Safe bike infrastructure…

Safe bike infrastructure around schools

Please work with municipalities so that kids can easily and safely bike to school. We must provide safe cycling infrastructure around schools. Our kids need to be more active and this offers them a way to achieve an active lifestyle. My kids (7 and 5) bike to school and love it. We need to achieve a tipping point so that biking and walking to school is the norm again. Safe cycling infrastructure to schools will help get us there. Create safe z

All bridges should have safe cycling infrastructure. I shouldn't have to go on a long detour to access a safe crossing point. While I can often find a nearby safe alternative route while cycling on city streets, the same cannot be said for bridges. Too many do not provide a safe way across without a long detour. This is unacceptable when I'm riding with children and barely acceptable as an adult. Ottawa examples: Billings Bridge, Bank Street Bridge, Innes 417 overpass.

Network

Bike infrastructure is often built piecemeal. We need to look at how to connect the pieces together to make a true network. Invest in those holes in the network. Bike infrastructure often ends in places where people on bikes need it the most such as a busy intersection or a bridge. A bike lane or cycletrack should not end because it was too difficult to design a safe way to cross a busy intersection or a bridge. Provide safe ways to navigate the streets--especially at those trouble spots!

Everyday rides

Prioritize the everyday urban rides over the long distance touring rides in the funding allocation. The urban cycling networks have the most impact and get more use than the long-distance networks. Help citizens bike to school, to the grocery store, to the pool, to the library, to work, etc. Our family has effectively eliminated most car rides that are shorter than 5 km. Help other families achieve this goal by helping cities provide safe biking infrastructure.

While education is a piece of the puzzle, the most important piece is safe, connected cycling infrastructure. With safe biking infrastructure, more people will choose to bike, thereby creating safer conditions for all. Safety in numbers!

Investing in our cycling infrastructure is an investment in our communities' quality of life and in the environment. Citizens who lead active lives have reduced healthcare costs. Let's make it easy for people to be active.

[Original Comment ID: 213307]