Waterfront Rail Trail

 The Riverfront Multi-Use trail is the backbone of Whitehorse's active transportation.  It is highly popular with everyone in Whitehorse for walking, running and biking, year round.  It was originally built as a recreation facility and not intended for people's daily commuting.  But with its success, and the rise of bike commuting, ebikes and cargo bikes, the Riverfront Trail is starting to get crowded at times.  And there are conflicts between people out for a sunny stroll and those who are just trying to get to work or school on time.  

What we need is more capacity on the Riverfront Trail.

The solution lies right next to the Riverfront Trail:  the abandoned White Pass & Yukon Railway line along the riverfront!   

Let's celebrate Whitehorse's railway heritage by converting this abandoned line to a bike path, running from Quartz Road (near the grader station) in the north, extending (one day) 3 km to Robert Service Way in the south. 

This could provide a bike commuter route for people who want to get places, thus avoiding the recreational walkers and rollers on the Riverfront Trail.  And it would create some key missing connections:  connections from the Riverfront/Waterfront trail to the future bike routes on Wood and Black Street (both of which are school streets).

Wood Street Connection at Roundhouse:

Black Street Connection at Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre & Library:

The exciting thing is a couple hundred meters of the rail trail already exists - the paved section in front of KDCC and the Library!

  

Slap a bit of paint on Front Street and that would be a start.  Building this short segment from Keish to Strickland would be great just on its own for a connection to Black Street / Whitehorse Elementary & the KDCC/Library to Riverfront Trail:

 
I know there is some ideas out there of running the trolley.  But that is just from the Roundhouse, south.  North of the roundhouse, the track has been partially removed, paved over and the whole thing north is abandoned.  So we could at least build the 2 km of rail trail north to Chilkoot & Quartz/grader station.  Even this would be a great addition to the active transportation network and create key linkages; a "fast route" to reduce conflicts.

I would be okay if this is not maintained in winter and the City just do a good job on winter maintenance of the Riverfront Trail.  If one day the Riverfront Trail gets too busy in winter too, then that would be a good problem to have.  

Whitehorse's Rail Trails

Many dream of the day when the White Pass & Yukon Route tracks through to Carcross can be converted to a multi-use rail trail.  At least let's get the Riverfront Railtrail through downtown built!  Rail trails are abandoned railways that are converted to recreational and active commuter trails.  They are wonderful.

But I realized there are already a number of "rail trails" in Whitehorse already.  Here is a map of the intermittent pieces and a description of each of them: 

1. White Pass & Yukon Route

Two short sections of abandoned rail grade have had the track removed and can be used for biking and walking (shown in yellow on the map)

1. Utah - this is my favorite piece of rail trail. It is a 1.5 km long piece extending south from Miles Canyon Road with great views of Miles Canyon and a convenient connection south to the American Laundry road at MacRae.  It was abandoned in the 1960's because of a landslide as the land moved down towards the Yukon River just upstream of the canyon.  The track was rerouted further west closer to the highway where it is today.  
2. Marwell Spur - the railway was extended from downtown northward to service the building of the refinery in Marwell during the war.  The old railway grade makes a nice path along the river, extending north from Chikoot Way to behind the grader station, where it dead-ends at a fence.  The tracks used to extend a bit further, but that lies on the North 60 Petro property now.  600 m of it are accessible today.
   

2. Macauley Tramway

This is probably the oldest "rail trail" in Whitehorse and is remnants of the horse drawn log-tramway that portaged boats around Miles Canyon and the White Horse Rapids.  Parallel "humps" where the log rails were can be see today bordering the trail.  It remains in two portions (shown in green on the map), with the middle section submerged under Schwatka Lake when the dam was built:

1. South Portion - extending 2.5 km from Canyon City in the south to where it dives under the lake at the north end near the Sckwatka Lake boat launch.  Today it is used as the Red and portions of the Yellow ski trail as part of the Chadburn Lake ski trail network.
2. North Portion - extending 2.1 km from the dam to almost the Robert Campbell bridge in Riverdale (behind FH Collins).  Much of this section has been paved over for the Millennium Trail, but at the northern end, in the forest behind the school, the straight alignment with twin rail-humps can still be found
   

3. Hepburn Tramway

This is the second gold rush era tramway, but built on the west side of the river.  Not many people know about this trail, although the Yukon River Trail Marathon route follows the north end of it as a "goat trail" cut into the hillside above Miles Canyon and Schwatka Lake.  The route is well documented by Peter Long in his publication  Forgotten Trails, walking the Hepburn Tramway  (and thanks to Peter for providing the mapping data.)

