2302 replies to this topic

[Greg]

I counted nine cyclists on my two minute walk to work this morning (on a day that would definitely appeal to fair weather riders). More interestingly, I noted about three dozen bikes parked in various sidewalk bike racks. You know what I did not notice? Three dozen available parking slots. One thing to remember is that those who do drive downtown and want street parking for errands, should be very pleased that there are a lot of commuters and an even greater number of folks running errands doing so by bicycle - because the drivers are also direct beneficiaries of this.

[Mike K.]

^right but they all converge on the bridge.

[Greg]

^right but they all converge on the bridge.

Not sure what you mean by that. Obviously the bridge is a main conduit to the Goose, but there are a lot of bike riders who live downtown, or in Cook Street Village, or James Bay, or Fernwood who never cross that bridge.

[Mike K.]

My mistake, I was responding to Corey's post and not yours. I missed an additional ^ thingy.

[pherthyl]

^15 seconds to walk across the bridge?

Mike, next time you are crossing the bridge during peak periods stop for 10 minutes and see if 30 or so bikes go by.

I have never crossed the bridge at rush hour times but at the times I have crossed it I have yet to see a cyclist in the 30 or so crossings I have done.

I would suggest crossing with your eyes open. It's safer for cyclists that way!

[pherthyl]

I'm flabbergasted that in the middle of winter the CRD estimates 2,700 cyclists are riding along our streets.

The estimate is debatable, the count is not.

I think you missed my point.

It's not practical to have cycling infrastructure on every street unless you want your taxes to burst.

Did i say every street? Nope I said arterial streets. That is completely feasible and compared to the spending on vehicle infrastructure the expense will be low. Hardly tax busting.

The point I was making wqs that my quickest route to the office took me along streets that were ideal for me, not cycling infrastructure. I had two cycling routes with dedicated infrastructure for much of the way available to me but that eventually played second fiddle to getting to the office faster.

Right, so best of both worlds is cycling infrastructure on the efficient and direct routes. Get to it Victoria!

Edited by pherthyl, 30 July 2014 - 07:18 PM.

[LJ]

I would suggest crossing with your eyes open. It's safer for cyclists that way!

Well I haven't hit any cyclists so I guess they weren't there.

[pherthyl]

Something occurred to me as I was driving down Mckenzie the other day.

 

We have dedicated and physically separated infrastructure for pedestrians on almost every major road.  When a new road is built, it would be unthinkable if it didn't include a sidewalk, and quite bizarre if that sidewalk wasn't raised above the road surface.   Has the proliferation of sidewalks busted our taxes?  How much is spent on sidewalks every year?  Millions I'm sure.   Drive down just about any road with a sidewalk outside of the downtown core though and vehicle traffic outnumbers pedestrians hundreds to one.

 

Yet where is all the *****ing about sidewalks?   It seems society has accepted that it's a good idea to build safe pedestrian infrastructure on everything but the quiet residential streets.  Why not the same acceptance of cycle lanes? 

[LJ]

^I guess it is because the infrastructure is already there and it was built for handling vehicles and pedestrians.

To introduce a new user means one of the existing users is going to be impacted.

I suspect any new roadway built would also include bike lanes.

 

I agree in rural areas the sidewalks are mostly vacant, I wonder if a sidewalk on one side of the street could be used for cycling. Or paint sharrows on them and put a speed limit restriction in place.

[VicHockeyFan]

Something occurred to me as I was driving down Mckenzie the other day.

 

We have dedicated and physically separated infrastructure for pedestrians on almost every major road.  When a new road is built, it would be unthinkable if it didn't include a sidewalk, and quite bizarre if that sidewalk wasn't raised above the road surface.   Has the proliferation of sidewalks busted our taxes?  How much is spent on sidewalks every year?  Millions I'm sure.   Drive down just about any road with a sidewalk outside of the downtown core though and vehicle traffic outnumbers pedestrians hundreds to one.

 

Yet where is all the *****ing about sidewalks?   It seems society has accepted that it's a good idea to build safe pedestrian infrastructure on everything but the quiet residential streets.  Why not the same acceptance of cycle lanes? 

 

Fair question.  But I don't think we've ever suggested pedestrians should be integrated on the road with cars.  I mean, in reality, we have plenty of roads with no sidewalks.  But they are minor streets*.  But as far back as I can remember, I've been taught as a bicyclist to share the road with cars, just like cars would share the road with any other slow-moving vehicle.

 

*Yet on major streets, like Pat Bay Highway, we have no sidewalk.

[Mike K.]

Half of Saanich has no sidewalks and many new subdivisions don't either.

Bicycles have historically shared the road with vehicles the world over. It's only in the last 15 years as gas prices began to rise and people started looking at alternative means of transport have we entered a new phase of infrastructure construction.

That being said, the case for sidewalks is pretty strong: 99.9% of the population makes use of a sidewalk even if for a very brief moment each day.

[VicHockeyFan]

Half of Saanich has no sidewalks and many new subdivisions don't either.

 

Yup, the east side of Saanich is pretty barren of sidewalks.

[Mike K.]

And the west. If there are sidewalks they're mostly in central areas and along major thoroughfares only. Many feeder streets have sidewalks on one side of the road only ...if they have them at all.

[sebberry]

I'm dogsitting right now.  The neighbourhood has a mix of roads both with and without sidewalks.  I prefer walking on the roads with sidewalks.  There's more room and the dog doesn't have to walk on the sharp gravel that makes up the road-end of many of the driveways on the roads without sidewalks. 

 

There are also no mud puddles on the sidewalks in the rainy seasons. 

[pherthyl]

And the west. If there are sidewalks they're mostly in central areas and along major thoroughfares only. Many feeder streets have sidewalks on one side of the road only ...if they have them at all.

 

Exactly.  They're not needed on every quiet residential street because those streets are fine just to walk beside.  But they are needed on the main roads.  Same logic applies for bike lanes.

[VicHockeyFan]

I'm concerned that seberry seems to be settling into a dog-sitting career.  When we are all subpoenaed to testify at congressional hearings, his testimony might not be strong.

[Mike K.]

Exactly. They're not needed on every quiet residential street because those streets are fine just to walk beside. But they are needed on the main roads. Same logic applies for bike lanes.

We have them on main roads already, but main roads are not always the most efficient routes for cyclists. And therein is the problem.

[http]

I'm concerned that seberry seems to be settling into a dog-sitting career.  When we are all subpoenaed to testify at congressional hearings, his testimony might not be strong.

The Americans would have to extradite me first, so I'm not worried.

[VicHockeyFan]

The Americans would have to extradite me first, so I'm not worried.

 

That's what Marc Emery said.

[pherthyl]

We have them on main roads already, but main roads are not always the most efficient routes for cyclists. And therein is the problem.

 

Eh?  We certainly don't have bike lanes on many if not most of the main roads.  Shelbourne being the obvious example.  

And main roads in most cases are the most efficient routes for cyclists.  Main roads are where they are because they are efficient routes.  Whether you are driving or cycling makes no difference.

Edited by pherthyl, 04 August 2014 - 02:39 PM.