Take the Lane

We all are traffic

This video, Brussels Express: Bike Messengers, is really about more than bicycle messengers. It's about urban roadways, who uses them and how they can be used.

I like the notion of taking all the people who use Grand River Transit, all the people who walk or jog or push their baby strollers, and putting them, one person per car, into cars. Push those additional cars out into King Street or the Conestoga Parkway, and then ask yourself: what's the answer to urban gridlock? (If you think the answer is bigger roads, than just tear down every building lining King Street on either side, from Stirling Avenue to University Avenue, and you'll have all the pavement you'll need in our lifetimes. There will be nothing to do but drive up and down the street, but by George, you'll have your bigger road!)

I also like the video's notion that because a roadway is a shared facility, we all -- cyclists, motorists, peds, scooters, skateboards, inline skaters, delivery people -- we all are traffic.

 

 

We should drive as though we are sharing the road with cyclists

Here's a thought: drive like you're sharing the road with cyclists, even if there are not cyclists on the road at that moment.

So, what does that mean? It means driving at the posted speed limit. It means following the guidance of the roadway markings: pass when there's a dotted line, cross over a bike lane if a dotted line so indicates, stop before a bike box, not in it.

It means driving like you expect non-motorized users to appear at any moment. I hear a lot of non-cyclists say they won't mix with the traffic that goes zipping by. I'm pretty sure that's because the traffic is well over the posted limit. If cars were going at 50 km/h or even 40 km/h, perhaps "mixing it up" wouldn't be so daunting. When someone sees cars parked in bicycle lanes or cruising along in bike lanes well before the point where they plan to turn out, it just undermines the value of the bike lanes.

Why ride a bike in such an environment? And why do people drive like that to create such an environment?

 

Are cyclists becoming pedestrians?

If you saw this Terry Pender story on The Record website or in the paper itself, you might have wondered if Kitchener cyclists are on their way to becoming Kitchener pedestrians.

The article says that a multi-use paved trail will replace the sidewalks on either side of Block Line Road in Kitchener, from Strasburg Road to Homer Watson Boulevard. There is already a multi-use paved trail on one side of Block Line from Homer Watson to Fallowfield Drive, and the expectation is that another will be added from Fallowfield to Courtland Avenue, where one of the LRT stations will be established when the rapid transit service launches in 2017.

My first concern was that the existing trails/sidewalks funnel cyclists to crosswalks, where, by provincial legislation, they have to dismount and walk their bikes across. Seriously? That'll never happen. Making cyclists dismount at every intersection turns cyclists into pedestrians.

Josh Joseph and Ron Schirm, of Kitchener's transportation department, inform me that the plans are that the trails will offer cyclists the option to return to the street within 30 metres of an intersection, so that they can join the traffic flow and ride through the intersection, and then rejoin the multi-use trail 30 metres farther on.

The big roundabout at Homer Watson and Block Line will be handled differently, in that cyclists will be instructed to remain on the multi-use trail, and will have to dismount and walk their bikes across Homer Watson. (Frankly, that roundabout is so scary, that using the crosswalk seems like a smart alternative.) For smaller roundabouts, such as the one at Fallowfield and Block Line, cyclists can join the traffic and ride through the roundabout.

That's the plan, anyway. The same plan was recommended for the multi-use trail on Huron Road, from Strasburg Road to Fischer-Hallman Road. Those ramps to allow cyclists to ride off the trail and join the traffic flow haven't been built.

Between announcement and implementation, a lot can happen, and I fear someone will decide that the on/off ramps for cyclists add too much cost to the project. So my guess is that the multi-use trail will be separate and distinct from the roadway, and cyclists will have the legislative obligation to dismount to use the crosswalks at Country Hill Drive and Kingswood Drive, for instance.

I have other concerns, so here's my voice crying in the wilderness: There are already painted bike lanes on Block Line Road, all the way from Westmount Road to Homer Watson. And they work. Except for the occasional right-turning bozo who decides the bike lane was meant for his compact car, cars stay out of the bike lanes and cyclists can ride care-free and car-free.

Why spend the cash to tear up the existing sidewalks and replace them with a paved multi-use trail, when there is already functioning bicycle infrastructure there? Think how many more painted and signed on-street bike lanes could be created with that cash.