 

About 4.2 km of this tramway can be followed (shown on red on the map), although only the the southern part can be mountain biked, where the rest is mostly a footpath and does require some scrabbling at points.   

4. Copper Mines Branch

This is the longest "rail trail" in Whitehorse, and is an abandoned 18 km long branch line (shown in orange on the map) that was built to service the Whitehorse Copper Belt.  During the 1960's era mining of the copper belt, most of the rail grade was re-built as the Copper Haul Road.  Knowing this was once a rail grade explains its gentle grades and broad curves.  

 

The Copper Mines Branch has been well documented recently in Eric Johnson's 2017 book "Copper Mines Branch:  White Pass Rails to the Whitehorse Copper Belt" and on Tim Green's website: https://then.timmit.ca/projects/cmbranch/index.shtml.

 

1. South portion - 750 m piece of trail in the Whitehorse Copper subdivision.  The start of the branch in occupied by private property, but you can get on the public portion at Esker Dr and follow it till it runs into the fence of an industrial property.  There is some interpretative signage is found here.  
   
2. Middle-south portion - another 500 m segment of the rail grade can be found north of the industrial properties off of Collins Lane.  It is a bit hard to get to, but interesting.  Sadly, it is a dead end to the north where the bridges crossing the lakes and swamps are gone.  But fun to find the old bridge abutments
3. North portion - 12.3 km of "rail trail", now mostly the Copper Haul Road extending from the Whitehorse Copper mine north to reach almost to the former Peublo Mine (now Icy Waters fish farm) on the Fish Lake Road.  Most of this route is a road, but there are two short sections of the old railway grade that can be found along the way. 

 Here are my pictures from running the length of the Copper Branch with by friend Brent a couple of years ago:  

Enjoy!

 

Exploring the Old Alaska Highway - Off-Highway Ride from Whitehorse to Haines Junction

Summary:

• Ride the route of the original Alaska Highway between Whitehorse and Haines Junction
  
• 160km total distance, 90 km are off the modern day highway
• Can be a nice one or two-night trip (Friday evening, Saturday & Sunday)
  
• Mix of highway pavement, backroad pavement, gravel and some interesting abandoned paved sections in the forest.
• Day 2 is particularly nice with last 35 km from Canyon to Haines Junction completely off-road with some really nice gravel riding.    
  

The Idea:

I realized that much of the original route of the Alaska Highway between Whitehorse and Haines Junction still exists.  So we found and followed much of it on our bikes and were able to ride about 60%, or about 90 km of the 160 km between the two towns off of the modern day highway.  We ended up finding some pretty interest and nice gravel riding, a great way to make the trip.  Some of it is well known, such as "Old Alaska Highway" near Whitehorse, or the section through Champaign, but others are either pretty overgrown, or, nice gravel road such as the section of the route that follows the Kluane Wagon Road from Canyon into Haines Junction.

I'm not keen on camping, so I try to find accommodation along the way.  We left town Friday after work and stayed at Muktuk Adventures (lots of great accommodation options here, plus great breakfast!).  I couldn't find accommodation half way, so ended up leaving our trailer at a friend's place at Mendenhall, but post-pandemic it might be possible to camp/stay at Long Ago People's Place, which would be pretty cool.  I haven't talked to them yet, but it would be worth following up next year. 

Here is the 1946 airphoto and you can see how it weaves across to the west where Birch St is now, then back over to Centennial St north.

 

Route Overview:

You can do this route as an overnight, riding about 80 km each day.  But we did it as a 2 1/2 day trip (two night) leaving town Friday afternoon, then two full-day rides Saturday & Sunday.

