Comment 96147

By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted December 19, 2013 at 04:53:57 in reply to Comment 96105

Sure it takes time. I think everyone understands that snowstorms are messy, snow piles up, and it takes time to plow routes which are prioritized according to how major the road is. It takes a few days for crews to dig out sidewalk curbs, bus stops, and so on. No worries, patience is key after a large storm.

However there seems to be no system in place for bike lanes, neither asap nor at all. It's totally random, just whatever the plow happened to scrape away.

It's important that expectations be realistic; mounds of snow along the edge of the road are unavoidable while we're digging out. This is neither new nor preventable. Cars will park farther out. Heck, people walk along the edge of arterial roads during a heavy winter storm while sidewalks are buried over a foot deep. However a week later, it is obvious that bike lanes are not maintained in winter.

As a beginning, and absolutely at the very minimum - dedicated bike routes, that were narrowed for that purpose, and/or are dangerous as sharrows when blocked, should have snow removal done. Dundurn being such an example - already witnessed one collision between a bike and a vehicle squeezing on Dundurn. Fortunately no damages, just apologies and a handshake.

So, my impression of this posting is that it is not intended to show impatience, just point out a gap in snow removal best practices in our area. I have no idea whether bike lanes are explicitly not maintained, or whether there is simply no procedure in place yet. Does anyone know if any other Canadian cities do a better job of clearing their bike lanes? What were their solutions?

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