Special Report: Cycling

Snow, Ice Still on Bike Lanes Two Days After Snowfall - Updated

Two days after this week's light snowfall, the city's bike lanes are still covered in ice.

By Ryan McGreal
Published November 19, 2014

this article has been updated

The snow that fell on Hamilton from Sunday, November 16 through Monday, November 17 didn't stick around on city streets. Between getting squashed by tires and melting from road salt, the driving lanes were already clear by Monday in late afternoon. The city's bike lanes were another story.

Snow and tire tracks on the Hunter Street bike lanes, November 17, 2014
Snow and tire tracks on the Hunter Street bike lanes, November 17, 2014

Note the tire tracks: it turns out that people do ride bikes in winter - even in snow. On Monday, I snapped this shot of several bikes parked on James Street South at Jackson Street, in front of the YMCA.

Bikes parked on James Street South and Jackson, November 17, 2014
Bikes parked on James Street South and Jackson, November 17, 2014

On Tuesday morning, the driving lanes were still clear - and the bike lanes were still covered. However, by this time the snow had frozen into treacherous ice, the tire tracks frozen in place.

Cyclist Ryan Janssen sent this photo to RTH after falling off his bike into oncoming traffic. Fortunately, he was not seriously hurt.

Hunter Street bike lanes covered in ice, November 18, 2014 (Image Credit: Ryan Janssen)
Hunter Street bike lanes covered in ice, November 18, 2014 (Image Credit: Ryan Janssen)

By late afternoon on Tuesday, the eastbound bike lane on Hunter between Park and MacNab was still covered in ice, rendering Hunter impassable for eastbound bike traffic.

Hunter bike lanes looking west from MacNab, November 18, 2014
Hunter bike lanes looking west from MacNab, November 18, 2014

Hunter was already less-than-useful for eastbound cyclists, given that the bike lane ends abruptly at MacNab, but at least cyclists could turn left onto MacNab and continue east on Jackson. Good luck with the bike lane ending at Park.

Of course, the situation was no better for westbound cyclists. Past Park, both bike lanes on Hunter were still covered in ice.

Hunter bike lanes looking west from Park, November 18, 2014
Hunter bike lanes looking west from Park, November 18, 2014

On Wednesday, with fresh flurries falling, there is less ice on Hunter but it still isn't clear.

King Street Multi-Use Track

Other cycling infrastructure isn't doing much better. On Tuesday, November 18, cyclist Dave Kuruc took this photo of the protected multi-purpose track on King Street West crossing Highway 403:

Ice-covered protected multi-purpose track on King Street West, November 18, 2014 (Image Credit: Dave Kuruc)
Ice-covered protected multi-purpose track on King Street West, November 18, 2014 (Image Credit: Dave Kuruc)

As of Wednesday morning, according to this photo by cyclist Martin Zarate, the track was still covered in ice.

Ice-covered protected multi-purpose track on King Street West, November 19, 2014 (Image Credit: Martin Zarate)
Ice-covered protected multi-purpose track on King Street West, November 19, 2014 (Image Credit: Martin Zarate)

By Wednesday afternoon, according to Abram Bergen of The Hammer Active Alternative Transportation Co-Op, a city crew was on hand to salt the multi-purpose track across Highway 403.

This seems to be related to the fact that it is used by both pedestrians and cyclists. So far, we're not aware of any other bike lanes that have been cleared.

Of course, last winter the City did not maintain its cycling network. From the first heavy snowfall to the spring melt, the city's bike lanes served as a dumping ground for snow removed from the driving lanes.

Dundurn Street South bike lanes covered in snow windrows, December 2013 (RTH file photo)
Dundurn Street South bike lanes covered in snow windrows, December 2013 (RTH file photo)

This is despite the fact that there was apparently a bike lane winter maintenance pilot project underway.

RTH was never able to get a response from the City on what streets were included in the pilot project and what, if anything, was done.

City Response

According to Kelly Anderson, communications manager for the Public Works Department, the City does not deploy snow plows for light snowfalls like this week's. Instead, they apply de-icing material - salt and/or sand.

In the case of bike lanes, sand is not practical to use since it creates a mess for cyclists.

Anderson advised that City workers did apply salt to the Hunter street bike lanes. However, "due to the extreme cold temperatures and the limited activity in that lane, the salt didn't activate very well."

Staff have since been re-deployed to Hunter Street and other areas to "provide additional service ... as part of their usual winter maintenance re-inspection protocols".

In addition, the City is "currently reviewing other ways to maintain bike lanes during the winter season when plows are not deployed and salt may not work effectively due to the conditions."