 Download the route for Ride With GPS: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/36322813

Day 0 - Whitehorse to Old Alaska Highway / Muktuk Adventures - km 1430 to 1442

From downtown, ride about 26 kilometers of the Alaska Highway, then about 4 km off the highway to stay overnight at Muktuk Adventure's cabins. 

1. 

   Centennial Rd. in Porter Creek is the old Alaska Highway route.
   

   We started following the old Alaska Highway from Porter Creek where Centennial Road follows the original route of the highway.
   
2. Cross to the west side of Alaska Highway at Super-A where Birch St follows the route of the original highway. 
3. Cross back to Centennial at Wann Road and follow it to MacDonald Road.  We stopped for dinner and a beer at Whiskey Jacks
4. A few kilometres on the highway past Crestview and there is a 1 km section of gravel road which is the old highway on the east side before Cousins Airstrip.  You can stay off the highway by continuing through the rest stop and follow the ATV trail on the east side to the intersection with the North Klondike Highway.
5. Cross the N. Klondike Highway to follow ATV trail on the east side of the highway, climb the hill to access a nice 3 km section of the old Highway, which is now Parent Lane.  
6. At km 1441 cross to the south side of the highway to find two short loops of the old highway and are now Echo Lake Road and Jackson Road.

 

Day 1 - Old Alaska Highway to Mendenhall / Champagne - km 1442 to 1496/~1508 +/-

The first full day starts with a nice ride on the paved Old Alaska Highway just outside Whitehorse, a few abandoned sections before Takhini Crossing, and then the longest on-highway stretch - about 28 on highway before you find the next abandoned segment near Stoney Creek.  The old section of highway through Champagne is about the half-way point of the trip, so find camping in this area:

1. Old Alaska Highway is a 6 km side road which makes for a nice morning ride to start the day.  Feels very rural.
   
   
2. Between here and Woodland Road (km 1453) are three short segments on both sides of the road that are quite overgrown, but ridable on a mountain or gravel bike with hearty tires.  
   

   

   Woodland Rd., last section of old highway for a while.
   

3. Woodland Road is the last section of old highway for a while, so it is worth riding.  A bit of a scramble back down to the highway at Takhini Crossing.  
4. After 28 km of mind-numbing road riding (stop to admire the cows and have lunch at the Takhini River to break up the monotony), you again find sections of old highway on the south side - a very short segment at Annie Ned Creek and then a longer section starting at km 1483 just before La Prairie ranch.  
5. At km 1484 you can follow the old highway on the north side where it crosses Stoney Creek.  The bridge is gone, so you'll have to go back to the modern highway to cross the creek, unless you are an obsessive person like me with a partner of infinite patience and insist on wading the creek and bushwacking back up to the old road route. 

   

   Crossing Stoney Cr., not remains of bridge on far bank.
   

6. At km 1488 you can find an old piece of road on the south side that leads to the Kusawa Lake road.  It  has been "scarified" so is pretty rough to ride, but you can see a bit of yellow line still on the broken up chip seal.   

   

   Remains of yellow centreline along abandoned section of old highway near Kusawa Lake Rd.
   

   
   You can detour down the Kusawa Rd for a couple of kilometres to reach the Mendenhall River crossing which is a good place to take a swim and cool off. 
   
7. After crossing the Kusawa Road, cross to the north side of the highway to find another <1km section of old road, better riding this time.

   

   Old asphalt at km ~ 1490, north side of the modern highway.
   

   
   
8. Now another 5 km on the highway before reaching the Mendenhall Subdivision access road which is another 1.5 km chunk of the old highway you can ride through.

We stayed the night at a friend's property at Mendenhall, so depending on where you camp adjust your day 1->2 break.

 

Day 2 - Mendenhall / Champagne to Haines Junction - km 1496/~1508 +/- to km 1578

 Day 2 is the better day with lots off-highway riding and some interesting discoveries.  The longest "on-highway" stretch is about 14 km from the west end of the Champagne road to just before Cracker Creek.  From Cracker Creek onward, the route get fabulous with fun abandoned paved sections to the fast gravel ride on the Kluane Wagon Road / Marshall Cr. road for the last 35 km of the route:

1. After the Mendenhall section, cross to the south side of the highway at km 1497 to avoid the big hill.  This takes you on a gravel trail through a really nice grassland that is worth the detour.  

