'm planning to use this for my commute home today, super excited.

So did City Staff ever come up with a way to head south from the west end of this thing?

Permalink | Context

[ - ]

By kevinlove (registered) | Posted September 12, 2014 at 12:43:36

Great news!

This is a big step forward for Hamilton.

There are still a few issues, including several storm sewer grates that have subsided and form a hazard. Also, I have received some 8-80 fail feedback due to concerns about enormous trucks blasting by at high speeds very close to the cycle track with no protection other than paint and a knock-down stick. Unfortunately, the CROW bicycle traffic design engineering standard was not used, or these issues would have been addressed.

It will be interesting to see a future survey showing the breakdown by sex and age of Cannon cycletrack users.

Also, as of 8:30 this morning, not all the planters are in place. Perhaps this morning was planned as “planter installation day”?

On the whole, this is a city-transforming initiative! A first step in creating a fine-grained cycle network.

Now all we have to do is roll out protected cycletracks on all major streets and end cut-through car traffic through residential neighbourhoods, school and hospital zones. Then we will be ready to create and steadily expand car-free zones.

A big step into a better future starts today!

Permalink | Context

By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted September 12, 2014 at 12:56:22 in reply to Comment 104490

Even the rubber bumpers seem sparingly placed in spaces - frustrating how some parking lots seem to somehow have sidewalks cut into ramps for the entire frontage of the lot and storefront, leaving entire blocks with only the occasional knockdown sticks for separation instead of rubber bumpers.

Permalink | Context

By jason (registered) | Posted September 12, 2014 at 13:10:32 in reply to Comment 104492

yea, that one parking lot running (I think) east from Ferguson is horrendous. Its ramp is the entire block long. But this is a huge improvement on any other bike lane in Hamilton and it's success will make it easier moving forward to build better and better infrastructure.

Permalink | Context

[ - ]

By positive1@cogeco.ca (registered) | Posted September 12, 2014 at 21:12:53

I have used it several times - even though it was officially 'closed'. I would rather be alive and get ticketed vs. the alternative. I already feel MUCH safer riding to and from work. I have seen absolutely NO car congestion, even at 8am - the supposed 'peak' of rush hour. Actually, car drivers seem to be very good about obeying the 'yield to cyclist' signs when they make their turns. THis is how it should be. Harmony - not road rage. Sharing vs. hogging. Safety vs. carnage. In fact many people I know really don't cycle BECAUSE they don't feel safe on City streets. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a network of protected cycle tracks that will encourage even the most timid cyclists out of the closet. Thanks to all the Yes We Cannon volunteers!

Comment edited by positive1@cogeco.ca on 2014-09-12 21:15:04

Permalink | Context

View Comments: Nested | Flat

Post a Comment

You must be logged in to comment.

Events Calendar

There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?

Recent Articles

Article Archives

Blog Archives

Site Tools

Feeds