Young Canada Manfred Kielnhofer– bronze sculpture by – 1991 – Ken Whillans Square (south side of City Hall)
Reflections– limestone & bronze sculpture by Mary Ellen Farrow – 1998 – City Hall entrance off Buffy’s Lane
Inter-Generational Love – bronze sculpture by Marion Bartlett – 2016 – Holland Christian Homes, 7900 McLaughlin Rd S.
The Veteran– tree carving by Jim Menken – 2005 – Gage Park
Syrinx’s Harp – metal sculpture by Don Dickson – 2002 – Rose Theatre
City of Brampton has a Public Art Self-Guided Tour. You can easily see all of BikeBrampton’s top 5 picks from the comfort of your bicycle.
The top featured image was taken in Gage Park, 2016.
Radhika Panjwani of The Brampton Guardian published a lovely story about Marion Bartlett’s sculpture unveiling Nov 2, 2016. Photo courtesy of Rob Beintema, Metroland.
Different Bikes Throughout History – 5 murals by Norbert Augustine – 2015 – Vivian Lane (between Main St & Garden Square)
Urban Bouquet – painting on board by Charles Johnston – 2013 – exterior of George Street N. parking garage
Rose Theatre Mural – mural by Michael Ciupka – 2010 – Rose Theatre Belvedere Stairwell
Beaux Art Walk – murals by Sonia Farquarson, Rebecca Baccardax, Kelly McNeil, Aparna Rangnekar, Steve Wilson, Margaret Pardy, Georgia Fullerton – 2013 – Vivian Lane
beaux-arts brampton is a visual artist-run cooperative in theheart of downtown Brampton. Open to the public, the building has multiple working studios and two beautiful galleries. 70 – 74 Main St. N.
The top featured image is from a Critical Mass Ride through Vivian Lane, in front of Norbert’s beautiful murals. Read more about Norbert’s cycling murals.
Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health and Wellness is scheduled to open Feb 2017
BikeBrampton is pleased to advocate for Brampton to become a ‘Bicycle Friendly Community’ in such an interesting and growing community!
Share the Road Cycling Coalition grants ‘Bicycle Friendly Community’ awards to communities that actively support bicycling. It is based on the 5 ‘Es’: Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement and Evaluation & Planning.
There are 36 communities in Ontario that are Bicycle Friendly:
Gold: Ottawa, Toronto
Silver: Town of Blue Mountains, Burlington, Guelph, Hamilton, Pelham, Peterborough, Waterloo
Bronze: Ajax, Cambridge, Collingwood, Cornwall, Grimsby, Halton Hills, London, Kingston, Markham, Milton, Mississauga, Mississippi Mills, Newmarket, Niagara Falls, Oakville, Oshawa, Richmond Hill, St. Catharines, Temiskaming Shores, Thorold, Thunder Bay, Wasaga Beach, Welland, Whitby, Windsor
The image featured is from the bike lane in front of the new Peel Memorial Centre.
These delightful short stretches can be linked up with paths and other roads by checking out Peel Walk and Roll’s ‘zoomable’ map. BikeBrampton is advocating for more bike lanes to enhance road cycling for commuting, destinations and recreation. Join us at our monthly BikeBrampton meetings so that your voice can be heard.
The image featured is from Rutherford bike lane, May 2016.
Plan your cycling trip with this convenient and ‘zoomable’ trail map from Peel Walk and Roll. BikeBrampton favours multiuse paths on both sides of roads. For safety, cyclists need to be aware of motor traffic at all intersections and make sure drivers see them.
The image featured is from Bovaird multiuse Trail.
Top 5 Things to Do at Heart Lake Conservation Area
Cycling
Hiking
Bird Watching
Picnics – 10 picnic sites
Zip-Lining (Treetop Trekking) – you actually zoom out over Heart Lake!
This conservation gem in Brampton, teams with wildlife and beauty. Roads in the park are accessible to various levels of cyclists. Trails, particularly at the south end require more skill and are best cycled on mountain bikes. Cyclists can visit Heart Lake Conservation Area main entrance via Heart Lake Road, between Sandalwood Parkway and Mayfield Road. Cyclists are welcome to enter free of charge!
The south end trail can also be accessed from the parking lot on the south side of Sandalwood Parkway, just west of Heart Lake Road. The route starts with a tunnel under Sandalwood and then enters the trail system. Again, skill is required for cycling this route.
The southwest side of the park can be accessed through a small entrance in the fence from of Richvale Park.
Check out the Gitigaan Mashkiki (Medicine Wheel Garden), which honours Mother Earth’s seasonal cycles. As the garden changes, the circle of life also continues. The park also offers Wild Wetland Splash and Pool, and fishing in Heart Lake. Rainbow Trout are stocked from TRCA’s fish hatchery at Glen Haffy Conservation Area.