   

   Trail through nice south-facing grasslands allow you to bypass the big hill after Mendenhall
   

   
   
2. About a kilometer and a half later, you can cross the the north side of the highway for a nice three km gravel section of the old highway (starts at km 1500)
3. After crossing the Mendenhall River you get to the old highway Champagne.  This is a leisurely 14 km paved road with very little traffic, and of course the highlight is the history-rich village of Champagne.  
4. 14 km more of dull highway riding - this will make you thankful for what comes next.
5. At km 1533 you finally get to leave the highway to access another old section of road on the north side, just before Cracker Cr.  It returns to the highway to cross the creek, then again departs on the north side for another kilometer of pleasant gravel and fast-rolling abandoned paved road - very fun! 

   

   Abandoned paved road west of Cracker Creek.
   

   
   
6. At km 1537 starts the really interesting paved but overgrown 8 km segment of road.  This is the highlight of the trip.  Zipping along fast through the forest and wildflowers on a paved abandoned road.  Felt like riding on those abandoned airfields you see, but it is covered in wildflowers!  You'll want a gravel bike or mountain bike because it can be a bit rough.  But this section between here an Canyon is defiantly a rare and unique find, well worth the ride. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
7.  You can get resupplied with sugary and salty treats at Otter Falls RV park (km 1546), then cross the Aishihik River on the heritage bridge, and from here on, it is off-highway gravel along the Kluane Wagon Road and Marshall Creek road!  Cross the old wood bridge, then it is a bit of sandy push up the hill. 

   

   A sandy push up the hill after crossing the Aishihik River.
   

8. Cross to the south side of the highway at the top of the hill for a really nice, smooth gravel through open forest - about 5 km.

   

   Kluane Wagon Road, west of Canyon - some pretty sweet gravel riding.
   

   
   
   
9. At km 1553 you'll cross the highway to continue on the Kluane Wagon Road north of the highway.  Again, another 5 km really nice gravel riding, this time through pretty aspen forests. 

   

   This mind-numbing road is what you get to bypass by following the old route!
   

   
   
   
10. You'll cross the highway again to the south side at km 1557 to access the Marshall Creek road, which is the last 20 km of the ride, leading you to Haines Junction.   Overall this last section is downhill and fast riding gravel road. You do need to ford Marshall Creek, but most of the year it isn't that bad. After that it is nice views of the Dezedeash River, some farms and then you are there, Haines Junction and historical mile 1016. 
    

    

    Fording Marshall Creek.  2021 was a record snowpack year, so the creek was in flood.

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    
    

    

    The End.
    

 

 

I have an album of more photos and videos from the trip (for inspiration purposes!) on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10159339060738936&type=3

 

A ride on the new Alaska Highway bike path

This weekend I took a ride on the recently completed new multi-use path (MUP) paralleling the Alaska Highway from the north end of the airport to Range Road.  It was built as part of Yukon Government's widening/twinning of the Alaska Highway through this area.

It is a nicely paved section of trail that partially extends the MUP 800 m further northward from the airport trail. It ends abruptly partially along Range Road and is not connected to anything at this time.  YG stated that City of Whitehorse will complete the trail northward to 2-Mile Hill at some point in the future (City has yet to confirm when this might occur).

Since we will hopefully starting to build a lot more protected spaces for cyclists in the coming years, I'm going to focus on "lessons learned" from YG's first attempt at this type of infrastructure:

Start of the new path.  Nice smooth asphalt, good gentle grade. LESSONS LEARNED: no drainage on the up-slope side, especially runoff from the highway will result in ice accumulating on the path, leading down to the intersection in the foreground. PS - this gate is terrible!

T-junction at Range Road.  Main path loops off to the right unnecessarily.  Note already the pedestrian in distance has left the path to walk directly via the road!  I suspect this is what many will do. LESSON LEARNED: Keep bike paths straight, convenient and designed for 30km/hr.  They need to be designed like a road with no unnecessary turns, bends or hills.

Path looping around Range Road.  This route causes the path to cross three driveways/entrances that could have been avoided if the path crossed Range Road at the signalized intersection with Alaska Highway.  LESSON LEARNED:  Plan cycle routes to minimize interruptions and crossing with motor vehicle traffic.