Update, November 20

Yesterday late afternoon, the Hunter Street bike lanes showed clear evidence of having been salted again. The hill between MacNab and Park was finally more or less clear and ice-free.

Hunter Street bike lanes, looking west from MacNab
Hunter Street bike lanes, looking west from MacNab

Alas, this was done just in time for a fresh coating of snow to cover the lanes again.

Hunter Street bike lanes, looking west from Park
Hunter Street bike lanes, looking west from Park

After yesterday's respectable snowfall, most arterial roads were already clear early this morning. Hunter Street was freshly plowed, including some coverage of the bike lanes.

Hunter Street bike lanes, looking east from Bay
Hunter Street bike lanes, looking east from Bay

The westbound lane is reasonably clear, while the eastbound lane is partially covered. The lanes were still a bit icy, though, so an application of salt would also help.

East of Park Street, the bike lanes were cleared around the knockdown bollards for a fairly smooth ride down the hill to MacNab.

Hunter Street bike lanes, looking east from Park
Hunter Street bike lanes, looking east from Park

According to John Popham, the multi-purpose track on King Street West across Highway 403 was also plowed this morning.

King Street multi-use track plowed, November 20,2014 (Image Credit: John Popham)
King Street multi-use track plowed, November 20,2014 (Image Credit: John Popham)

This was nice to see: I was afraid the City would not be able/willing to clear the snow inside the bollards. Kudos to the City for clearing the bike lanes at the same time as the automobile lanes.

Ryan McGreal, the editor of Raise the Hammer, lives in Hamilton with his family and works as a programmer, writer and consultant. Ryan volunteers with Hamilton Light Rail, a citizen group dedicated to bringing light rail transit to Hamilton. Ryan wrote a city affairs column in Hamilton Magazine, and several of his articles have been published in the Hamilton Spectator. His articles have also been published in The Walrus, HuffPost and Behind the Numbers. He maintains a personal website, has been known to share passing thoughts on Twitter and Facebook, and posts the occasional cat photo on Instagram.

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By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted November 19, 2014 at 18:09:49

Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Good luck to snow removal crews this year! It's snowing now and during the time it took to read this article, at least three bikes rode past. They are efficient tools, those bikes, to be sure.

That buildup of irregular flash frozen ice is so unbelievably dangerous. A bobcat should be zipping through whenever needed imo. But I'm not sure what else to advocate for ... salt and salt spray is awful, sand doesn't help much, beet sugar de-icer is expensive. Will brush up later on current Scandinavia/Northern Europe methods, and what the "other ways" are the city is exploring.

Fellow winter cyclists, get a pair of winter tires, especially if you ride regularly during a harsh winter.

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 19, 2014 at 18:11:07

Dundurn is un-rideable Cannon is filled with small snowbanks (now ice) from the sidewalks around Sir John A. Both bike lanes are sheets of mounded ice from Bay to Hess.

Saw the salters clearing the car lanes on York, but leaving the bike lanes, EVEN though every prior year, those were active car lanes.
So no 'extra' cost to keep these bike lanes clear. No cars = no bother from the city.

Victoria Park sidewalks were completely unwalkable the past 2 days. Parents walking little kids to school were falling and risking injury.

Like we saw all last winter, I've encountered many people walking on the roads this week. In Hamilton, that's the only option.

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2014 at 21:23:44 in reply to Comment 106323

Really? I found that Cannon was great - it was 2 inches of snow, but soft powder and barely slowed me at all. But yeah, York and Dundurn were unusable. Too many balls of ice hidden in the powder, especially dundurn - I gave up and walked the bike there. York was almost okay but there were some patches that caught me by surprise - I don't want to wipe out next to that kind of traffic.

And yeah, even after its supposed mid-day clearing, the King/403 bridge was nasty. There was a six-inch-wide groove in the ice cut by bikes. That's a tense ride.

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By moylek (registered) - website | Posted November 19, 2014 at 21:13:23

Biking home from East-bound from McMaster this evening, I stayed out of the bike lanes as they were full of snow, and one just doesn't know what's under there. And while it might have been a little bit annoying for the motorists who had to move around me to pass, that was nothing like the annoyance that they would have felt if I'd wiped out in the bike lane and fallen in front of them.

I must note that the drivers moving through Westdale were perfectly decent, as they usually are. And my biggest annoyance was waiting for drivers to take their turn at four ways while they in turn waited for me to blow jump the queue. :)

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By KevinLove (registered) | Posted November 19, 2014 at 22:28:54

Yes, there was light snow all day here in Hamilton. Sort of like on this day in Utrecht. Take a look at the video and see the difference between Utrecht and Hamilton.

https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2010/...

