CycleWR
Donate
Menu
  • Home
  • About CycleWR
    • Meet the CycleWR Steering Committee
  • Advocacy
    • Discover your Superpower: Walking & Wheeling to School
    • #HumansWhoCycleWR
    • Budget Advocacy
    • Rides with councillors
    • Cycling infrastructure map
    • The benefits of bike lanes (infographic)
    • Bike parking guide
    • I Bike, I Vote pledge
  • Get involved
    • Donate
  • Links
Menu
An illustration of what the temporary bike lanes look like. There is one lane of vehicular traffic in each direction and the outside lanes are marked with orange traffic cones to reserve it for bicycles.

We asked and the Region delivered – now let’s use those ‘pandemic’ bike lanes!

Posted on July 28, 2020July 28, 2020 by Laura McDonald
Posted in: Advocacy, Infrastructure

In April, CycleWR and people like you across the region asked our local governments for additional bike lanes and quiet streets as a pandemic response. Waterloo and Kitchener responded with streets closed to traffic, quiet streets, lower speed limits, and some accelerated work on bike lanes. Cambridge City Council is currently considering some initiatives. 

The Region of Waterloo exceeded our expectations—they’ve just completed the installation of 30 kilometres of temporary bike lanes! They’ve closed the curb lanes on a number of 4-lane regional roads, providing protection with big construction barrels. The locations are:

A school-aged child enjoying the temporary bike lanes, as evidenced by a big thumbs up as they ride past the large orange and black construction cones.
Photo by Rob Daniels
  • King Street/Coronation Boulevard/Dundas Street from Bishop Street to Beverly Street, Cambridge;
  • Westmount Road from Block Line Road to University Avenue, Kitchener and Waterloo;
  • Frederick Street from Weber Street to Lancaster Street, Kitchener;
  • Erb Street from Westmount Road to Caroline Street, Waterloo;
  • Erb Street from Peppler Street to Margaret Avenue (one lane only), Waterloo; and
  • Bridgeport Road, King Street to Margaret Avenue (one lane only), Waterloo.

The levels of new connectivity are just astounding! Particularly notable is the stretch in Cambridge which was extremely intimidating and dangerous with no good alternative. Another very noteworthy addition is the long, continuous stretch of Westmount, connecting south Kitchener to the Universities and beyond and providing the first safe crossing of the 7/8 highway in the west.


Can’t see the map? Open it in Google Maps.
 

Let’s make it worth it!

Now that the municipal governments have done their part, we need you to do yours, and it’s an easy ask: get out there and use these new facilities! We must demonstrate that investing in safe, connected cycling infrastructure yields positive results. Here’s what else you can do:

  • Encourage your friends to check out the lanes—and ask them to pass it on, too!
  • We’d really love for you to take pictures while you are out there. Post your photos on social media with the hashtag #CovidLanesWR or send them to us at hello@cyclewr.ca.
  • Tell us your #HumansWhoCycleWR #RidingOutThePandemic story and we’ll share it for you!
  • Be sure to fill out the survey on EngageWR to share your feedback.
  • If you find the lanes particularly useful, let your Regional Councillor(s) know.

What’s next

We are working on more initiatives to help people get out and use these and other bike lanes, including a virtual panel on “Planning and Practicing your Ride to School,” assistance with route planning, and maybe even some engaging games. Stay tuned.

We could use your help with these plans. Send an email to hello@cyclewr.ca to let us know you’d like to help. We will invite you to our Slack workspace where we do a lot of our discussion. We need social media posters, photographers, route planners, people to take shifts to monitor traffic and cyclists at key times, people to make contact with schools and businesses, people with mapping skills, people with ideas, people to write Letters to the Editor, etc.
 

Here’s some inspiration to get you excited:

"Dad, I love the space. We can ride beside each other". Thank you for creating space for people @RegionWaterloo @DaveJaworsky @berryonline @Cycle_WR #covidlanes #kwawesome pic.twitter.com/mPgbxcsLSR

— Scott Weldon (@s_weldon) July 25, 2020

We rode all the temp lanes in KW today.The roads these are on are so wide. Nothing is lost in making 1 lane a bike lane. I really liked how wide they were. Lots of room to ride abreast and feel safe. Baby slept for almost of all of it as a bonus. #CovidLanesWR @Cycle_WR pic.twitter.com/8hGGFIZIG0

— Sean Tait (@seangtait) July 26, 2020

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • WhatsApp

Related

Join our mailing list to find out about events and ways to help

Talk to us

Email hello@cyclewr.ca

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

See what’s up on Instagram

cycle_wr

CycleWR
Join us online on Thursday, January 21, from 7:30 Join us online on Thursday, January 21, from 7:30 – 9:00pm for a look at what we accomplished in 2020 and what’s coming up for cycling in the region in 2021 and beyond.

