What's really behind weird bike infrastructure in cities

Sometimes I come across bike infrastructure that's so out-of-step with its surroundings, so outlandish in its execution and so downright weird that I can't help but wonder: Who builds this stuff?

In this video, I explore five pieces of bizarro bike infrastructure in my city (Calgary, Canada), and then think more deeply about how they came to exist.

Thank you to everyone in the community who made suggestions on the weirdest bike infrastructure in the city. And if you have something particularly oddball where you live, please share it.

0:00 Introduction
1:13 The corkscrew overpass. WEIRD!
1:41 Two-way to one-way and back. WEIRD!
2:41 The flood-prone pathway. WEIRD!
3:25 The disappearing bike lane. WEIRD!
4:02 The crosswalk to nowhere. WEIRD!
5:07 What's really going on with these things?
9:06 How our cities can do better

#cycling #bike #commuting

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[SteveRuprecht]

So dumb that the transportation mode with personal entertainment systems and recliners also enjoy the shortest routes between points.

[Avram]

I have been watching your videos for about a year and can finally say. "I am officially a bike commuter!" Rode over 50 miles riding to work this week. My legs are dead, but my spirit and mindset feel so much better

[spore]

That "weird switchbackey thing" is probably more a consideration for wheelchair users that happens to also give you a way up the flight of stairs without walking your bike.

[clawrence]

Weird bike infrastructure kills. I got hit by a car at the other side of that underpass where the bike lane just ends for a block before restarting on 12th ave. The driver wasn't looking for a cyclist coming from the sidewalk.

[HallsEmporium]

As a fellow Calgarian this video validated my confusion with all of the spots you showed. So often I’d think I was uneducated about something and needed to figure it out some how!

[georgekarnezis]

my city tried building a 4 way protected intersection. the drawings looked great. I was very excited for my city's new embrace of good bike infrastructure. however what got built was a single corner of protection and three corners of some green paint.

[bentrig]

All of this comes down to mindset and planning culture. Prioritizing the flow of traffic is so deeply embedded into the planning process that its taken for granted that cars will take priority. Cars are for getting places, walking & cycling are for leisure and exercise. So even when bike lanes are put in for transportation, its done in such a way that still treats them as leisure.

[oatarrow]

One of the only bits of bike infrastructure in my city is a multiuse pathway that is great for commuting into the city from the outlying communities. the biggest problem is that it passes DIRECTLY through an amphitheater so whenever there is a concert it closes and forces you onto a 2 mile detour over a very large hill

[TNemo]

100% agree.
It's a big issue Massachusetts spends on $64B a year! And 1.37B on public transportation!?! And if we double that I'd be able to have a train running by every 15 minutes? I'd stop driving all together.

[russleen]

That corkscrew overpass at 6:08 is not even the worst thing about this crossing. There is no bike path on the other side of it other than a tiny "pathway" through the park. You just have to navigate your way back onto the road through the CTrain crowd.

[CanItAlready]

I can think of three spots in the city where i live that have bike lanes that start suddenly and go nowhere.

Actually traveling by bike requires people to ride alongside motor vehicles of all kinds.

In the past couple of years I've noticed more people getting around on bikes. I hope the people in city planning are also noticing.

[TheRickurb]

Your point about bikes and pedestrians being subservient to cars is spot on. And even more horrific is the subservience of animals to cars. I think we all know how that ends

[richardd]

Calgarys pathways can be pretty schizophrenic, but considering we’re in the holy land of the private automobile it could be worse.

[MidjetTrainer]

I moved to Calgary about 2 years ago and have encountered all these weird pieces of infrastructure after doing some advocacy in Winnipeg. Lots more here, but it's a bit silly in places. The crossing the road to continue straight drives me nuts. Sometimes it's the best that can be done while shoehorning in active transport alongside motor traffic. Thanks for making great content!

[teddysometimes]

If anyone thinks you are "complaining too much" about these odd scenarios as a cyclist -- think about how much car infrastructure is built to avoid drivers having to go AROUND ONE BLOCK or wait 30 SECONDS. other road users (bikes, walkers, wheelchairs) are expected to do those things CONSTANTLY and more throughout disconnected facilities. its correct to critique the car-centric decision making.

great video!

[bruin]

Glad I'm not the only one forever confused by the Inglewood bike path 50/50 effort 😂 always cool to see Calgary reviewed in such detail!

[wolfgangweber]

I always enjoy your videos because you make a lot of sense.
In Germany I encountered a floodprone underpass for pedestrians and bikes. They built a wall so the river can rise without flooding the path.

[matthewbrach]

When you said the crosswalk to nowhere... My city has a crosswalk with a button and a signal that literally just goes to a curb. If you walk right next to the road for about 45 feet along that curb, you can get to ... A giant parking lot for an office complex!!

[CnekYT]

As a Calgarian who has gotten involved with advocacy, good news is that the structure from the thumbnail is no longer allowed in Calgary - for all future developments, bike infrastructure has to be more accessible

[IceCreamLover-jyfh]

My city doesn't have much weird bike infrastructure because there's barely any at all. When there's painted bike lanes they frequently disappear or move to different parts of the street to accommodate cars. There is one bike lane that has a buffer zone from cars which is really nice. What baffles me about this bike lane is that it ends and becomes a sharrow ON A HILL. It ends there because god forbid you give up the car parking on that side of the street. I don't even mind it being a sharrow once you're up the hill or on the side of the street going downhill, just get rid of the 10 or so parking spots and make my life a bit less stressful as I'm struggling to get up the hill