Comment edited by KevinLove on 2014-11-19 22:29:23

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 09:42:55 in reply to Comment 106329

the separation from traffic is so nice. No reason we can't start building new streets or re-built streets like this ASAP.

Also, no reason we can't do this with a new treed-boulevard between the bikes and traffic on streets like Wellington, Victoria, Main, Bay, Birch, Stonechurch, Limeridge, West 5th, Centennial etc......

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By DowntownInHamilton (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 22:16:35 in reply to Comment 106333

No reason we can't start building new streets or re-built streets like this ASAP.

Sure there is. A huge budget deficit where we can't afford what we have, let alone your pipe dream of rebuilding all our streets or building new streets (which you seem to be so vehemently against outside of the lower city!)

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By DowntownInHamilton (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 07:01:45

In related news, most city streets on the mountain have not been plowed or sanded, and the snow has stuck around.

Maybe it's an above the mountain/below the mountain thing. Last night, the 403 westbound was clear and moving freely from about highway 6/york road to aberdeen. Heading up the escarpment, it turned into very dangerous road conditions - lots of snow, low visibility and unplowed streets. All in the span of about 10 minutes.

Comment edited by DowntownInHamilton on 2014-11-20 07:04:57

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By DowntownInHamilton (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 22:17:18 in reply to Comment 106330

Update: Our arterials are still waiting for plowing and sanding. Good thing we have so many cars and buses in our area to pack the snow down!

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 23:59:10 in reply to Comment 106387

if you live in Hamilton, no they aren't. I was on the Mountain late last night and first thing this morning and every single arterial was plowed, salted and completely snow-free. Just wet.

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By DowntownInHamilton (registered) | Posted November 21, 2014 at 20:23:01 in reply to Comment 106388

Come over to off of Garth and Mohawk. Streets are still unplowed. Most of it's gone due to traffic, but it has yet to be plowed. It also has certainly not been salted, it's a sheet of ice with no sign of rock salt anywhere. Don't be cute. You hate the mountain, we know, get over it.

Comment edited by DowntownInHamilton on 2014-11-21 20:30:31

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 21, 2014 at 23:55:17 in reply to Comment 106403

you said 'arterials are still waiting to be plowed'. Not side streets. The small amount of snow we got was enough to let melt away on side streets IMO.

My downtown street saw a plow 3 times last winter. Yes, last winter. Worst in 20 years. No complaints here.

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By DowntownInHamilton (registered) | Posted November 22, 2014 at 15:34:31 in reply to Comment 106409

Arterials _are_ side streets. Didn't realize we had to nitpick like that.

If I were you, I'd be calling up my councillor asking why the streets aren't plowed with any regularity. My parents have been screaming about that in Dundas since amalgamation, since all the plows (which were brand new) were taken and redistributed throughout the new supercity. They are lucky if they get a plow 3-5 days after a snowfall. They've called to complain but have been told both by their councillor's office and by a former town of Dundas plow driver that the area Dundas is in now has more arterials as their plows are now responsible for an area from the Ancaster/Dundas border to Dundurn. That's insanity.

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By ItJustIs (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 08:38:47

I fear this is going to be a long, frustrating winter for cyclists. Tempers will flare, resentment will rise, curses uttered...and then the 'dialogue' will begin. Cyclists demanding their due, motorists dismissing them, pedestrians complaining about sidewalk-clearing, Councillors attempting to placate all, rationalizing at every turn, publications using all this as grist for the mill...

Yeah. A bad winter ahead. But I suspect the spring will prove even more volatile.

Comment edited by ItJustIs on 2014-11-20 08:39:37

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By rednic (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 09:28:26

Well i just got back in from walking the dog, this morning, didn't take my camera BUT the cannon st bike lane seems to have been cleared. Certainly cleared between Wentworth and Victoria...

Comment edited by rednic on 2014-11-20 09:29:09

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By Steve (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 19:02:04 in reply to Comment 106332

Yes, cleared nicely this morning, though there was a property owner, or two, who cleared their sidewalks into the bike lanes on the eastern end. Not a big deal with the little amount of snow this time, but I can see it''s going to be a problem this winter.

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By StephenBarath (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 09:56:41

The Dundurn bike lanes still looked pretty treacherous this morning, but there were cyclists in them. Many sidewalks abutting city-owned property were not cleared earlier this week, along with those in front of a lot of private property.

It can’t be overstated how important it is for sidewalks to be kept clear, and it’s a shared responsibility in Hamilton. Even “just” a few properties not keeping their sidewalks clear can be the difference between some people (particularly older and younger ones) being able to go out and be part of their communities, and feeling unsafe leaving their homes because of the sidewalk conditions.