Active transportation leads from the three cities and the region who will be joining us:
 
• Lisa Chominiec
Sustainable Transportation Coordinator, City of Cambridge
 
• Liz Christensen
Design & Construction Project Manager, City of Kitchener
 
• Darren Kropf
Active Transportation Planning Project Manager, City of Kitchener
 
• Louise Finlay
Project Manager, Bikeways, Trails and Greenspaces, City of Waterloo
 
• Kornel Mucsi
Manager, Transportation Planning, Region of Waterloo

Check the link in our bio for meeting instructions.
Are you curious about winter biking or determined Are you curious about winter biking or determined to give it a try this season? Our next Virtual Folks & Spokes welcomes Elysha and Sarah-Beth to share their winter-biking experience! 

Join us online on Thursday, November 19, from 7:30 – 8:30 pm. to learn about biking in cold weather, bike maintenance tips, and more. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions and for other participants to chat about their winter-biking experience, too.

---

Meet Elysha

I'm Elysha! (she/they)

I'm a winter cyclist. I couldn't decide on adjectives for that because sometimes it's fun and sometimes it is horrible, but I always do it anyway. I've been riding my bike through the winters for around 10 years. You also may know me from my mending and upcycling project, @beyondrepair519, where I share my textile artwork.

On Thursday, my partner Scott will be joining me as a model for some of our winter cycling tips. He works more closely with bike stuff in the region—mostly cycling education right now, but he was also a mechanic for a long time. We have been loving the recent heat wave but don't want to be caught off guard when winter hits!

Join us and share what you know/learn more about how to get your bike ready for winter.

---

Meet Sarah-Beth and Ryan

Sarah-Beth (she/her) and Ryan (he/him) have been biking with their kids - ages 8 and 5 - for the past 4 years. You may know Ryan from being featured on Instagram as part of our #WinterRiders storytelling last year. He was a first-time winter bike rider last year. This year, Sarah-Beth is hopping on the bandwagon and they're bringing their kids along with them. They'll share their experiences figuring out how to prepare for the cold months ahead, and how to keep their kids interested and safe along with them. 

---

We use Zoom video conferencing to host Virtual Folks & Spokes. It works on most computers and modern mobile devices.

If this is your first time using Zoom, we recommend joining a few minutes early.

Visit the link in our bio to launch the Zoom meeting.
The next Folks & Spokes will be hosted online on T The next Folks & Spokes will be hosted online on Thursday, October 15 at 7:30 – 8:30 pm.

We will kick things off with special guest Kornel Mucsi, the new Transportation Planning Manager at the Region of Waterloo. Kornel will share some of his experience from leading the Active Transportation program in Ottawa for the last decade as well as his early impressions and directions for Waterloo Region.

After question and answer with Kornel, we will continue with a casual discussion of anything and everything biking.

To participate, find the Zoom video call link in our bio!
Cycling into the Future, in cooperation with Cycle Cycling into the Future, in cooperation with CycleWR, STSWR and ClimateActionWR is offering one or more cycling training sessions for students ages 5 and up. 

Please indicate your interest and availability with this form:

https://bit.ly/2ZWGDxw

These practical sessions will cover various components including:

* Tips for teaching how to ride for beginners
* Proper helmet fit
* Bike handling skills
* Hand signals and road signs
* Bike lane etiquette
* Parent session: how to coach kids while riding with them
* Simple bicycle maintenance
* Tips for riding in fall and winter

The sessions will be held in a parking lot with an optional on-road session for grades 4 and up. Parents must accompany their children, and all participants must practice social distancing with non-family participants.
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Browse blog posts by category

  • Advocacy
  • CycleWR news
  • Cycling tips
  • Events
  • I bike I vote
  • Infrastructure
  • Rides with Candidates

Browse blog posts by tag

bicycle racks bike racks bike to school budgets covid-19 kitchener kitchener Ward 1 kitchener ward 7 kitchener ward 8 kitchener ward 9 kitchener ward 10 merch parking regional chair regional councillor region of waterloo waterloo waterloo mayor waterloo ward 3 waterloo ward 4 waterloo ward 5 waterloo ward 7
©2021 CycleWR | Design: Newspaperly WordPress Theme