Pedestrian crossing of Range Road at Alaska Highway (signal lights remains to be installed).  This is where the MUP should have crossed Range Road as a Protected Intersection.  Nice cut-through of the "pork chop", but the pork-chop is very problematic for road-cyclists.  The create a difficult and dangerous situation for cyclists and should not be used.  LESSON LEARNED: Do no use pork chops as they create unnecessary difficulty and hazard for cyclists and inconveniences for pedestrians.  A refuge island between the lanes would be the better, safer solution.

Alaska Highway Crossing to unpaved trail on west side of highway, leading to Valleyview.  Note the trail sloping down to crossing.  LESSONS LEARNED:  We need to 1) avoid unnecessary climbs on bike paths; and 2) if there is a decent, drop the trail well in advance of the roadway crossing so cyclists are not carrying excess speed coming into the intersection. 

Looking towards the mid-block crossing where the trail crosses Range Road.  Note the additional driveway crossing here at Toyota.

 

Looking back south towards the airport.  Note, contrary to YG staffs' claim,  there is ample space between Range Road (on the left) and the Alaska Highway (on the right) to accommodate the trail directly to the intersection in the distance.  LESSON LEARNED:  Cycle paths should be as straight and direct as possible and do not require much space. 

Again the path looking southward.  Some sections are well elevated with ditching on both sides, however other locations like this one do not have a ditch between the road and the path.  At this location, melting snow runoff will flow from the road onto the path, creating ice on the path.  LESSON LEARNED: provide good drainage and ditching for bike paths, same as done for roadways.

And here is the abrupt north end of the path.  A path to nowhere.  LESSON LEARNED: To build a cycle network, it needs to connect.  With $6 million spent on this project, it is shame that path couldn't have gone another 500m north to connect with the multi-use path at 2-Mile Hill.

Summary:
 Well, it is great to see another piece of the Alaska CycleHighway being built.   Certainly the lack of a paved path between airport trail and Range Road was a missing piece.  However, for spending $6 million of public funds to build additional highway lanes that are not needed, the cycling component is disappointing. 

Overall verdict:  Should have done better.

How can Yukon Government Support Cycling in Whitehorse

I was recently asked what role Yukon Government (YG) has in developing cycling as a mainstream mode of transportation within the City of Whitehorse?

Most of the roads and trails within Whitehorse are the City’s responsibility, but Yukon Government plays a role in enhancing cycling in at least 6 areas:

1. There will be a forthcoming Climate Change, Energy and Green Economy Strategy that is to replace the existing separate Climate, Energy and Biomass Strategies.  This new Strategy should set overall direction for government to increase support for sustainable transportation.  One aspect for this could be subsidies for electric vehicles.  I hope this includes full subsidy for e-bikes as the GHG reductions for an e-bike is FAR higher than an electric car.
2. Updating the Motor Vehicles Act to become a more inclusive Road Safety Act (as per the resolution passed by the Association of Yukon Communities in 2019).  This should include several measures and changes that make cycling safer and reduce barriers to convenient cycling. Whitehorse Urban Cycling Coalition provided input into the Motor Vehicle Re-write and we look forward to all of that input being reflected in the new act.
3. YG provides funding for projects, either directly from its resources, or through bilateral funding.  The bilateral funding is Federal money that flows to the Yukon Government which then in turn is used to fund municipal infrastructure projects.  This includes both Gas Tax and more significantly, funding from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.  This latter is moving so much money to the Yukon that the municipalities cannot spend it all.  In the words of the municipal mangers “[capital] money is not the limitation; it is our capacity to manage the projects that is the barrier.”  Thus, YG plays a key gatekeeper role to funding municipal infrastructure projects.
4. The Alaska Highway is a key transportation corridor that slices through Whitehorse and it is owned and managed by Yukon Government.  It is used daily by citizens to move about Whitehorse and as such is a major opportunity, or as seen recently, barrier to cycling.  The Alaska Highway acts as a major barrier or wall segregating Whitehorse in two halves.  But, since YG controls this land, they can build infrastructure that promote safe, convenient cycling connections both across the highway and along it.
5. Schools are a major destination for cyclists in Whitehorse (many, being underage, do not have the privilege of operating a motor vehicle).  Department of Education has the resources and responsibility to provide safe routes to school. They can enhance connectivity on-school property to the cycle network.  Furthermore, they could invest in active transportation routes & connections to the schools.  Kids who arrive at school by active transportation (cycling or walking) are known to have better education outcomes.
6. Lastly, YG is the largest employer in downtown Whitehorse.  They own and operate many workplaces, and like schools, can facilitate active transportation to those workplaces.  This would include both onsite infrastructures to support cycling such as high quality, covered, secure bike parking, workplace showers/change rooms as well as physical, convenient connectivity to the adjacent bike network.  These measures would help make cycling to work easier and more convenient, thus reducing barriers to cycle commuting. 

