Windsor Way (Vancouver)

Windsor Way is a bike-path in East Vancouver, Canada, which was identified as a local Greenway in the [http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/cityplan/Visions/kcc/index.htm Kensington-Cedar Cottage Visioning process] .

Route

The Windsor Bikeway is a 4.3 km north/south bike route that follows Glen Drive and Windsor Street from Great Northern Way to 43rd Avenue and was chosen for its proximity to Knight Street. This route provides a connection for the Off-Broadway and 10th Avenue Bikeways to the Midtown/Ridgeway and Inverness Bikeways. The Windsor Bikeway passes through [http://vancouver.ca/community_profiles/mount_pleasant/ Mount Pleasant] and [http://vancouver.ca/community_profiles/kensington-cedar/index.htm Kensington-Cedar Cottage] neighbourhoods and goes by Memorial Park South.

Measures along the proposed bikeway to reduce vehicle speeds and to help cyclists cross busy arterials include traffic circles, corner bulges, centre medians, speed humps, and traffic lights controlled by cyclists and pedestrians.

Estimated cycling time for the full length of the Windsor Bikeway is 18 minutes.

History

A survey was completed in 2001 of local residents to gauge support for the bike path. City Council considered a recommendation from staff in 2003. [ [http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20030211/tt2.htm Proposed Windsor Bike Route - January 7, 2003 ] ]

Windsor Street was selected over other streets near the major north-west transportation corridor, Knight Street, for a number of reasons including:

* it is one of the only continuous north/south streets in proximity;
* it is one of the better streets for grades (particularly between 33rd and 37th Ave);
* there are several parks and schools on this route (e.g. Charles Dickens Elementary School);
* local residents strongly supported the bike route; and,
* there are significant efforts by local residents to beautify the streetscape through the City's [http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/cityplan/Visions/kcc/initiatives.htm#windsor "Blooming Boulevards" program] .

Public art

Public art has been installed along the Windsor Way bike route to further beautify the corridor and calm traffic. This work was completed in two phases.

Phase 1 was led by the Mt. Pleasant Community Centre Association, which led what was called "one of the most successful community public art projects ever" [ [http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20040309/a4.htm 2003 Community Public Art Grants ] ] , installing metal banners on street lamps along Windsor Street. Funding was approved by the City in 2002 [ [http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/020122/a3.htm Community Public Art Grant Recommendations from 2000 Capital Budget ] ] .

Phase 2 of the public art portion of this project built on the "Windsor Way/Art Way" plan. To support this, the City of Vancouver approved funding ($15,000) for the project in 2004 [ [http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20040309/a4.htm 2003 Community Public Art Grants ] ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20030211/tt2.htm City of Vancouver report: Proposed Windsor Bike Route (11 February 2003)]
* City of Vancouver's [http://city.vancouver.bc.ca/engsvcs/transport/cycling/windsor.htm summary of the Bikeway]
* [http://city.vancouver.bc.ca/engsvcs/transport/cycling/routes.htm Map of Vancouver bikeroutes]
* [http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/cityplan/Visions/kcc/index.htm Kensington-Cedar Cottage Community Visions Program]

References