Dedicated bike and pedestrian lane proposal

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The city is considering some big changes following the death of a popular kindergarten teacher who was struck by a truck while cycling up the Claremont Access. The city is looking at the feasibility and cost of creating a dedicated bike and pedestrian lane there.

It was around 5:30 wednesday when Jay Keddy was struck and killed by a pickup truck while cycling home up the Claremont Access. The death of the popular kindergarten teacher has prompted the city to expedite a plan that would dedicate one lane of the busy road for bikes and pedestrians.

Hamilton Councillor, Terry Whitehead explains. “We are looking at a plan and design and costing for a bike lane that is not just a paint line separating but something that creates a barrier that gives them safe access going downward or upward the Claremont Access.

Raise the Hammer Editor, Ryan McGreal agrees. “It’s five or six lanes wide and only carries about 25 thousand cars a day so you can easily take a lane and put it to better use.”

Andrew Hibma is an avid cyclist. He says a dedicated lane would make cycling from the lower part of the city to the upper level, safer. “Even though there is a law in Ontario that you have to give a cyclist a metre, there were a lot of people that didn’t give me that one meter of space. Especially with the construction right now there is a pinch point and everybody gets slowed down to one lane of travel and once they hit those three lanes they are in a rush to get up the hill. As soon as people came out of that one lane they were to 70 , 80 kilometres an hour.”

City staff are expected to report back on the feasabiltiy and cost of the bike lane by January. Implementing the plan could take a year and a half.