Vancouver’s Granville Street might be getting all the headlines about its pedestrianization at the moment… Meanwhile, Canmore shuts down its Main Street all summer, World Cup or not… Check that out and other generally bicycle-oriented scenes from this small mountain town doing great things…

I understand the pedestrianization of Main Street first started in summer 2020 as a temporary Covid pandemic measure, providing more room for physical distancing and allowing businesses to expand outdoors. It proved popular and has returned every year since between May and October. I was staying outside of the Town Centre, so let’s take a wander through Spring Creek on route…

This pathway provides a pleasant walk along the river adjacent to Spring Creek Drive…

There’s some thunder up in that sky… Spring Creek Drive was one of the first corridors built to more modern standards starting around 10 years ago now… It provides separate walking and cycling space along a still relatively slow-speed street as a part of new development that was, and still is, occurring…

Spring Creek connects to Main Street at what was probably one of the first continuous sidewalks and bike paths in Canada… It wasn’t quite a standard at that point, but a new technique, and a refined version of this is now a standard for such intersections in town…

Before we’re even at the pedestrianized section, patio life has begun, and bikes are piling up…

Simple bollards and planters mark the start of the pedestrian zone…

Cars can get so far along Main Street when driving into the Town Centre, but then have to turn right or left to go around Main Street…

No SUV… No problem…

Looks like that storm has arrived as I shelter under a canopy…

People biking in the rain, backlit by the sun… It’s a rare treat when taking photos…

The storm blew over pretty quickly, and people, myself included, began to venture back out from under the canopies…

On brand, rather than generic wayfinding…

Busy…

It’s just a 4-way stop… But we often see some quick build curb extensions to tighten roadways, slow turns, and reduce crossing distance… But there is something to be said about adding a median island as an alternative traffic calming method… Rather than having say 6m of clear width, this object in the middle maybe makes the road feel tighter and creates a little chicane… The planter barrel doesn’t hurt either…

A block or two over from Main Street… Maybe not comfortable for all, but reduced speed limits and a road network that tends to encourage slower speeds, makes these corridors reasonable cycling options for some…

But Bow Valley Trail better represents the Town’s new standards with wide red bike paths, separate sidewalks, and large boulevards…

Bow Valley Trail leads to "the intersection” as it’s known… A masterclass in safe system techniques that prioritize safety for all road users… Near side signals, separate turn lanes with protected turn phases, bicycle signals, two-stage turns, no-right-turn-on-red… As a driver, if you’re not familiar with the theory, it might be frustrating, even as a pedestrian or cyclist you might wait a little longer, but whether you walk, bike, or drive through this intersection, you should do so without conflict… That’s quite an amazing thing in North America…

The next day, it was time to explore outside of the Town Centre… As far as bright and airy underpasses go, this one is pretty good, and advantage of the huge highway median I guess…

Cougar Creek is infamous for the flood of 2013, just a month ago it was flowing at extremely high levels, with the more recent flood defences on the embankment holding up well… There a few spots to cross the creek, a couple of them active modes only…

It runs dry most of the time…

The pathways on either side provide a connection between trails and neighbourhoods…

Bears can be a common occurrence in many places in Canada, but when they put Grizzlies on the signs, things seem a bit more serious…

The Legacy Trail connects Canmore to Banff… A popular option for tourists… At about 24 km, it’s about an hour or so by bike and potentially less by bike… A bike commute for a few maybe…

Heading to the south side of town now, towards the Three Sisters neighbourhood along the Bow River Pathway…

Stopping to take in the sights… And the smells… Of the Sulphur pond…

Pretty sure those Grizzlies obey the signage right…

Down in Three Sisters, new homes and amenities are providing compact and higher density housing options including subsidized housing for employees to manage the affordability issues. The streets being built to those same modern standards as those in the Town Centre…

Until recently, anybody living in this area would have to travel into the Town Centre for groceries… But today, they now have that amenity within easy reach with a new grocery store shortening trips and reducing car dependence… There are a few other stores open just now and a host of other store space waiting for tenants…

Leaving the new neighbourhood, a turbo roundabout with a circular bike path and raised crossings representing another of those modern safe system designs, again reducing conflicts in the roundabout when used as intended…