The municipality’s bylaw complaint form (http://www.hamilton.ca/CityDepartments/CorporateServices/ITS/Forms+in+Development/Municipal+Law+Enforcement+Online+Complaint+Form.htm) is an easy way to communicate to the City when snow isn’t being cleared fast or well enough. My understanding is that this is more about education than enforcement as such, allowing City staff to target certain property owners who might not be aware of their responsibilities and the importance of fulfilling them. If property owners can be made aware of this early in the season, it will be make for much better conditions for people trying to get around on the sidewalks.

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By Fake Name (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 10:38:26

The Cannon Cycle Track really demonstrated how critical those little rubber barriers are. Every other lane was full of treacherous balls of ice making them unusable and dangerous. The Cannon track had nothing but snow, thanks to the barriers keeping the errant ice-balls safely away.

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By Fred Street (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 11:01:14

Annual maintenance of 3.3km Cannon Street Cycle Track was estimated at $240K, or about $73/m. Isn’t this kind of line item budgeted for maintenance of all on-road bike lanes?

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By The 99% (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 11:01:22

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By LOL_all_over_again (registered) | Posted November 27, 2014 at 23:55:00 in reply to Comment 106341

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By common sense indeed (anonymous) | Posted November 28, 2014 at 12:51:49 in reply to Comment 106469

"It would be cheaper to just give them bus passes then [sic] to try and plow the bike lanes.

Why oh why is common sense so rare?"

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By LOL_all_over_again (registered) | Posted November 29, 2014 at 23:20:44 in reply to Comment 106473

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By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted November 30, 2014 at 11:29:56 in reply to Comment 106480

Am absolutely certain what was being mocked was the suggestion that giving bus passes to everyone to not cycle, is somehow easier or more practical than running a plow an extra foot of width. The spelling correction seemed incidental.

But you didn't catch on, and there is a perfectly normal reason. Here's why:

Unfortunately, there simply isn't a common-sense answer for many questions. In politics, for example, there are a lot of issues where people disagree. Each side thinks that their answer is common sense. Clearly, some of these people are wrong. The reason they are wrong is because common sense depends on the context, knowledge and experience of the observer.

From your point of view, it actually is more sensible to bribe people with a bus pass to please not cycle in the snow. From someone else's point of view that's crazy.

Comment edited by mikeonthemountain on 2014-11-30 11:30:32

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By LOL_all_over_again (registered) | Posted December 01, 2014 at 00:18:26 in reply to Comment 106482

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By Fake Name (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 11:50:10 in reply to Comment 106341

In the case of the King Street bridge, it's also the only pedestrian access. If I let my sidewalk become a sheet of ice, I'd get fined or sued.

Now, I'm going to go ahead and assume you oppose the LRT as well, with similar justification.

So what, exactly, is your plan to cut air pollution from cars, besides providing green alternatives to driving?

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By The99Percent (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 12:50:37 in reply to Comment 106345

The LTR won't be a substantial greenhouse reducer - here's why:

The LTR patron will be a consumer of that service when it is more convenient for them to take the light rail than their own personal vehicle. The primary goal for riders will be convenience, not pollution reduction. If this is difficult to understand, consider it akin to the HOV/Car pool lanes.

No one (almost no one, to be safe) car pools because they want to take the car pool lane or reduce emissions - they car pool first and foremost out of convenience, while other consequences are secondary and often unintended. I suspect the LRT will operate and cater to customers in much the same fashion.

Overall, the reduction will be a drop in the bucket.

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By Fake Name (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 13:26:44 in reply to Comment 106351

You're seriously arguing that a massive electric public transit system will have no substantial impact on greenhouse gases.

Seriously.

I think I'm done with this conversation.

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By The99Percent (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 12:47:32 in reply to Comment 106345

There must be a character limit on posts, my apology for the delayed response.

The reduction in emissions (this is the Spark Notes version obviously) is going to come in the next decade from KMPL/MPG legislation on new vehicles, a reduction in weight stemming from new mag and aluminum alloy mixes, and finally a production efficiency that makes it cost effective to produce these materials when compared to their steel counterparts. I can expand in another post if you like.

LTR up next.

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By CharlesBall (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 11:55:09 in reply to Comment 106345

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/en...

The City is largely immune from lawsuits so long as they comply with minimum maintenance standards. IOW they can largely ignore ice and snow issues without fear of lawsuits.

Comment edited by CharlesBall on 2014-11-20 11:56:24

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By voiceofreason (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 11:21:20 in reply to Comment 106341

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By F il tered (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 11:11:00

Sn ow D ay A ctiv ity: Create #Ha mOn t by l aw a pp, au tomating th e City 's on line fo rm.

