11042 replies to this topic

[DustMagnet]

That'd never be allowed in downtown Victoria!

I'd never want to travel that fast on a bicycle downtown!    It's like a school zone, you never know when the someone is going to dart out (pedestrian, motorist or cyclist).

 

[Danma]

Wait, it seems one might be able to beat that on a group ride. 

 

I find it astounding. 70 km/hr for over 20km? That's incredible!

[Danma]

I don't get annoyed.  It's safer, it's the law, and it totally ruins someone's cyclist-bashing narrative with respect to said signs. 

 

 

Hah! Indeed. I like following the law as much as I can. At least I bike as well as I drive...

[Nparker]

I'd never want to travel that fast on a bicycle downtown...

I was of course poking fun at the CoV's 30 km/h zones.

[DustMagnet]

I was of course poking fun at the CoV's 30 km/h zones.

Eh... I'm OK with that I guess.  I mean, downtown is still a fairly busy place (even though no one goes there anymore).  It's the 40km/h limits on the long, straight, wide arterial roads that are painful - in a car I mean.

[North Shore]

I find it astounding. 70 km/hr for over 20km? That's incredible!

 How so?  They are professional cyclists - riding their bikes is pretty much all they do, apart from eating and sleeping..

[mbjj]

I don't mind the slower speed limits. On Sunday we were  driving on Fort just past the Oak Bay Junction. We were at a spot going from sun to shade and suddenly a tiny dog ran out into the road. My husband had a hard time seeing it in the shadows but stopped in time. An older lady was trying to catch it and called out an apology as the dog had escaped from her yard. It was nearly a goner.

[sebberry]

I don't mind the slower speed limits. On Sunday we were  driving on Fort just past the Oak Bay Junction. We were at a spot going from sun to shade and suddenly a tiny dog ran out into the road. My husband had a hard time seeing it in the shadows but stopped in time. An older lady was trying to catch it and called out an apology as the dog had escaped from her yard. It was nearly a goner.

 

And if you happened to be 20' further ahead when the dog ran out, he'd have been a goner as well. 

 

This is the problem with the whole speed limit thing - it assumes speed is the only variable in collisions.  

[mbjj]

Not necessarily. It darted out in front of us at the last minute. If we'd been farther down the road, it wouldn't have been in front of us. Regardless, if we'd been going more quickly, we wouldn't have been able to stop in time.

[sebberry]

Not necessarily. It darted out in front of us at the last minute. If we'd been farther down the road, it wouldn't have been in front of us. Regardless, if we'd been going more quickly, we wouldn't have been able to stop in time.

 

When I say further down the road, I mean in feet, not meters or kilometers.  

 

Distance to the object darting out in front of you is just as much of a factor in whether you'll hit it as speed is.

 

I very narrowly missed a yellow lab once years ago on Dallas Road with a 50kph limit.  

[Danma]

 How so?  They are professional cyclists - riding their bikes is pretty much all they do, apart from eating and sleeping..

 

OK, I guess I used the word "incredible" to mean "very impressive", not that I actually believe it's not credible.

[DustMagnet]

I happened to be driving up Admirals into Esquimalt today and I see that the line painting is done and there are bike lanes on the new section (heading into Esquimalt the bike lane starts at the letdown where the E&N trail veers away from Admirals down and around the SWC) which I was not expecting with the Share The Road signs installed.  But then I noticed on the way back down there are Share The Road signs where there are marked (and buffered) bike lanes so those signs must mean Don't Run Over Cyclists In The Vicinity.

 

I mean, I assume they are bike lanes since they line up perfectly with the lanes at the top of the hill, even though there is no bicycle/diamond marking in the lane itself (yet?).

[Coreyburger]

I mean, I assume they are bike lanes since they line up perfectly with the lanes at the top of the hill, even though there is no bicycle/diamond marking in the lane itself (yet?).

 

They are going to be bike shoulders, not bike lanes

[sdwright.vic]

So in other words:

bike lane
noun
a division of a road marked off with painted lines, for use by cyclists.

[nagel]

Wish it was that simple, but they are legally different.  We can't legally pass cars on a shoulder.  So when Admirals is backed up to hell and back and the shoulder is totally empty, if we use it and get in an accident we're screwed.

[Nparker]

Wish it was that simple, but they are legally different.  We can't legally pass cars on a shoulder.  So when Admirals is backed up to hell and back and the shoulder is totally empty, if we use it and get in an accident we're screwed.

In this scenario, would it be illegal to dismount from your bike and walk it and yourself along the shoulder?

[nagel]

In this scenario, would it be illegal to dismount from your bike and walk it and yourself along the shoulder?

Not sure, but that's about as likely as getting out of a car to push it down a hill just to save a bit of gas.

 

MoTI's official reason for why this won't be a bike lane is it doesn't connect to a bike lane by Thrifty's, even though it DOES connect to one on the Esquimalt end (a decent quality buffered bike lane too).  The Thrifty's non-bike lane section would be a tiny gap (~2 blocks) in a full bike network from the Esquimalt Road liquor store all the way to the McKenzie Interchange.  Wouldn't be that difficult to get View Royal to commit to closing the gap but now that this is a shoulder, they may be less interested.  

[Coreyburger]

So in other words:

bike lane
noun
a division of a road marked off with painted lines, for use by cyclists.

 

As nagel pointed out, the legality is this: it is a lane if it has the diamond (for designated use) and the bike symbol (indicating which designated use). If it doesn't, like the new shoulders on Admirals Rd, it is just a shoulder. And that means you cannot legally pass on the right, as it is not a lane.

[Nparker]

Not sure, but that's about as likely as getting out of a car to push it down a hill just to save a bit of gas.  

Then I guess you sit in traffic and wait like everyone else.

[DustMagnet]

Then I guess you sit in traffic and wait like everyone else.

Hardly, you can just take the E&N if that section of Admirals is jammed up. 

 

There are roads where that's not an option so yeah, you just join the general traffic flow and take the lane.
 

But seriously, if those shoulders are not for bikes it seems odd that they have done everything to blend them into the existing bike lanes.