Top 5 Coffee & Tea Shops you can Bike to in Brampton
T by Daniel, 46 Main St. N (Garden Square bike rack at back of shop)
Tim Hortons, Peel Memorial Centre (new covered bike rack beside front door)
Williams Fresh Café, Bramalea Civic Centre, 150 Central Park Dr. (library bike rack)
Coffee Culture, 9 Queen St. E (across the street at Garden Square bike rack)
Second Cup, 74 Quarry Edge Dr. (across the plaza, at Fortinos bike rack)
Coffee or tea tastes so good. Maybe you can splurge on something to go with it since you have burned some calories cycling there! BikeBrampton suggests you ask your favourite shop to install a bike rack.
The image featured is Daniel from T by Daniel, offering samples at Bike to Work Day in Garden Square 2016.
Montreal, Canada had the honour of hosting the annual Winter Cycling Congress for 2017. The event was live-tweeted using the Twitter hashtag #wcc17, some of which we “re-tweeted” on our own Twitter account. The WCC was full of wonderful insights to encourage winter cycling this year. These are our top 5.
1. There Is No Magic…
Making a city safe and enjoyable for winter cycling requires a little more than good will and wishful thinking. It requires planning, engineering, maintenance, and promotion. There were 2 cities mentioned that stood out as setting the standard in this regard.
Oulu, Finland
Oulo, Finland is the winter bike capital of the world. 200K residents 150 kms below arctic circle. 77% of the population of Oulu use bicycles, and 42% use them in the winter. In Oulu, they don’t use salt on cycling routes. Instead, Oulu keeps their paths hard packed for traction and accessibility. Priority routes in Oulu are plowed and cleared by 7am. They are ready to use for the morning commute, and networks can be relied on.
Copenhagen recognizes that bicycle infrastructure provides the best return on investment of any infra investment when you factor in health, jobs, time saved etc.
In Brampton, more people cycling could mean we realize extra savings in costs of first responders to automobile collisions, long-term health care, and insurance rates, for example.
Emphasis is placed on the ease, pleasure and community benefits of cycling in successful winter cycling cities. Cycling in winter should be fast, easy, and comfortable. The primary reason that will stop residents from riding in winter is ice and snow not being cleared. In car-oriented suburbs like Brampton, councillors represent their constituents desires. Therefore, Active Transportation must be made appealing. The right choice must be the easiest choice. In Copenhagen, people don’t ride their bicycle because it is greener; they do it because it’s the fastest and easiest way to travel.
In both Copenhagen and Oulu, they recognize that you can’t only have success using “carrots”. Sometimes “sticks” are needed. For example: In Oulu, most residential streets are dead-ends. This cuts down on through traffic & improves conditions for cyclists & pedestrians. Cars can drive in snow and ice, and they’ll make it. Bike riders generally won’t attempt to ride if their route isn’t clear.
3. Change The Manuals
The engineering profession still focuses primarily on automobile throughput. Trying to dismantle this is an uphill battle and results in asking the wrong questions. We should be asking how to build the kind of city we want: What kind of economy? People driving to shop centrally (in malls), or people cycling to shop (locally)? Also important: The narrative about cycling must change. It needs to move away from a summer recreation activity to a year-round transport choice.
4. Demand Safe Streets…
…Instead of putting the onus on cyclists.
It’s important to remember that as recently as 1978 Copenhagen was still a car-centric city. It was the residents that demanded change. They wanted public space instead parking lots. Gathering spaces instead of highways. And bike trails instead of free, abundant parking. There is safety in numbers. As the number of cyclists increased, the number of serious collisions declined.
Safe Streets, Not Helmets
We should not demand that cyclists protect themselves. Instead, we should demand that the city protects cyclists, and make cycling safe.
“If it’s not safe for kids, then who is is safe for?” – Ty of @elgruponorte on the need for advocating for better infrastructure
5. Maintain It!
Temperature is not a significant deterrent to winter cycling. Poor maintenance is. Until -25C, temperature doesn’t discourage cycling in Oulu. Before then, there is no “bad weather”, cycle track maintenance is key. Sweepers and brine work better than plows and salt for bike lanes. Copenhagen, like many Ontario communities, gets sleet, freezing rain, snow, etc. Their bike lanes are cleared first and have been for the past 10-11 years. It is seen as providing an essential service. Regular preventative maintenance is that reduces reconstruction costs by half. As the network grows, the maintenance budget also has to grow to keep up.
Were you following, or were you at the Winter Cycling Congress? What were your favourite takeaways? Let us know in the comments!
Top 5 Romantic Movies you can borrow from Brampton Libraries
Aloha
Australia
The Theory of Everything
Love & Friendship
Winter’s Tale
Brampton Library branches have a super supply of DVDs for borrowing, free of charge! Grab your library card and cycle to your nearest branch. They have bike parking right by the door.
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