The more Yukon Government supports cycling through the measures above, it improves cycling for EVERYONE through the force multiplier effect.  Yukon Government just declared a “Climate Emergency” this week and here is a tangible way to put that declaration in action, save money and help build a healthier, happier community.

Who I'm voting for in 2015 Municipal Election and Why

Historically I always felt voting was a "private" matter.  But this year, I've become more engaged in the Whitehorse municipal election, primary through the Whitehorse Urban Cycling Coalition (wucc.ca).  So I thought I'd share my thoughts on this election.

What I'm looking for primary is candidates that will work towards a sustainable future for Whitehorse.  Something we can afford and creates a high quality of life.  What we do know is that the automobile is a killing us financially, socially and of course, environmentally.  The car is a dead-end.  Yes, I own and operate not just one, but several automobiles.  And yes, we will never be "car-free." But what we need to do is work really hard to build a community where we can minimize the usage automobiles so we can afford the future we want.

We see that when we have people-oriented development, it is a much lovely town, as opposed to car-centric development.  I've traveled and explored communities that are moving away from the car, and they are so much richer places to be.  Unfortunately, in Whitehorse we've inherited a town that has been built for the car.  We need to deal with that sad reality.

The WUCC put together eight questions for the candidates and to date we've gotten an amazing 15 complete written responses from the 25 mayor and councilor candidates running  (you can see the questions and answers on the WUCC website).  If you look at the question, there is a lot more going on there than just "give us more bike lanes".  In fact, what I find is that the candidates responses are are pretty good proxy for how well they share my vision for a sustainable community.

So, based on this, my councilor picks will be (as of today):

• Helen GEISLER - quite cycle supportive and what I thought were some smart measured answers to some questions.
• Betty IRWIN  - She did not benefit from participating in cycling as part of her generation, but seems open minded and supportive of sustainable transportation and has practical experience with council. 
• Roslyn WOODCOCK - downtowner and totally supportive of sustainable transportation.
• Jocelyn CURTEANU - good positive commitment to cycling, but probably needs more information about the importance of good, contiguous cycle infrastructure to open doors for more of the community.  

 Yes, just 4 I guess.  The point was well made that you don't need to vote for all six positions.  If you don't know them (or are only voting based on name recognition), then don't vote for them!  Really, you are stealing votes from yourself for the candidates you DO want in.



Now, who NOT to vote for.  Well, based on the WUCC feedback, there are a few candidates who, in my mind, are clearly "yikes, not friends of bikes:

• George ARCAND
• Dan BOYD

And the zeros (candidates who did not respond to WUCC's queries in any form) are:

• Mike TRAVILL
• Garth BROWN

Remember, voting is sexy!

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A tour of cycling infrastructure in Toronto

I've been in Toronto to see family and run in the Canadian orienteering championships in Hamilton this week.  Weather has been very nice, and so I decided to dig out my father in-law's bike which was abandoned in his basement and go for a ride (unfortunately, I didn't take my camera, so all of these pictures are shamelessly stolen from the internet).

I had a copy of the new Toronto cycling map and decided to take a route so I could check out the new "Cycle Track" on Sherbourne Street. I'll describe it a bit later on, but for those not familiar with it, a cycle track is a type of "bike lane"  that is somehow physically separated from the roadway.   It might be the premier type of bike infrastructure because it is fast and direct like a bike lane, but provides cyclists extra security and comfort by separating the bike lane from the car lane.  I noticed that when I was in Sweden this summer that this is the most common type of bike infrastructure there, even in the far north winter cities we visited.

