Bike lane could be removed for more parking on Brampton street: report

A proposal to add more on-street parking to a Brampton road would require removing a dedicated bike lane.

At a meeting last month, city staff were instructed to evaluate the options and costs of allowing on-street parking on the south side of Clockwork Drive between Brisdale Drive and Thornbush Boulevard.

But there’s a dedicated bike lane in the area, which would need to be removed or converted “to an urban shoulder” to allow for the parking, according to a city report.

A proposal from Wards 2 and 6 Coun. Navjit Kaur Brar is looking to scrap the dedicated bike lane to allow for more vehicle parking while still maintaining “east–west active transportation connectivity.”

There are two 3.5-metre-wide general-purpose lanes and two 1.5-metre-wide bicycle lanes on Clockwork Drive, and the roadway is not wide enough to accommodate an additional parking lane, according to the report.

Brar says residents have complained about a lack of on-street parking on both sides of Clockwork Drive, limiting opportunities for visitor parking.

“The solution to accommodate on-street parking along Clockwork Drive will require that space on the road be shared between parked cars and one of the
bicycle lanes,” the report reads.

Urban shoulders look like a bike lane and have a dividing white line, but are not strictly for bicycles. They can also be used for on-street parking, and are “typically implemented as an interim measure to provide a local cycling connection to area schools, businesses, trails and recreation centres,” the city says.

“Once an overall connected cycling network is established, these urban shoulders can easily be converted into designated bicycle lanes,” the report reads.

Converting the bike lane into an urban shoulder on Clockwork Drive would cost $740, according to the report.

A speed study in September found an average speed of 39.93 km/h and an 85th percentile speed of 48 km/h along Clockwork Drive. The speed limit in the area is 40 km/h.

The call to replace the Clockwork Drive bike lane with more parking follows a push by Coun. Rod Power to get rid of the Howden Boulevard cycle track between Dixie Road and Williams Parkway.

In February, the city earmarked funds of $337,000 for the Howden bike lane removal, and another $393,000 will be used for future bike lane “relocation projects” and the Howden multi-use path.

Removing those protected bike lanes will increase average speeds to over the speed limit, especially now that Brampton has no speed enforcement cameras, staff told council.