January 2023

Ward 11 Office

18th St SE Adaptive Bike Lane (ABL) Pilot

The 18 St SE Adapted Bike Lane (ABL) pilot project was conducted for three weeks from August
19 to September 12, 2022. The pilot was implemented in response to concerns that Councillor Penner
and the Ward 11 Office heard from individual residents and the Riverbend Community Association
between 2021 and 2022 about high traffic volume, excessive speeds, vehicle noise, and safety concerns
for pedestrians and cyclists on 18th Street. The intention of the pilot was primarily to determine if an
ABL would effectively calm traffic while also improving multi-modality travel options for community
members.

What We Heard from the Community:

Many residents expressed curiosity and excitement about the potential of an ABL along 18th St SE.
However, much of feedback from Riverbend residents was in opposition. Quarry Park and Douglasdale
residents also contributed feedback to the pilot. A variety of individualized concerns were expressed
from area residents to the Ward Office, the most common in highest order, include:

• Concerns that the addition of an ABL would increase traffic congestion, leading to delays in
commutes.
• There are well-established bike paths running along the Bow River through Carburn Park.
• Concerns regarding effects of access to/from Riverview Close SE off 18th St SE.

The most common solutions presented included the request for more CPS enforcement and redirecting
vehicles to 24 St SE.

Supporting comments were primarily expressions of gratitude for addressing resident concerns about
18th St SE safety as well as considerations to extend the ABL length to improve community connection
and practicality.

Data Collection from Administration:

Counts for the traffic lane, the pilot ABL, and adjacent sidewalks were conducted over three periods:

1: End of summer | Saturday August 27 to Wednesday August 31 (Excluding Monday)

2: Long weekend | Saturday September 3 to Wednesday September 7 (The long weekend)

3: Back to school | Saturday September 10 to Tuesday September 13 (Excluding Mon and Wed)

Our observations of the data are as follows:

• Traffic Lane: Overall, traffic counts across the three count periods remained relatively
consistent. The lowest weekend vehicle count was the weekend of the Long weekend and the
highest vehicle counts occurred on weekdays.

Ward office: (403) 268-2430 Website: www.Calgary.ca/ward11 Twitter: @kourtpenner @ward11yyc

Email: Ward11@calgary.ca Facebook: facebook.com/kourtpenner
 January 2023
Ward 11 Office

• ABL: Overall, the ABL had the lowest count numbers. The highest days of use were Saturday and
Sundays. The highest usage occurred on the Long weekend, followed by the End of summer, and
lowest during Back to school.

• Sidewalk: There was consistently high use during the End of summer and Back to school, with
highest counts occurring on Tuesday of the Long weekend. The lowest counts were during the
weekend days of the Long weekend.

It is worth noting there was significant tampering of traffic control devices during the pilot. Incidents
occurred almost daily and included the deliberate moving and removal of pylons separating lanes and
overturning of signage trailers. This likely affected the data as it relates to perceived safety of the ABL
for users as well as inconsistency of lanes marked with pylons.

Vehicle travel time was also measured towards the end of the pilot over the last and subsequent week:

1. Weekday | Wednesday September 7th / 14th – Thursday September 8th / 15th (ABL / no ABL present)

2. Weekend | Saturday September 10th / 17th – Sunday September 18th (ABL / no ABL present)

The ABL had a mix of no effect, to some delays on travel time with the latter being more consistent. The
highest delay in travel time was about 1 minute as observed in early morning outliers. The more
consistent delays appear to be around 10-30 seconds.

Key Takeaways from the Data:

The top concern for residents was increased congestion and delayed commutes; travel time data shows
this was inconsistent with the average time increase being negligible. The presence of an ABL did not
appear to deter vehicles using 18 St SE during the timeline of the pilot.

Highest use for the ABL appears to be on weekends during the End of summer and the Long weekend,
suggesting that residents were using the pilot ABL for leisure rather than commuting. This is also where
we observed the lowest traffic counts; residents were either opting for the ABL instead of driving or
opting for the ABL during lower traffic times. The number of ABL users was roughly one third of that of
sidewalk users which may mean cyclists were opting for the ABL instead of the sidewalk during this time.

Sidewalk use was highest during Back to school. This was also the lowest ABL use and highest vehicle
traffic. This may be a result of residents returning to their normal commuting routine after summer.

What We Learned:

Despite the narrow window of time and limited funding, the Ward Office chose to capitalize on an
opportunity to support Riverbend resident concerns. Had there been the option of more time, the
community would have benefitted from more communication and education of the pilot leading up to

Ward office: (403) 268-2430 Website: www.Calgary.ca/ward11 Twitter: @kourtpenner @ward11yyc

Email: Ward11@calgary.ca Facebook: facebook.com/kourtpenner
 January 2023
Ward 11 Office

its implementation. This project did not land with the initial enthusiasm we had hoped for, and we are
grateful to the Riverbend community for their high level of engagement and feedback.

Longer preparation timelines in future will allow Community Associations (CAs) to be looped in at earlier
stages to determine viability as well as support with broad communications for such projects. Partnering
with CAs on further community engagement would bring higher success and positive experience to a
pilot through neighbourhood ownership and pride of involvement.

Next Steps:

The Ward 11 Office will continue working with the Riverbend Community Association on 18th St SE traffic
and safety issues; we are committed to helping the community find solutions to improve safe passage
for pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles alike. This also includes a variety of smaller infrastructure requests,
some that are in process and under review with Administration. We have also identified opportunities
for educating about successful traffic calming initiatives city-wide as well as educating about CPS traffic
and enforcement programs.

Should there be future opportunities for similar pilots, with interest from the Riverbend Community
Association and Riverbend residents, the Ward 11 Office will be happy to support.

Ward office: (403) 268-2430 Website: www.Calgary.ca/ward11 Twitter: @kourtpenner @ward11yyc

Email: Ward11@calgary.ca Facebook: facebook.com/kourtpenner