Raised cycle track on Sherbourne Street, Toronto

Anyway, back to my route.  The first thing the struck me is the random, disconnected nature of the bike infrastructure - take a look at this map, do you see any logical routes or connectivity? 

Section of Toronto Cycling Map - random bits of bike infrastructure, not connected nor logical routes.  Blue lines are simply "recommended" streets to use and don't represent bike lanes or other infra.

Diminutive bike route signs

I started by following some of the blue routes, which are "shared roadways" that are supposed to be signed, on-street routes.  Well, there is signage, but it is tiny, and has route numbers on them that don't mean much to me.  Where does "18" lead me to?   Then the route was terrible, every intersection had stop signs, so no flow, stopping always - why could they have not just turned the signs?  And it was on rough, neglected streets!  I got lost a couple of times and had to check my map.  A one spot I even ended up on Bayview Extension (not a bike friendly place), looking up at a pedestrian overpass with on clue how to get up there.  A cyclists yelled down to me directions on how to get off the expressway and find the bridge!

Now, at this point I was pretty disappointed with how terrible cycling in Toronto is.  But then, I thought back to when I lived here in 2001, and back then there was NO bike maps, NO bike infrastructure, so I guess they actually have come a long way.  But, definitely the Car rules in Toronto.

Finally I made it to the Sherborne cycle track.  It runs north-south pretty much the length of downtown - so you can traverse downtown on separated bike route, which is quite nice (I've circled in in red on the map):

Sherbourne Street cycle track running the length of downtown north-south.

 It is pretty nice - fast and comfortable.   I found a little YouTube video of the track; it is of the upper part of the track which has a divider between the roadway and the cycle lane:




The upper section of the cycle track uses a low barrier to separate the roadway from the bike lane.

Cycle track with barrier type separation.

I don't know how well this would work in a winter city from a plowing perspective as it would have to be plowed separately, which is in fact what they do:

Plowing of Toronto cycle track

Raised cycle track with low roll-over curb.

Lower down on Sherbourne, the cycle track changes to a raised cycle track that is separated from the roadway with a low roll-over curb (shown below and as first picture above).  This type of track I think would work very well in Whitehorse because it could be plowed from the roadway with a wing-plow on the grader, but would keep all the road debris and snow-berm from the roadway out of the cycle lane.  If you look at the newly build Industrial Road, it has this type of low roll-over curb, so I know we can build them in Whitehorse!

Another thing I noticed was the abundant use of markings (paint/thermoplastic, etc), which  I'm always suspect of because in Whitehorse it always gets worn off in the winter.  But, then I remember that in low-traffic streets, the paint on our streets does last a long time.  I think we just lose the paint where there is a lot of motor vehicle traffic that tears the paint off when the streets are sanded.  So now that I think about it, I think the paint on a cycle track in Whitehorse would last pretty well.

Another neat thing was how the bus stops are integrated with the cycle track.  The track rises up so there is a good curb at the bus stop (there is also a good view of it at 0:35 in the video above):


After my fun ride down the cycle track, I then proceeded to get lost in the mayhem of downtown Toronto.  I think the car congestion in Toronto is worse than I ever remember it.  All the more reason this city needs to spend on getting people out of their cars.  

The rest of my ride was back to ratty old bike multi-use bike trails/paths up the Don Valley.  The trails are badly neglected, lots of pot holes, twisty and convoluted routes that go through parking lots, use road ways, etc.

I did get to ride along a new cycle path (two way) along Queen Quay which looks like is just getting finished and is obviously incomplete with a few gaps - it is a two-way shared pathway with laneway markings.  I didn't find any good pictures, but here is one earlier on in its construction:

http://www.ibiketo.ca/taxonomy/term/21?page=1

This trail/bikeway was nice, but the curbs at each driveway were very rough, so it made riding it a bit unpleasant.  Too bad, it would have been an easy thing to build t the curb cuts smooth so you could have a better ride. 

Anyway, the weather was amazingly nice for first week of October and so it was great to get out for a sunny, warm bike ride.