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By The99Percent (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 11:46:18

It's honestly not difficult to see how this "we need plowed bike lanes" thing borders on insanity.

Think of these points as well:

  1. The bike lanes in a large majority of the city are adjacent to pedestrian walk ways - a plow would push that snow from the BL to the sidewalk. It's not a feasible plan.

  2. If it is at all up for debate which is more cost effective: purchasing winter bike tires for every cyclist who uses the bike lanes in all weather/seasons, or running the city's plow and snow removal equipment/peripherals through the bike lanes after each snow fall, then the idea is probably bonkers.

  3. Do we not generally follow the "share the road" sentiment in this city, for better or worse? I wouldn't trample a cyclist in my car on Main, or King, or the like, why would I trample them on a street where bike lanes weren't accessible? Use the road when it's the only option, as you normally would.

  4. Consider what other <1% causes the city might have to dedicate resources to if they continue to pander to cyclists. It's a very dangerous precedent to set, and the next initiative may not be as convenient for you as a plow in the bike lane.

  5. The city has dedicated a great deal of resources to bus and bike lanes on some of it's busiest arteries. These arteries are more congested, more dangerous and more time consuming to navigate in the winter. The bike lanes being "restricted", even if unofficially by weather, is a measure to reduce issues for motorists that the cold season brings.

This blog, from the looks of this post as well as some of the others, is an echo-chamber for different niche groups. It's fine, and every group needs a space like this to connect and share ideas, but suggesting that the city should cater to your needs is very, very close to padded-room mental instability.

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By thtutter (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 14:46:52 in reply to Comment 106344

Your obsession with this rounding error in the city's budget is cute. You don't like cyclists, we get it. Stop pretending this is about saving money.

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By Fake Name (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 12:45:17 in reply to Comment 106344

> If it is at all up for debate which is more cost effective: purchasing winter bike tires for every cyclist who uses the bike lanes in all weather/seasons, or running the city's plow and snow removal equipment/peripherals through the bike lanes after each snow fall, then the idea is probably bonkers.

You have never ridden a bike in winter, otherwise you'd know how silly the "use winter tires" comment is.

Winter tires will help with snow and slush, but they will do nothing for the bumpy blocks of ice that effectively turn the bike lane into patches of disastrously unsafe *rocks*.

And either way, *today* there are no snow-banks. No massive piles of snow that have to live either on the bike lane or the sidewalk. There are tiny ridges of snow, in the *middle* of the bike lanes (if not the left side) and not the right-hand side of the bike lane where you would probably argue they belong.

Seriously, look at York Boulevard. They ploughed and salted the car lanes, they didnt' plough and salt the bike lanes *right next to the car traffic lanes*. The ploughs are already driving up and down york boulevard, but one extra pass along the edge (which is also the car turning lane) was not done. Because of that the bike lanes are full of giant rocks of ice under a thin layer of snow that makes them impossible for a cyclist to see or avoid.... and how did those rocks of ice get there? The bikes didn't put them there, I can assure you.

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By The99Percent (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 12:59:17 in reply to Comment 106348

I think you're writing to my points here, not opposing them.

The winter tires bit is intended to draw a laugh, but if we were going to seriously consider it, I'm sure there are winter riding peripherals intended to make snow travel easier. We can substitute something of that nature for the purposes here, if you like.

As far as "one extra pass", the costs of taking that extra pass need to be accounted for, you know? It's not just some kind of abstract event that takes place without consequences, there are dollars and cents in equipment maintenance costs, man hours, additional street repairs, etc that all total some tangible figure as time passes - it's a number I suspect is much greater than you think, both in a vacuum and when included in the next tax hike/fee for the average resident.

The "today" paragraph is not really worth disputing, but I'll humor you and the readers. Snow generally accumulates as the season progresses, which I'm sure you know. Not having a giant pile of snow "today" is not a reason to put off a plan to combat the issue until a later day. Simply put, you would not use this logic in any other problems that may arise in your life, why use procrastination here?

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 17:52:36 in reply to Comment 106352

As far as "one extra pass", the costs of taking that extra pass need to be accounted for

This doesn't wash for York Boulevard. It was 6 full car lanes and received full snow removal service since it's construction. Making 'one extra pass' will actually save the city money now that 2 of the 6 lanes aren't in use by cars.

Instead, they do nothing.

