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+--- Thread: Cycling in Waterloo Region (/showthread.php?tid=186)
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RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 05-19-2018
I guess I never considered I could go even higher still...! I’ll have to try.
My seat is already so high that the one time I put my bike on the bus, the bus driver went 1 stop and then called me up to the front... and had me remove my seat and bring it inside. She couldn’t see past my bike!
Anyway, I’m sure I’ve just always had knee problems - they make horrible crunching noises.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - danbrotherston - 05-19-2018
Just in case anyone thought parking in the uptown bike lanes wasn't going to be an issue this morning there were three unique forms of blocking the bike lane:
The first, the usual, "I don't give a f*** I'll move the damn pylons out of my way and park illegally anyway".
https://twitter.com/danbrotherston/status/997930637091917824
Then, on the other side, drivers decided to park in the bike lane even though there's parking up ahead...they don't care.
https://twitter.com/danbrotherston/status/997930751910928384
And as a bonus, plain old incompetence, the driver parked over the line by over a foot into the lane. Not quite blocked, but with the trees, certainly an obstruction.
https://twitter.com/danbrotherston/status/997930896140505088
Edit: Apparently I can't make the twitter link.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Pheidippides - 05-19-2018
Can someone remind me again, why a full and proper curb between motor vehicle lane and cycling lane was not used?
It seems like all of those violations could have been avoided with 10-20cm of vertical curb instead of the roll curb.
I was hopeful that my 6 year old could use these lanes, but seeing how easily and willingly motorists are willing to veer in to them is giving me pause to giving them a try when they open.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - danbrotherston - 05-19-2018
(05-19-2018, 07:00 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: Can someone remind me again, why a full and proper curb between motor vehicle lane and cycling lane was not used?
It seems like all of those violations could have been avoided with 10-20cm of vertical curb instead of the roll curb.
I was hopeful that my 6 year old could use these lanes, but seeing how easily and willingly motorists are willing to veer in to them is giving me pause to giving them a try when they open.
I won't bother with my sarcastic reply again
.What I will say, is please let our regional and city councils know this. They need to know this.
We should also mention how sharrows aren't useful for anything but navigation.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 05-19-2018
Yeah - Pheidippides, given how much stuff you post from Regional Council I assume you must know all the folks there... please please please use your connections to push how stupid a decision this was.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - clasher - 05-20-2018
There’s a fit app called bike fit fast that might help. I just got a fit at ziggy’s and my seat height was way too low. It’s tricky to get it right on your own, and I put a lot kilometres on in a year.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 05-20-2018
We rode 35 km today in Ottawa - I jacked my seat even higher and it was amazing and my knees feel fine!! I feel so stupid! I’m so close to standing up now that to actually stand up and get out of my seat when going uphill is super easy and requires no effort. So happy!!
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - tomh009 - 05-20-2018
Great!
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Pheidippides - 05-20-2018
Looking back at the materials it is clear that the roll-over curb was always the plan:
"mountable roll-over curbs to improve pedestrian mobility and cycling access to/from the bike lanes"
"offroad segregated bike lanes separated from traffic by a mountable concrete curb."
"offroad segregated bike lanes separated from traffic by a mountable concrete curb."
I guess I am feeling disappointed in myself that I did not pay attention enough during the consultations to notice such a glaring design flaw and bring my concerns forward. At the same time when you see language like this it is easy to see why the issue was not clear:
"On both sides of King Street N, the segregated bike lanes will be elevated from the road surface, and have a curb on the outer edge to physically delineate the space for cyclists only. The lanes may be further delineated with a painted surface. East side parking stalls will also separate that bike lane from the flow of traffic..."
Was this issue noticed and brought forward by others in their feedback and the feedback simply ignored?
Interestingly, part of the decision may have been related to access needed by Fire Services:
"At the time of this report, the current width allocation serving each mode of transportation, as intended, provides space requirements for the travel, staging and set-up of emergency vehicles made possible by the South-bound roll-over curb and gutter and the segregated bike lane."
I think for myself I was probably just too excited about the project actually happening that when I heard segregated/separated I assumed protected. Or maybe it was a case of settling (i.e. it is light-years ahead of what we have so just take what we can get).
My biggest fear at the moment, other than someone getting hurt or killed because of the design, is that no one will use them because they are unsafe and that this lack of use will be used as evidence against building further actual-protected lanes for cycling.
