Bike lanes to be installed on Sydenham hill, a.k.a “Clara’s Climb”
Many riders use the popular road in the greater Hamilton area
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Toronto Hustle @Toronto_Hustle
There will be bike lanes up and down Sydenham Road, one of the larger climbs in the Hamilton area, according to a report in the Hamilton Spectator. The hill, which leaves downtown Dundas and heads North for 1.5 km, was made famous in 2015 when it was officially named “Clara’s climb” by the city of Dundas, after Clara Hughes, multiple Olympic medallist.
The road has been a popular spot since Mirek Mazur, Polish Canadian coach of many Olympians, professionals and national champions, began using it in the ‘90s for intervals and hill training with his Ontario provincial team. Mazur coached many well-known Canadian cyclists such as Olympic medallist Brian Walton, Olympians Sue Palmer-Komar, Tanya Dubnicoff, Eric Wohlberg and Tour de France rider Michael Barry, to name a few.
The ascent is a three lane road with gradients varying between ten to thirteen per cent.
The city of Hamilton will take $1.7 million from its $30 million Canada Community Building Fund to build bike lanes all the way up Sydenham Hill, starting Livingstone Drive and 100 m south of Glendrummond Drive, according to the report. The planning for the bike paths is well underway, with the project expecting to be finalized by March 2022.
The move comes at a time when there are more cyclists than ever in the greater Hamilton area. “The reason we are focusing on Sydenham at the moment rather than the higher-priority Dundas projects is because the city is about to redo the road with traffic calming in mind,” Cycle Hamilton co-chair Johanna Bleecker said.