And if the pedestrian population isn't already ticked off with the occasional hotdogging cyclist who crowds their space on the sidewalks, what are they going to think of the bicycle commuting crowd that fills the multi-use trail on their way to and from the LRT station? Oh man, I don't want to see the traffic jams when the St. Mary's High School crowd and the cycle commuters are filling all the crosswalks on the roundabout at Homer Watson.

I know, I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Segregated cycling lanes are seen by many non-cyclists or occasional cyclists as safer than on-road cycling lanes. Hesitant cyclists are even more hesitant when fast cars and trucks go zipping by. A separated bicycle lane (aka multi-use trail) will encourage more people to ride, and will help feed non-car traffic to the planned LRT station on Courtland.

But the speed limit on Block Line is 50 km/h. Assuming an average cycling speed of 25 km/h, those cars will go by at, well, the speed of a bicycle! How frightening is that? That's if the motorists aren't speeding, and that may be the back story to some of this interest in a multi-use lane on Block Line. Almost no one (other than me) goes at 50 km/h on that stretch of road. I've had cars jamming me from behind even when I was doing 60. Is it that there is no budget money for traffic enforcement on this road, but there is budget money for roadway infrastructure changes (the multi-use trail isn't being built on its own; it's a part of a general roadway widening of Block Line)?

This should be a gift, and I should be happy with it, but I want a good luck inside its mouth, first.

 

Crap, I hate when a deadline sneaks up on me

When I posted back in December on the Ontario call for submissions on its proposed cycling draft policy, I thought I had a lot of time to respond.

Then there was Christmas (busy, busy), got sick (oh great), went on holidays (yeah, Mexico), got sick again (some flu shot that was) and just looked up to realize that TODAY (Tuesday, Jan. 29) is the deadline for filing.

Yes, between drinking tea and chewing on Vitamin C tabs and popping zinc pills, I am scribbling out some thoughts on bike lanes, Idaho stops and helmet laws. You still have time to respond, too, if you feel so inclined. To all of you who have already responded, thank you, and I feel rightly ashamed.

Now's the time to put on your studs

It seems like overkill to put studs on in the winter, but studs have given me more cycling options.

You can always take the main drags, but riding through waves of slushy-salty snow, and dodging the cars that seem to think the roads are bare and dry, is not really my idea of cycle-fun.

So what are the options? Taking the sidewalks? That's even more fun when they are narrowed by snow piles. Bike lanes? That's where the plows push the snow. The spaghetti-like routes of the suburban sideroads will get you there someday and will avoid the traffic, but the checkerboard of hard-pack snow and sheets of ice on poorly serviced sideroads is dodgy riding for the best of treads.

My answer for all conditions is studs. If I'm forced to suddenly go from plowed pavement to snowy margins (cause some motorist was making it tight for me), I feel as if I have sufficient control. On those night trips home, where the roadway is so poorly illuminated that I'm never sure what I'm about to hit, I breathe easier.

Yes, the good studded rubber is expensive. I buy cheap (who would have thought?) and don't put them on until I absolutely have to, and take them off once it is pretty likely I can avoid the last few snow days. May the tread be with you.

Ontario wants your input on its draft cycling strategy

If you want to say anything about the Ontario Ministry of Transportation draft cycling strategy, you've got 60 days to do so.

The Ministry is among several provincial agencies that has had something to say about cycling in Ontario. The office of the Chief Coroner this summer released a cycling death review that had a lot to say to various ministries and governments about cycling safety. The Ontario Medical Association weighed in last year with its Enhancing Cycling Safety in Ontario, and various agencies of public health have contributed their thoughts about active lifestyles.

But this is the big one. The Ministry of Transportation actually designates money that builds things: whether that's paved, segregated bicycle lanes or bicycle storage at public transit facilities. And the ministry sets the tone for every new driver who is licensed in Ontario. If you want Ontario drivers to be trained to share the road, you have to have the Ministry of Transportation on side.

So really, you should read the draft strategy and offer your comments. And don't delay. Sixty days have a way of running out. In fact, if you are reading this on Saturday: only 59 days left.

