City staff fail to include bike lanes on Elizabeth street rebuild
At the Arthur-Elizabeth Street rebuild Open House held Thursday July 4th, it was revealed there there are no bike lanes planned for this section of the rebuild. Staff present there cited the lack of space for bike lanes due the adding a left turn lane on Elizabeth Street to serve Metalworks bound traffic. Some parts of the streets will actually be made narrower, so it seems that there should be some room for bike lanes.
Yvette Tendick of the Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation (GCAT) wrote this letter to supporters, encouraging them to advocate for bike lanes on Elizabeth street, and all reconstructed streets in Guelph.
Here is information and a letter you may consider sending about the upcoming reconstruction of Arthur and Elizabeth Streets at the intersection and beyond. If you open the link, you will see a map of the reconstruction area. No bike lanes are included in this reconstructed area.
One bright spot is that there will be a pedestrian/cycling bridge built from Arthur Street to MacDonnell in the next couple of years, but I have no news when the trail that connects to it will be built.
Below is a possible letter for you to send to ike.umar@guelph.ca, Project Manager, and cc to Cam.Guthrie@guelph.ca. It is going to tender soon (I believe it is today!) so if you are considering sending it, today would be good.
Once again, it was great that you came out last evening! Hope to see you at another event in the near future!
CheersYvette Tendick
Dear Mr. Umar,It has come to my attention that a section of road at the intersection of Elizabeth and Arthur Streets will be reconstructed due to the replacement of a sewer.
It has also come to my attention that there will be no bicycle infrastructure on Elizabeth Street at the reconstructed section.
The Guelph bylaw passed in 2009 requires that bicycle infrastructure be built whenever a road is reconstructed.
Elizabeth Street is not a minor road; it leads to a major intersection at MacDonell Street and it is well used by people riding bikes. The current bike lanes end abruptly and should be continued, not partly eliminated.
It is not right that the chosen design does not include space for cyclists to ride safely on the road or on a multi use path.
Please ensure that there is a safe space for people on bikes when this road is reconstructed.Thank you
Other people worthwhile to CC are our ward 1 councillors bob.bell@guelph.ca and dan.gibson@guelph.ca
Here is a complete list of councillors. You can copy and paste to entire list into your “To” or “Cc” field.
Mayor Cam Guthrie <mayor@guelph.ca>, Dan Gibson <dan.gibson@guelph.ca>, Bob Bell <bob.bell@guelph.ca>, James Gordon <james.gordon@guelph.ca>, Rodrigo Goller <rodrigo.goller@guelph.ca>, Phil Allt <phil.allt@guelph.ca>, June Hofland <june.hofland@guelph.ca>, Mike Salisbury <mike.salisbury@guelph.ca>, Cathy Downer <cathy.downer@guelph.ca>, Mark Mackinnon <mark.mackinnon@guelph.ca>, Dominique ORourke <dominique.orourke@guelph.ca>, Christine Billings <christine.billings@guelph.ca>, Leanne Piper <leanne.piper@guelph.ca>
Hello.
It has come to my attention that no bike lanes will be added to the project on Elizabeth Street. My daily bike commute from downtown to the Transit office on Watson Road includes this portion of Elizabeth Street. I know for certain that three other female bike riders commute daily to transit on bikes using the same route.
Bike lanes save lives! If there is any room for second thoughts I and my colleagues at Transit would welcome bike lanes on that portion of the commute.
Thank you for listening
I live on Huron and use Elizabeth everyday and it is dangerous enough at Arthur where bike lane ends. Cars cut the corner too often already.
I am more than willing to stand there with my bike and a sign to protest this if they do not change this plan.