City of Calgary wants to put bike lanes on busiest road in Alberta, Macleod Trail

[alandbetty]

The city is looking to make major changes to one of the busiest roads in Calgary.

Plans include adding bike lanes and wider medians to Macleod Trail, but it could also include removing a lane of traffic.



and the comments:


Removing one lane of traffic is the first NO. As busy and congested as it is now that would make it even worse. Widening medians will not help either and who would want to cycle or go for a stroll next to thousands of vehicles passing by, the noise and breathing polluted air? These crazy ideas coming from the city hall never end. I just wonder if it is mainly for keeping the construction companies busy and spend more money..Rating85Agree　with comment (127 thumbs up)Disagree with comment (42 thumbs down)ReplyHide 4 repliesPolicyReport abuse (0).Heiswe2012/08/23
at 9:54 AM ETAgreed ...removing a lane will bring me out to protest...if i ever make it to the place i would like to protest at and am not stuck in traffic. If there are only two lanes each way would make it as small as my neighbourhood road in midnapore. That would be pathetic. How about we time lights better to begin with. and second reduce the number of lights by having people use a side lane to make it to a more major light instead of having lights for access or two sets of lights for anderson..Rating16Agree　with comment (26 thumbs up)Disagree with comment (10 thumbs down)Hide repliesPolicyReport abuse (0)..
Cheesepoof2012/08/23
at 11:29 AM ETCounter-intuitively, quite often adding lanes increases congestion and removing them allieviates it. By increasing modal options, it decreases traffic.

It's called induced demand. Look it up..Rating-7Agree　with comment (24 people agree)Disagree with comment (31 people disagree)Hide repliesPolicyReport abuse (0)..
Dansley_2012/08/23
at 11:41 AM ETThe overall picture needs to be looked at here. Calgary is looking towards a more sustainable transportation plan: more transit, less cars on the road, healthier people who bike/ or walk to work. After looking at the many cities I have lived in Calgary is by far the worst for single occupant vehicles commuting to work. I guess it is also why we have the highest parking rates in the country.

Here's an idea: take the bus and spend the $25 in parking you saved on something useful.Rating-2Agree　with comment (24 people agree)Disagree with comment (26 people disagree)Hide repliesPolicyReport abuse (0)..
ThinkWithReason2012/08/24
at 1:16 PM ETHave you tried biking to/from work in this city? There is an extensive trail system but the speed limit (for cyclists) is enforced to 20 km/h everywhere, and 10 km/h along long, major routes. Better off walking/driving.

Increasing the commute time by removing a lane won't help. If you want to encourage biking you need proper storage space and trails that you can bike at a reasonable speed..Rating2Agree　with comment (3 people agree)Disagree with comment (1 people disagree)Hide repliesPolicyReport abuse (0)..
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altaguy2012/08/23
at 9:59 AM ETI am an avid bicyclist, but have any of you tried to commute in the middle of winter by bike? I have. It's not fun. I think a bike lane is a total waste for 7 months of the year here