Some roads are not worth sharing

I'm not going to nominate these people for morons of the week, and I'm not recanting on my longheld position that sharing the road is more logical, cost-efficient and comprehensive than any form of off-road and segregated cycling infrastructure, BUT...

I had the occasion to be in the Niagara area over the past few days and spent some time on the Niagara Parkway. The Niagara Parkway, with its beautiful views of the Niagara River and its obvious importance as the link between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and the tourist communities between, should be a well-surfaced road.

From a cyclist's perspective, it's not. From Niagara-on-the-Lake to Fort Erie, there are crumbling road edges, potholes and those always-annoying tarry strips that run parallel to the road surface. It is not the worst road surface in Canada for cycling, but it is clearly not in the first rank of the best road surfaces. It is also a really narrow two-lane road.

Generally adjacent to the Niagara Parkway is a multi-use trail. Hardpacked gravel surface. I saw a few sections with potholes, but generally (probably because its traffic is pedestrians and cyclists) in pretty decent shape. Yet I continued to see cyclists who dared the crumbling road edges to take their rightful place on the road.

No, I didn't stop to ask if they were making a political statement. Some of them were clearly out for training rides. Is there some Law of the Lycra-clad that says training rides must be done on roads?

I have to think that cyclists are, above all, pragmatic. Hey, that's why we ride bicycles in the first place. So when there is a clearly safer, smoother and equally convenient alternative to a so-so road, why share the road? Let the motorists have it!

 

Comments

[AlanM]

I've cycled both the Parkway and the path, and each has pros/cons.

The path is great for casual, leisurely pedaling, yet with it's many driveways, sharp turns around trees, sometimes-blind crossings over sideroads (usually positioned before, not after, the stop sign on the entering road) and at times peds, dogs and leisurely cyclists, it's neither conducive nor particularly safe for faster or tempo training rides.

The road is in rough shape, as you saw, yet is often quiet on weekdays south from Chippawa to Fort Erie. At other times, traffic can be heavy and you can be sure a lot of the touring motorists are distracted by scenery and "Oh! Look there!" from passengers. Then there are the locals for whom the Parkway is their high speed commuting corridor.

These are exactly the same pros/cons we experience on the Thousand Islands Parkway which is also a designated segment of the Ontario Waterfront Trail route. The roadway is shoulderless, used as a high-speed commuting route, filled with tour buses and sightseers at times. The parallel "recreational trail" is crumbling, narrow, busy with peds, dogs & leisurely cyclists at times. Same solution though -- use the roadway in quiet times, choose other routes at other times.

[Bill]

@AlanM While I tend to agree with your solution, another solution might be to invest in wider roadways, with accommodation for cyclists (hear that, Conestogo?). The Niagara Parkway road edges are framed by narrow gravel "shoulders" (strips, really) that could be included in the overall road paving to make an inclusive roadway. You might think that the Niagara Parks Commission, eager for tourists and their dollars, would make every effort to make the area more inclusive.

[Jeff C.]

There's no law of the Lycra-clad that says training HAS to be done on the roads, no.

But pedestrians don't generally appreciate being passed closely at 30+ km/h on multi-use trails from what I've seen.

[Phil Hiems]

Bill's post seemed quite reasonable, but after reading the commenters, I think they have a valid point. Considering the marketing Niagara Falls is doing to attract cyclists, I would have thought they'd have worked this out already.

Maybe I'll take my cycling tourism dollars somewhere else this summer...

[AlanM]

@Bill - I agree with you completely. The best solution is to ensure that public roads, funded entirely by general tax revenues at both local and provincial levels, are designed and built in a way that's conducive to safe movement of people using all legitimate means -- walking, cycling and motoring.

The current excuse from the province for not moving in this direction with both policy and funding is "no money". A few basis points worth of reallocation from the roads budgets at all levels of government would not bring allocations anywhere close to proportionate (based on use), but would certainly make a big difference.

[j.c. beynon]

Though I don't know the road you're referring to, I've come across the same situation elsewhere...

The simple reason a "roadie"-type cyclist would choose a crumbled road to train on versus a shared trail is pretty simple...Multi-use trails quite often have speed limits of around 20kph for cyclists...They're also quite often full of pedestrians who sometimes don't get out of the way no matter how many polite bell rings you give them...

Between the speed limits and the other trail users acting as human traffic calming barricades, it's impossible to ride at the speed necessary to get the necessary training benefits...

It's sort of a tough situation because you get motorists who think bikes should be on the trail and you have pedestrians on the trail who think bikes should be on the road...

Sometimes I think I should have just stayed home and rode on my rollers.....

[Ryan]

I'm not sure about the Niagara Parkway trail, however the Welland Canal trail (St. Catharines-to-Welland-to-Port Colborne) has a speed limit of 20kmh.

The stretch between Thorold and Welland is remote and pretty well only used by cyclists so people do race in this section.

In St. Catharines the 'lycra crowd' rides on the road along the trail. Most travel at the speed of cars so it isn't an issue.

When I took a ride from NOTL to Niagara Falls, I was playing tourist (stopping for pictures) so the trail was most practical.

[motorist/cyclist]

There are lanes that can not be shared with morons like this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dHVeoxIYoI&feature=plcp

[Frank Xavier]

It would seem that promoting safer, healthier activities besides sitting around in casinos is not on the agenda for the Niagara Parks Commission and many similar organizations in Canada. A visit to a few venues where serious bicycle networks have been installed and become recreational cornerstones, not withstanding significant tourist draws, might be an eye opener for some of the bureaucratic decision makers . Unfortunately, the vast majority have not been astride a bicycle for decades if ever...and likely cannot fathom why anyone would want to do it save a 5 year old on the sidewalk. It is amazing how quickly one of the most useful inventions of man has fallen into the category of being a political nuisance.

[Alan M]

I agree with you, Bill. The long-term solution is one that saves money for taxpayers -- an MTO mandate and standards dictating that *all* rural roads (provincial, county, township, region/city) have paved shoulders.

The short-term solution for cyclists is to choose and use routes appropriately, as best we can. For me, that includes advising visiting cyclists to forego the Waterfront Trail route along the 1000 Islands Parkway corridor, and instead use County Rd 2 between Gananoque and Brockville.