As for potential fixes at this stage I think there are two possible solutions:
1) Install parking chock type curbs along the roadside edge of the lane - depending upon the intended flow of drainage this might not be possible.
2) Install those flexible lane divider poles along the roadside edge of the lane - this would involve drilling them in to the fresh concrete which will create cracks for water/ice to break up the concrete and shorten the life of the lane
Painting the lanes a more noticeable colour (lime green?) should probably be done as well (if it doesn't make the slippery).
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - danbrotherston - 05-21-2018
I did bring up this issue several times with staff. Each time they assured me it wouldn't be an issue, and reiterated that the roll curb was important so that if someone *did* park there, that cyclists could still escape to the road. It drove me freaking nuts!
I think they're going to learn their lesson soon enough. The fact is, in a downtown area, only physical barriers will prevent parking. Flex posts would do the trick, but the BIA will oppose it.
They promise they will do enforcement, but unless they literally hire an officer to walk King continuously and ticket and tow every encroachment, it won't really have any effect.
I share your fears.
Honestly I cannot comprehend the wish for a roll curb though, and it's not just bike lanes, why is the LRT ROW segregated by a roll curb. What is this obsession with allowing cars where they aren't supposed to go.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - jamincan - 05-21-2018
To be honest, my preferred design is the roll curb for the reasons given, provided that cars respect the bike lane. They use roll curbs in Copenhagen for the most part, but drivers respect the cycling lanes. If they have to do a period of intense enforcement to get a cultural shift, that's preferable to me. If they spent a month towing every vehicle that parked on the bike lane, and I mean every vehicle, the behaviour would almost certainly come to a complete stop. As for bollards, why flexible ones? Why not permanent ones spaced enough for cyclists to get through, but not vehicles? If someone has to cross them for some reason, make them so that they removable, but not without getting some tools out first.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - danbrotherston - 05-21-2018
(05-21-2018, 07:06 AM)jamincan Wrote: To be honest, my preferred design is the roll curb for the reasons given, provided that cars respect the bike lane. They use roll curbs in Copenhagen for the most part, but drivers respect the cycling lanes. If they have to do a period of intense enforcement to get a cultural shift, that's preferable to me. If they spent a month towing every vehicle that parked on the bike lane, and I mean every vehicle, the behaviour would almost certainly come to a complete stop. As for bollards, why flexible ones? Why not permanent ones spaced enough for cyclists to get through, but not vehicles? If someone has to cross them for some reason, make them so that they removable, but not without getting some tools out first.
Flex bollards are probably a little safer...but the key point is that they're removable, so that snow can be cleared from the bike lane by the road plow. So yes, removable bollards like they use in DTK would also work--they're just much more expensive...of course, the BIA is more likely to support that type of bollard anyway.
I think the parking issue will need continual enforcement for the rest of eternity...okay, maybe not that long, but it's not going to be one period, as soon as it is left without continual enforcement, the problem will come back. I really don't think there will be a cultural shift. Even in the Netherlands, where bikes are King and have been for many decades...drivers still park in painted bike lanes.
Out of curiosity, why do you prefer the roll curb?
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Canard - 05-21-2018
(05-20-2018, 10:17 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: 2) Install those flexible lane divider poles along the roadside edge of the lane - this would involve drilling them in to the fresh concrete which will create cracks for water/ice to break up the concrete and shorten the life of the lane
I see the logic behind this, but I absolutely hate the way those things look, and think they'd just totally ruin the atmosphere they've tried so hard to create.
There's got to be a better way... maybe those hedgehog-bump things that Washington DC installed?
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - clasher - 05-21-2018
Those modular parking bumpers/curbs should be dropped in place, people will have a hard time driving over them and they can be topped with the occasional reflective floppy bollard for visibility. One could even paint the curbs... and any fire truck or ambulance can likely drive over those things. It looks like that is what Ottawa used on Laurier Ave to separate the bike lane from traffic. Flexible lane dividers can also be epoxied to the curbs instead of anchored so they won't crack from water ingress as quickly.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - plam - 05-21-2018
Gonna throw this out there again. Somehow bike infrastructure is a tempting target for parking even when it's quite heavy-duty, as seen in Toronto:
![[Image: 20180409_172113_car_in_bike_lane-la.jpg]](http://gallery.patricklam.ca/_data/i/galleries/180409-amqui/20180409_172113_car_in_bike_lane-la.jpg)