07-13-2016, 06:47 PM
I just came back from a ride in the Milton area, and I actually noticed how courteous drivers were toward me there, despite fairly heavy traffic on Derry Road and Guelph Line. I remember thinking that the 1 metre rule seems to have made a difference. There are a lot of blind hills and curves on those roads and I had absolutely no one try to squeeze by me and a number of people patiently wait behind me for a safer spot to pass. I wonder, though, if it's simply that drivers are used to cyclists on those roads and make accommodations for them. Yes, infrastructure is much better in the Netherlands, but drivers also have to contend with more cyclists, which is going to alter their behaviour. Look at how differently drivers act on King Street in downtown Kitchener versus King Street in Uptown Waterloo. Some of that is due to the built form of the road, but it also has to do with the volume of pedestrian traffic in downtown Kitchener and how much more unpredictable it is.
We end up with a chicken and egg scenario. Drivers aren't used to cyclists, because there aren't many, so they don't alter their behaviour to accommodate them. Cyclists don't ride because drivers don't acknowledge them and bike infrastructure is scarce and poorly maintained (guess how many pot holes get fixed on the shoulder of the road). Bike infrastructure doesn't get built or properly maintained because there are insufficient cyclists to justify the cost and drivers get outraged at devoting road space to non-existent users.
I'm not sure how you break the deadlock. There seems to be some progress, but I think a comprehensive cycling strategy is necessary; one that includes cycling considerations at every level from maintenance, to planning, to design and construction (couldn't they turn the sewer grates 90 degrees so the holes aren't parallel to the direction bikes travel!?) It's obvious the planners and roadway engineers have never actually used a bike on the road before, so it might be helpful for the MTO to publish guidelines for building cycling infrastructure that take into consideration some of those details that are lost in municipal road departments.
We end up with a chicken and egg scenario. Drivers aren't used to cyclists, because there aren't many, so they don't alter their behaviour to accommodate them. Cyclists don't ride because drivers don't acknowledge them and bike infrastructure is scarce and poorly maintained (guess how many pot holes get fixed on the shoulder of the road). Bike infrastructure doesn't get built or properly maintained because there are insufficient cyclists to justify the cost and drivers get outraged at devoting road space to non-existent users.
I'm not sure how you break the deadlock. There seems to be some progress, but I think a comprehensive cycling strategy is necessary; one that includes cycling considerations at every level from maintenance, to planning, to design and construction (couldn't they turn the sewer grates 90 degrees so the holes aren't parallel to the direction bikes travel!?) It's obvious the planners and roadway engineers have never actually used a bike on the road before, so it might be helpful for the MTO to publish guidelines for building cycling infrastructure that take into consideration some of those details that are lost in municipal road departments.