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By z jones (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 13:28:30 in reply to Comment 106352

So your argument against plowing bike lanes is to compare it to doing something stupid? Hey, instead of spending $22M to plow our roads, let's give each driver enough money to upgrade to a jeep with snow tires, then they can drive through the snow. Did I just make some kind of point? No, it's just a dumb idea that doesn't prove anything. Go back under the bridge.

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By kevlahan (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 13:23:45 in reply to Comment 106352

Hamilton spends about $22M to clear snow and ice from our streets for motorists each year. Even if we dedicated only 1% to cycle lanes, that would still leave us $220,000 per year.

Hamilton has a total of 6200 lane-km of roads to maintain, so on average each lane km costs about $3500 to clear each year.

Now, a bike lane is about 1/3 the width of a regular lane, so it would cost about $1200 per cycle lane km to keep clear for a winter (probably less as it can be cleaned at the same time as the rest of the street).

So, even spending just 1% of our winter maintenance budget on cycle lanes, we could keep 180km of cycle lanes clear all winter.

This is many times Hamilton's current amount of cycle lanes (even Toronto has only 112km), so there is no excuse not to maintain them in the winter even if "only" 1% of of road users are cyclists. Cyclists pay property tax too!

And, don't forget that if the cycle lanes were properly maintained we would see a lot more winter cyclists. And the coming bike share scheme will be running year round ... further adding to demand.

Comment edited by kevlahan on 2014-11-20 13:30:40

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By Fake Name (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 13:00:40 in reply to Comment 106352

That extra pass was perfectly reasonable and expected last year when it was a car lane.

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By Capitalist (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 13:41:07

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By DissenterOfThings (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 15:12:36 in reply to Comment 106358

...and someone is clearly brain damaged

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By Awesome! (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 14:30:41 in reply to Comment 106358

Yeah, stupid bratty Ryan.

"Whaaaa! Mommy! The city isn't fulfilling its legal responsibility to clear ice and snow from urban transportation infrastructure and its negligence is going to result in serious injury or death!"

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By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 14:07:05 in reply to Comment 106358

I expect you wouldn't understand climate vs weather even if it was explained to you, which it has been.

However the reason I'm replying to your attempt at a schoolyard taunt, is that I did imagine an "adopt a bike lane" program, just never worth mentioning the idea til you brought it up. The downside to it is reliability, but yeah I would put on an orange vest and shovel/snowblow a hundred or two meters of bike lane on the street I live on. I'm guessing that would be considered "guerrilla" and disallowed for safety and union reasons. It's also silly, moving the giant mound by hand is unrealistic. But as a thought experiment, I'd volunteer to adopt a segment of bike lane I use.

Comment edited by mikeonthemountain on 2014-11-20 14:12:19

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By H1 (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 13:44:33

The photos show me that most of the bike lanes have been cleared. The lanes used by cars remain clear due to the overwhelming use by vehicles. The traffic itself keeps it clear and wet. The bike lanes are snow covered due to their lack of use.

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By jonathan dalton (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 19:01:19 in reply to Comment 106359

The photo clearly shows bike tire tracks in the bike lane. Bike tires are quite a bit thinner than car tires so it would take an awful lot of them to compact all the snow.

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By moylek (registered) - website | Posted November 20, 2014 at 17:17:22 in reply to Comment 106359

The photos show me that most of the bike lanes have been cleared. The lanes used by cars remain clear due to the overwhelming use by vehicles. The traffic itself keeps it clear and wet. The bike lanes are snow covered due to their lack of use.

Speaking as a cyclist who rides on streets with bike lanes every day of the week, I can tell you that I do not ride in the bike lanes when there is snow in them. And I see other cyclists who behave the same way.

Which is to say that a lack of tire tracks in the bike lanes only means that bike aren't riding in the bike lanes, not that bikes aren't riding on the road.

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By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted November 21, 2014 at 11:02:31 in reply to Comment 106379

Yes, can confirm, on road bike lanes are covered and not in use over here. I'm riding in-lane this week; others I see riding are on the sidewalks.

In the absence of this, taking the lane is much better; excerpted from a Calgary blog:

Unfortunately the best place to ride in the winter is right on the street. Cars are natural snowplows. The busier the street, the clearer it is. This is a double edged sword in that in order to ride on the clear path, you have to ride amongst the cars. If you are riding on the road do not compromise by trying to ride on the snow covered shoulder. Riding there can be very tricky and it is easy to lose your balance and veer into the lane you have left open for cars (or worse, crash). Instead, it is your right to take the lane, and you should. On heavy snow days you may have no other option but to use the sidewalk in places (legally, you are required to dismount on sidewalks, of course). Citizens are generally better at clearing snow from sidewalks before the city does the street -- side streets and many “designated bike ways” may never get cleared.

