Transportation

King Street Bike Lane Over Hwy 403 Now Complete

By Sean Burak
Published December 21, 2012

A long awaited section of Hamilton's bike network has finally been completed. The gap between Westdale Village and the 403 Bridge along King Street has been filled. The city has done a fantastic job of accommodating all users along this stretch.

Cyclists travelling Westbound from downtown will see some great changes as they approach the end of the 403 bridge.

The bus stop has been moved and the bus will no longer wait in the cyclists lane:

Bus stop moved
Bus stop moved

The two-way bike lane continues to connect to the two-way section of King Street:

Two-way bike lane
Two-way bike lane

Cyclists travelling East toward downtown from Westdale now have a sharrow that leads them onto the pedestrian island:

Bike sharrows on King eastbound onto Paradise
Bike sharrows on King eastbound onto Paradise

And on the island, cyclists have their own lane with a stop sign where they'll cross King to connect to the two way bike lane Eastbound:

Bike path on island
Bike path on island

In the grand scheme this is just one baby step, but it is a very long awaited addition and promises to be well used and greatly appreciated.

First published on the Downtown Bike Hounds blog.

Sean Burak was born in Hamilton but raised elsewhere in Ontario. He returned to his birth town at the turn of the century and has never looked back. Sean is the owner of Downtown Bike Hounds.

21 Comments

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted December 21, 2012 at 09:57:36

Yeah, I'm actually really impressed with this. Combined with the new bike-lane along Victoria and the one on Dundurn shows that somebody at city hall is finally taking this matter seriously.

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By HamiltonBrian (registered) | Posted December 21, 2012 at 11:29:27

I am surprised it took as long as it did; it really seemed to take forever. I can't wait to use it.

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By Conrad66 (registered) | Posted December 21, 2012 at 12:06:35

Verry nice to see this .. now if we can see this going East on Main and also King !

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted December 21, 2012 at 12:35:44 in reply to Comment 84314

There is no reason this lane could not extend all the way to Bay or even James. Imagine how amazing it would be to be able to cycle to any destination on King in either direction. We have the space, we have the capacity - let's do it!

Comment edited by seancb on 2012-12-21 12:35:57

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By PopTheTrunk (anonymous) | Posted December 24, 2012 at 09:17:21 in reply to Comment 84320

I agree. I work downtown, live in Dundas. Damned if I can get from one to the other without a ridiculous route. Why can't that bike lane cross the 403 and head all the way to Jackson square? Why? I am sure any visitor to our city would see that great bike lane over the bridge and wonder, 'how do you get to this bike lane - King St has no bike lane?', 'where do you go after the bridge?'

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted December 24, 2012 at 09:40:18 in reply to Comment 84400

I think the intent is that you go up to Head/Napier.

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted December 26, 2012 at 13:26:12 in reply to Comment 84401

Perhaps. Then at Napier/Queen you see this... and then what? Such a stupid design when we have the space for a straight line on King.

napier+queen

Comment edited by seancb on 2012-12-26 13:26:45

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted December 27, 2012 at 09:12:16 in reply to Comment 84438

I've long since learned to assume those bike-route signs aren't worth the metal they're printed on. Even in bike-friendly areas they make no sense. The ones in Ainsliewood North consistently send you to the worst places to cross Main.

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By DowntownInHamilton (registered) | Posted December 27, 2012 at 08:51:33 in reply to Comment 84438

Maybe it's so that you get a scenic trip through the boroughs of our great city. Just a thought.

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By z jones (registered) | Posted December 27, 2012 at 10:33:05 in reply to Comment 84451

This from the guy who has a bird about the possibility that it might take an extra 2 minutes to drive to the highway.

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By DowntownInHamilton (registered) | Posted December 27, 2012 at 10:34:47 in reply to Comment 84461

?

Thanks for trolling.

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By this just in! (anonymous) | Posted December 27, 2012 at 19:02:41 in reply to Comment 84463

troll calls sarcasm trolling; joke goes over head

details at 11!

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By DowntownInHamilton (registered) | Posted December 28, 2012 at 07:07:08 in reply to Comment 84481

??

Thanks for trolling x2

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By Conrad66 (registered) | Posted December 21, 2012 at 12:56:08 in reply to Comment 84320

I hear you , Main whould also be nice .. don`t forget it has 5 lanes ... a tow way lane for bikes from

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By Conrad66 (registered) | Posted December 21, 2012 at 12:58:01 in reply to Comment 84321

QWE to Gage it whould be a nice strech of no detours

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By banned user (anonymous) | Posted December 21, 2012 at 12:09:44

comment from banned user deleted

Comment edited by administrator Ryan on 2012-12-21 12:25:56

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By SpaceMonkey (registered) | Posted December 21, 2012 at 16:56:51

It looks good. Nice to see more bike lanes. I don't know about the bike lane on the island though. That's a pretty tight turning radius. I like the idea of greenery/garden instead of concrete whenever possible, but in this case, it might be worth the increased usability/safety to sacrifice that small "garden". Even if they removed a roughly 4 square foot triangle out of the garden to make the corner easier to negotiate on a bike, it would help a lot.

I guess one thing the tight turn does is force a cyclist to slow down to the point they are almost forced to stop where they are supposed to, but still, it just looks so tight, cramped, and not user friendly.

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted December 22, 2012 at 14:49:13 in reply to Comment 84328

It is a little bit tight but I think in practise it will work fine because, as you said, you'd have to stop right after that turn anyways.

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By g (anonymous) | Posted December 22, 2012 at 14:58:34

does anyone know who is responsible for this positive step forward? is there a way that we can show them how appreciative we are of this development? it would be nice for them to know that the public is paying attention and does care when the city gets something right.

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By seancb (registered) - website | Posted December 22, 2012 at 17:40:17 in reply to Comment 84357

Email all of council. The only way this stuff will keep happening is if they all hear it.

This stretch was on the cycling master plan, so it was slated to happen "eventually".

Daryl Bender is the staff person who is closest to being "in charge" of the plan.

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By biker (anonymous) | Posted December 22, 2012 at 15:24:28 in reply to Comment 84357

My guess is its Brian McHattie. I can't see staff proactively designing it this way.

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