Sudbury Cycling Grannies, a group of local ladies who live in the Kelly Lake area, are organizing a ride on Saturday, September 7th at 10:00 -11:30 am. at Robinson Lake Playground.
They are riding to “give input to the Transportation Study and to raise awareness about the lack of proposed sidewalks and bike lanes on Kelly Lake Road.”
The Active Transportation Network being proposed by the City of Greater Sudbury includes a type of bicycle facility they call “edgelines”, which are painted lines on the side of a wide road. The City seems to think that this will provide a safe place for cyclists to ride. Except these are NOT bike lanes – cars, trucks, and buses will be able to park and travel there, and there will be no bike lane markings. In essence, they are “paved shoulders” on urban streets - and they are not reserved for cyclists. So on busy roads like Kelly Lake Rd., cyclists will be required to swerve into traffic in order to avoid parked cars.
Edgelines are not promoted as valid, safe cycling infrastructure options by any organization or cycling documentation that we’ve reviewed.
Our Manager of Roads, David Shelsted, and the consultants who drafted the Transportation Study (the MMM Group), participated in compiling the most recent Ontario Traffic Council’s draft of the Ontario Traffic Manual Book 18: Bicycle Facilities – and it does not list edgelines as bicycle facilities options. We’d like to ask the City where they got the idea that edgelines provide safe cycling routes on crowded, busy streets, where parking is allowed.
The Ontario Traffic Council is “An association of municipal officials developing and promoting expertise regarding trafficmatters affecting Ontario.” (http://www.otc.org/index.cfm). It lists the following accepted bicycle facilities in their draft Book 18 (http://www.otc.org/Book18FinalDraft.pdf):
On-Road Facilities
- Shared Roadway and Signed Bicycle Route
- Signed Bicycle Route with Paved Shoulder
- Conventional Bicycle Lane
- Separated Bicycle Lane
- Cycle Track (raised)
- Contraflow Bicycle Lane
- Bicycle Priority Street
In-Boulevard Bicycle Facilities
- Active Transportation Path
The argument might be made that the proposed edgelines fall under the category Signed Bicycle Route with Paved Shoulder, but that option is recommended for “rural secondary highways, arterials or collectors” (p. 14), where there is very little parking and where cars only travel on the paved shoulders in emergency situations. It could also fall under Shared Roadway and Signed Bicycle Route, but these are “only considered for local urban and suburban roads where traffic volumes and vehicle operating speeds are low.” (p. 14)
The City is recommending edgelines on the following City streets:
- Barrydowne Ave (from the Kingway to Marcus Ave.)
- Marcus Dr. (from Barrydowne Rd. to Donna Ave.)
- Donna Ave. (from Marcus Dr. to 2nd Ave.)
- Kelly Lake Rd. (all of Kelly Lake Rd. from Lorne St. to Southview Dr.)
- Bouchard St. (from Southview Dr. to Paris St.)
- Southview Dr. (from Kelly Lake Rd. to Bouchard St.)
- Lansing Ave. (all of Lansing Ave. from Lasalle Blvd. to Maley Dr.)
- Westmount Ave. (from Barrydowne Rd. to Attlee Ave.)
- Attlee Ave. (from Westmound Ave. to Lasalle Blvd.)
- Roy Ave. (from Lasalle Blvd. to Woodbine Ave.)
- Woodbine Ave. (from Roy Ave. to Lasalle Blvd.)
If you are interested in making your voice heard by the City that edgelines are not an acceptable option for our bicycle facilities, come out to show your support of this ride.
Additional details can be found here: Awareness Ride Detail
