And another.

While this was great, I wanted to see what the east-end corridor looked like all the way to University of Ottawa. It’s a mixed bag. Quality of winter maintenance in cycling network is definitely tied to the type of infrastructure. Here’s how it went.

First 2 blocks of Beechwood WB are a mix of cycle track & on-street bike lane. Clearly a road snowplough could not clear that. On/off ramps were blocked. Bike lane near Crichton covered in snow. Only option: take the lane.

Lots of space on St Patrick bridge. Snowplough could do its job. Onramp to cycle track blocked as one would expect. Option: get off my bike & over the ridge. Cycle track had been cleared but not recently. Thanks to mild temps it was rideable (would have been bumpy if frozen).

Same story on Cobourg. On-street bike lane had been ploughed but on/off ramps not, make the mini stretches of cycle tracks not rideable. Only option yet again: take the lane.

Cut-through to Cobourg South was cleared well enough. A welcome change from past winters. Cobourg South itself a mixed bag. Thanks to mild temps and salt, it was rideable. This stretch should be a priority on the WCN.

Stewart & Wilbrod are residential streets & as such don’t normally get priority. But being part of the WCN they should. Despite the bike lane not always being cleared, it was very rideable as it was ploughed for cars (I know). Being low traffic, I’ll take that over no ploughing.

Ride home. Cobourg bike lane from Rideau to Wilbrod. Poor drainage in first block SB. Ok in mild temps (bring your fins), a skating rink when it freezes over. Cycle track before Wilbrod well ploughed with little (soft) ridge to go over to get on it (damn on/off ramps).

Wilbrod. Another mix bag. Same as Stewart. Being low traffic if it’s ploughed for cars, it’s better than nothing. Note: any residential street that’s part of the WCN needs to be cleared as a priority.

Cobourg NB + turn on St Patrick. Another “damn on/off ramps”. Suck it up and take the lane. And go over the ridge to get on St Patrick cycle track. Track not cleared in a while, but this should be a priority before temps plumet and this becomes an ice mogul run.

St Patrick lane EB. Lane not cleared. I must have waited 2-3 minutes for traffic to stop (thanks to red light at Cobourg). Drivers were going fast & I didn’t want to take the lane. End of bridge: another “damn on/off ramp”. I crossed over car lane & took the lane.

1st block of Beechwood EB? Surprise! Lane, on/off ramp & mini cycle track not cleared. Another example of why this configuration makes it not winter maintainable. Remove cycle track, install protected bike lane & reduce car lane width. People’s lives depend on it.

The rest of Beechwood? I feel like I’m repeating myself. Lane not cleared before gas station, on/off ramps not detectable, you name it. (Yes last pic is where the cycle track is.) Suck it up and take the lane.

Haven’t been back today. Got to ride Hemlock. Another mixed bag despite there being lots of room for snowploughs to target bike lane. EB was ok while WB was blocked here & there or narrow & required me to shoulder check for traffic. (No pic except for outset from yesterday.)

Ze end.