The irony that all the waste heat of ICE vehicles is a bug, not a feature, yet acts as a feature in this context, is not lost on me.

Also it should go without saying that just like there are days where it's smart to leave the car at home, there are snow days where it's smart to leave the bike at home too.

Also it should go without saying that the suggestion of winter tires for bikes was not intended as a substitute for snow removal, no more than snow tires on a vehicle substitute for snow removal. You put snow tires on your car, you put boots on your feet; some riders will notice a benefit and risk mitigation, especially given black ice and surprises even on the best plowed roads.

Finally, as long as lane sharing is tolerated while the nice wide bike lanes sit under snow mounds, I am okay. But I'm at the risk accepting end of the riding fear spectrum. To the end of increasing use and ridership, I believe a maintenance program will help to the extent we want and agree on one.

Comment edited by mikeonthemountain on 2014-11-21 11:16:44

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By Capitalist (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 16:46:44 in reply to Comment 106359

Don't tell Ryan and Jason this. They live in a world of unicorns and pigs that fly.

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By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted November 20, 2014 at 14:24:11

Just dusted off my links to what Northern Europe does. Naturally, it's sweet and successful.

We've blown all the money on sprawl, and as a result falsely believe we can't afford high quality over quantity in any ward or locale.

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By rednic (registered) | Posted November 21, 2014 at 01:16:56

sorry but i was a bike courier in Toronto for 10 years.

If you feel unsafe on the amount of snow shown in the latest pictures of hunter. I have a suggestion WALK.

You obviously don't really know how to ride a bike in these conditions.

Im all for cycling infrastructure but it does NOT supersede everything else.

If it's that important to put a freaking plow on your bike.

Im not ready to say what I thinking about you .... but I'm getting close

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By moylek (registered) - website | Posted November 21, 2014 at 10:35:42 in reply to Comment 106389

sorry but i was a bike courier in Toronto for 10 years.

I'm sorry, too, I guess.

If you feel unsafe on the amount of snow shown in the latest pictures of hunter. I have a suggestion WALK.

It's not the snow. It's what's might be under the snow: ice; sloping ruts at bus stops; sloping ruts from lousy patch jobs after gas-line work. You must know what happens when your tire hits a slippery bit of angled road or ice, right?

As for walking ... why? I can share the lane with the snow-slowed traffic.

You obviously don't really know how to ride a bike in these conditions.

What the heck ... I'll bite. How do we bike in these conditions?

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By Ms Me (anonymous) | Posted November 21, 2014 at 07:40:21

To all commuter cyclists...when it snows take transit until it's cleared!

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By moylek (registered) - website | Posted November 21, 2014 at 10:30:58 in reply to Comment 106390

To all commuter cyclists...when it snows take transit until it's cleared!

Why?

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By why not? (anonymous) | Posted November 21, 2014 at 11:43:22 in reply to Comment 106391

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 21, 2014 at 12:29:20 in reply to Comment 106395

So Minneapolis, MN and Copenhagen are living in the fantasy world?? Or perhaps they've just chosen to move on from the hillbilly 1960's

https://twitter.com/jen_keesmaat/status/...

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By Ms Me (anonymous) | Posted November 21, 2014 at 10:46:17 in reply to Comment 106391

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By CharlesBall (registered) | Posted November 21, 2014 at 13:23:40

I was listening to this issue on CFRB who interviewed the City department head on snow clearing. He said that there was not enough snow to warrant plowing and that they could not salt in advance as salt needs fluid to stick.

Based on current snow clearing technology and funding, there is no way to clear bike lanes in a snowfall situation like we had this past week without a significant investment in new technology.

There are minimum maintenance standards that the City has to comply with by law. Apparently, those standards do not require that they plow when the snowfall is below a certain amount. Since they were not required to plow, they do not plow. They were required to salt. However, without significant vehicular traffic the salting will not clear a bike lane.

It would seem to me that the best way to advocate for a change would be to approach the Province asking them to change the legislation and the regulations making the minimum standards that apply to roadways different than those for bike lanes.

Trying to force the City to do it would be useless in my view because they will simply say that they do not have the budget to plow bike lanes when they are not required to do it for roadways.

For years the Municipalities aggressively lobbied the Province to put these minimum standards in place to reduce their liability and to reduce the stress on their budgets. If they cannot be forced to clear snow for pedestrians at major intersections surrounding hospitals, they will never clear bike paths.

Look at the regulations. http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/en...

Comment edited by CharlesBall on 2014-11-21 13:26:32

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 21, 2014 at 16:26:01 in reply to Comment 106400

I'm assuming this interview was TO-based. And that could very well be accurate. We got close to 10cm in Hamilton, where TO got very little.