You've probably read something about the draft strategy elsewhere. To recap, the strategy is looking at: better cycling infrastructure through a provincial cycling network, and through provincial support (cash, advice, policy) of municipally authorized cycling networks; better cycling safety, through education for cyclists and drivers and updates to the (incredibly outdated) Highway Traffic Act; and better overwatch, through monitoring and co-ordination (which sounds like a bonanza for consultants, but really does have a bearing on how improvements are made).

It is interesting that two recommendations of the Chief Coroner's report, made specifically to the Ministry of Transportation, are not in any way addressed in the draft strategy:

First, no mention of mandatory bicycle helmet legislation -- which really stirred up the beehive when it was suggested back in June of this year.

Second, no mention of the one-metre/three-foot passing law, which has been the subject of one private member's bill and many lobbying attempts. It appears that it continues to go nowhere fast.

Neither does the draft cycling strategy address the question of e-bikes. There has been a lot of energy generated about e-bikes, whether police are enforcing the law, whether the law is clear enough, whether e-bike users should be required to be licensed. Other than defining what an e-bike is and where it can be used, no discussion of the e-bike's future.

Of course, there are 60 days to discuss all of this. Go to the website, read the draft strategy and press the button to submit your responses.

Moron of the week, #39

I was going to write something nice about the CAA, having just received the latest issue of the CAA magazine, and finding that the main article (aside from the travel items, anyway) was about motor vehicles and bicycles sharing the road.

There's even an online poll at the CAA Magazine web page (although no copy at this writing of the Share the road article) asking for opinions on share the road campaigns and the co-existence of bikes and cars on our roads.

All good.

And then as I was waiting for the bus, I watched as a CAA tow driver laid on the horn to force a cyclist over to the curb on Ottawa Street in Kitchener. From my vantage point, the cyclist was simply riding along Ottawa, a street that does not have bike lanes at that point, and so was justifiably occupying enough of the road to ensure that overtaking vehicles would have to move over to pass.

Not good enough for the CAA representative, who may not have heard about sharing the road. The tow driver did know how to use the horn.

So sad.

 

Ow, that hurts: crosswalk cyclist hit by truck and ticket

Two cyclist injuries; two legal outcomes.

In the case from last Friday, a motorist has been charged with an unsafe turn after a motorist turned left into a cyclist on King Street North in Waterloo.

And in this case, a cyclist has been charged after being in collision with a truck today in Waterloo.

The difference? The cyclist today was riding through a crosswalk, which is a Highway Traffic Act offence, punishable by a $110 ticket. If you are going to ride your bikes on the sidewalks, you must dismount to use a crosswalk at an intersection. As yet, no charges against the motorist

 

Audi offers a high performance e-bike

In case you associated e-bikes with those unable to pedal, have a look at this offering from Audi: the Worthersee.

The video has me convinced that you could have a lot of fun with this e-bike, as well as tick off a lot of pedestrians.

R.I.P. for car-free Sundays?

If you read between the lines in today's Record story about turning the Iron Horse Trail into a festival location in May, and just read the lines in this post from Mike Boos, you might think that Waterloo is taking one step forward and two steps back about Car-Free Sundays.

Last year's Square2Square events sputtered for a variety of reasons -- everything from lack of co-operation from Kitchener to some unfortunate blistering heat -- but I was certainly excited about the possibility of trying something like it again this year. Close King Street to cars and open it to pedestrian/skateboard/cycling-focused events. What a simple idea -- turn the area's main street back to ALL the people who pay for it.

Instead, Waterloo appears to be focusing a "car-free"-themed festival that will be staged along the Iron Horse Trail (where cars are not allowed anyway!), in conjunction with the Congress 2012 of the Humanities and Social Sciences, to be co-hosted by the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University.

The Congress is running Saturday, May 26 to Saturday, June 2. The Record story has the Iron Horse Trail event happening on Sunday, May 25, which appears to be a date from a parallel universe. Once the actual date is settled, I'll post something.

Waterloo Coun. Melissa Durrell and Kitchener Coun. Daniel Glenn-Graham are probably the right people to pepper with questions about the apparently oh-too-short life of car-free Sundays.