North Extension of Colborne Street Bike Lanes (Oxford Street East to Cheapside Street)

Background

The City of London is adding cycling improvements to Colborne Street between Oxford Street East and Cheapside Street, with implementation tentatively scheduled for summer of 2023. This work builds on the existing bike lanes on Colborne Street that extend from Horton Street East to Oxford Street East and will also join bike lanes that are being built this year on Cheapside Street. 

In September 2022 the City of London consulted with the community on the proposed improvements, which would add painted bike lanes (one northbound and one southbound) to this section of Colborne Street, where cyclists and motorists currently share space in mixed traffic lanes. Designated space for cyclists improves safety and makes it easier to choose sustainable travel. To accommodate new bike lanes, on-street parking would be removed from Colborne Street between Oxford Street East and Cheapside Street.

The project design put forward to date works within the existing road width to provide a dedicated space for cyclists while avoiding disruptive and costly construction of road widening. New paint will be applied to the road surface to delineate two 3.3 m vehicle lanes and two curb-running dedicated cycling lanes (+/- 1.7 m wide). Signs will be added to restrict on-street parking. This updated road configuration is illustrated in the rendering below.

Above: Rendering of new road configuration on Colborne Street

What you told us

Through consultation, the City of London heard from the community on several aspects of the project, outlined below.

Comments about the existing conditions on this section of Colborne Street:

• Concerns about vehicle speeds and increasing vehicle volumes
• Confusion around the St. James and Colborne Street intersection
• Frustration with the demands Colborne Street faces, as it serves pedestrians, cyclists, transit, motor vehicles, fire trucks, and a steam line
• Concerns about paratransit access, as well as parking challenges for delivery vehicles and landscape trucks if on-street parking is removed
• Recognition that while on-street parking isn’t a right, it is highly valued Comments about the type of bike lane to add:
• Desire for protected bike lanes (e.g., adding curb and bollard protection or something similar) or in-boulevard bike lanes (installing bike lanes off the road, in the grass[1]covered area next to the curb)
• Concern that painted bike lanes would not be effective
• Support for painted lanes (the proposed solution), due to the reduced impacts and flexibility for fire or garbage trucks

Further review of existing conditions 

To better understand the concerns related to existing conditions, the City of London conducted further reviews, including a traffic study in the fall of 2022 between St. James Street and Oxford Street, and found:

• Lower daily volumes than previous traffic studies (4,040), with high volumes during peak periods (8 – 9 a.m., 4 – 5 p.m.)
• Average traffic speed of 45.7 km/h, and 85th percentile speed of 52.9 km/h
• Southbound vehicles travelling 2 km/h faster than northbound vehicles
• Approximately 290 cyclists in a 24-hour period
• Typically, zero to three vehicles parked on-street in each block of Colborne Street during peak periods
• A pedestrian crossover with flashing lights and a two-way stop at St. James Street is the most appropriate intersection control given the operations and traffic volumes 

Final design 

The City of London will be moving forward with reconfiguring Colborne Street by:

• Replacing on-street parking with painted bike lanes on Colborne Street between Oxford Street East and Cheapside Street 3
• Adding four (4) seasonal bollards in the block between Oxford Street and St. James Street which will offer a more comfortable cycling experience and support lower speeds Rationale
• Painted lanes give cyclists a designated space to use on the road, which they don’t currently have with the existing mixed traffic arrangement.
• This section of Colborne Street sees 40% less vehicle traffic than south of Oxford Street, where additional protection was installed along the bike lanes to address the higher volumes and speeds along that portion of the corridor.
• Protected bike lanes would require a costly widening of the road to create the buffer space required. Resources for protected bike lanes are best placed in corridors with higher traffic speeds and volumes.

 Rationale 

• Painted lanes give cyclists a designated space to use on the road, which they don’t currently have with the existing mixed traffic arrangement.
• This section of Colborne Street sees 40% less vehicle traffic than south of Oxford Street, where additional protection was installed along the bike lanes to address the higher volumes and speeds along that portion of the corridor.
• Protected bike lanes would require a costly widening of the road to create the buffer space required. Resources for protected bike lanes are best placed in corridors with higher traffic speeds and volumes 

Impacts of this design 

Adding bike lanes will remove on-street parking from Colborne Street, requiring vehicles to find alternate locations to park on-street. On-street parking is available on Grosvenor Street, St. James Street, and further north on Colborne Street, and is within 200-metres from any house or business (a three- to four-minute walk).

During the times of 6:30 – 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 – 6:30 p.m. no stopping will be allowed on the section of Colborne Street with bike lanes; this requires loading/ unloading, pick-ups/ drop[1]offs, and deliveries to take place on nearby side streets. At other times of the day, no parking will be enforced, which does allow temporary stopping for loading/ unloading and pick-ups/ drop-offs, but does not allow parking.

Adding bike lanes on Colborne Street requires the removal of left turn lanes onto Cheapside Street. There are currently low numbers of vehicles turning left here, so this should have little impact on traffic operations.

Next steps 

Extending the bike lanes north on Colborne Street north of Oxford Street involves removing existing pavement markings, adding new bike lane markings, and completing minor asphalt repairs. These changes are currently scheduled to begin in the summer of 2023. Notices with detailed information on construction will be delivered to nearby properties approximately two weeks prior to the start of this work. We look forward to implementing these cycling infrastructure improvements. If you have questions or comments, please contact the City of London project team using the contact information provided below.

View presentation of the proposed design 

You are invited to view a pre-recorded presentation of the final design and pre-construction information.

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