However, even with dustings in Hamilton we always see these spinning sweeper things doing sidewalks and parks. In fact, one was in Victoria Park today.

http://www.snowsystems.com/wp-content/up...

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By DowntownInHamilton (registered) | Posted November 22, 2014 at 15:44:16 in reply to Comment 106401

That's nonsense. Both areas had snow. Hamilton had 10cm, Toronto had 5cm. That's enough for the first real snowfall of the year, and it blew in quick. Not sure if Hamilton actually had 10cm though. Felt like it but it might not have been that much. Regardless, Charles' point stands.

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By Avid cyclist. (anonymous) | Posted November 24, 2014 at 08:13:27

Honestly... There is not enough cyclists in Hamilton yet to warrant paying so much attention to the bike lanes.

Have any of you actually lived in a bike friendly city?

The bike lanes are not plowed instantly in cycling friendly cities.. College street for example in Toronto, is one of the most used lanes and it always has snow on it after a snowfall.

Also, there is a more pressing issue... Elderly people and side walks. This city is horrible at removing snow from the side walks.... There is deffinitely more people walking than riding a bike.



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By kevlahan (registered) | Posted November 28, 2014 at 12:58:19

It would likely cost about $100k to plow 90km bike lanes http://raisethehammer.org/comment/106355...

That's enough to pay for only 287 bus passes for four months or 230 passes for 3 months ... there are certainly far more than 287 winter bike riders in the City !

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By kevlahan (registered) | Posted November 28, 2014 at 13:25:59 in reply to Comment 106475

I meant 230 passes for 5 months ...

I suppose we could also save money by only plowing the bus routes ... and ask motorists to take the bus. We could buy four months of bus passes for 50,000 motorists for $13M which could save the city a lot of money out of the $22M it currently costs to plow all 6200 lane-kms of road. It would also be pretty effective at moving Hamilton towards its official goal of doubling per capita transit use ;)

Comment edited by kevlahan on 2014-11-28 13:26:05

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By Avid cyclist (anonymous) | Posted November 30, 2014 at 06:54:46

There is deffinitely not that many winter riders.

Even if it was over 200 riders, the money is better spent on plowing side walks and taking care of the majority who walk first.

It is pretty sad to see a person on a mobility scooter or even just walking, have to use the road to get anywhere.

I have been involved in cycling proffessionaly for a long time. One thing I can say about the common cyclist is they have a deffinitely self riteous attitude. If cycling culture was so alive, the bike shops would be much more busy and this is simply not the case.

Good luck fighting a culture of car factories and a steel city. It is going to take some better tactics than complaining about plowing.

The city has bigger issues than a dusting on the bike lane, just put some studded tires on and grow a set.



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By kevlahan (registered) | Posted December 01, 2014 at 12:14:38 in reply to Comment 106481

Well, yes, of course sidewalks should be plowed! And this point has also been brought up here:

http://raisethehammer.org/blog/2645/blog...

And, in some parts of Hamilton (like Ancaster), the city does plow sidewalks. Councillor McHattie actually proposed extending this to the whole city, and the cost was pretty reasonable for the huge gain in mobility and safety for pedestrians (especially the elderly and disabled).

http://www.900chml.com/2014/09/02/shovel...

Other cities (Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Fredericton and the majority of Metro Toronto) do plow the sidewalks; Hamilton could as well:

http://www.macleans.ca/i/?ap=http%3A//ww...

"But sidewalk plowing appears to be one of the great bargains of municipal governance. Winnipeg, for example, manages to keep its sidewalks free from snow and ice for $2 million a year, or less than $7 per household. "

There is no conflict between plowing sidewalks and plowing bike lanes, especially as bike lanes make up such a small part of the transportation network. We should be willing to pay the money to do both, especially as we already pay $22M to plow lanes for motor vehicles.

Comment edited by kevlahan on 2014-12-01 12:17:56

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted November 30, 2014 at 14:20:00 in reply to Comment 106481

In the case of the King Street bridge track, which was the one of those pictures in by far the worst state, the bike track is also the sidewalk. The king multiuse track is both the sidewalk and the bike lane, and so you can't really say "oh, they should prioritize their sidewalks instead of bikes" when the city failed at both.

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By avid cyclist (anonymous) | Posted December 02, 2014 at 07:45:47

we live in Canada

buy some studded tires and grow a set

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By the problem with "avid" cyclists (anonymous) | Posted December 02, 2014 at 09:23:29 in reply to Comment 106500

Typical terrible attitude to be expected from a bike shop employee. You need to grow up.

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