Bay street bike lane now open

Hamilton’s new Bay street bike lane runs through some of the busiest intersections in the city. The lane officially opened Friday and one car was not only seen driving in it, it was actually going the wrong way, luckily no one was injured.

The bike lane runs from Aberdeen to Strachan and is 2.3 kilometres. There are now 200kms of bike lanes in the city of Hamilton.

“We look forward to seeing the bicycle volumes increase that’s part of our strategy in getting the network built, we know the numbers aren’t impressive yet but we want to see more.” Daryl Bender, city of Hamilton.

But not everyone is a fan of the Bay street bike lanes and Mayor Fred Eisenberger hears the complaints about traffic congestion.

“We’re not trying to chase away the car but we’re trying to provide people an opportunity to cycle, walk, that’s healthier and gets them active and moving around our city.”

Riders we spoke to say they feel safer in the bike lanes because the poles act as a buffer between them and the traffic.