11042 replies to this topic

[Brantastic]

I use the bike lanes frequently and really do not take issue with the design, nor do I find any of it to be a safety hazard. The nuisance to drivers not being able to turn right on reds is really honestly minimal compared to the advantages the lanes provide for cyclists. Besides off-road bike facilities, I actually feel more safe biking downtown than I do anywhere else in Greater Victoria. Two-way bike lanes on a one way street are not difficult to wrap your head around and are not a Victoria-specific thing. They're common in cities around the world - Austin, Chicago, Vancouver, etc. The portion of Fort that was reduced to one lane is a quiet area anyways. I have never seen that block congested and I'm downtown nearly every other day. Again, the advantages to cyclists FAR outweigh any disadvantages to motorists.

How the Galloping Goose has now become "unsafe" is beyond me as I've never experienced any accidents or close calls and still find it quite spacious. It is busy, but that's a beautiful thing! If anything, the only thing I find less safe is its proximity to tent city.

I know you've all heard it before, but we REALLY can't afford to live in an auto-centric culture anymore. Bottom line. I read the comments about bike lanes on VV and all I hear is a bunch of pessimism about a positive initiative to encourage people to use a more sustainable, healthier mode of transport and I can only see that as a good thing. I think Victoria needs some major work to its public transit system to really make an impact as cycling is still only a small portion of how we get around, but it all helps. Anyways, my main point is that I find the blatant anti-bike culture on VV (save for a few members) to be really frustrating, and counterproductive from a sustainability standpoint (and yes, I know I don't have to be here if I don't want to). But, I suppose it's good to hear all viewpoints on the matter, so I'm not leaving any time soon. 

[rjag]

But, I suppose it's good to hear all viewpoints on the matter, so I'm not leaving any time soon. 

 

I have no argument with what you say, its your opinion and experience. You're a user of the infrastructure...thats great! What I was writing about is the opinion and experience of some hard core bike commuters (ie all weather) that changed office locations, they used to use the Goose and were  quite happy to be not using it anymore. They far prefer using Foul Bay over Dean and Fort/Yates and Vancouver over the 'armoured lanes' (their words). They both said the Goose has too many inconsistencies to deal with compared to bikes in a bike lane next to cars and where needed they use the whole lane.

 

On another note, chatting today with a freight delivery driver who works in Keating but his deliveries are in the core. He drives a rig and trailer every day 6AM to 3PM downtown and has had to adjust his routes as Lower Fort  is impossible to park a rig and 40ft trailer and actively load and unlaod now. This also means his clients have to adjust their hours to receive goods between 6-7AM now and his rates have gone up as he has to park further away....this is passed onto the clients customers or absorbed...nobody spoke with his bosses about the changes even though they are a major business in the city. 

 

Its all perspective, its not negativity/anti-bike, its just like the way the statue was handled...very little in the way of consultation with key stakeholders and mostly apologies after the fact....end result is pushback like the comments noted here and on many many other forums 

[Nparker]

....Its all perspective, its not negativity/anti-bike, its just like the way the statue was handled...very little in the way of consultation with key stakeholders and mostly apologies after the fact...

That's the thing about many of the decisions we have seen made in the CoV over the past 4 years. It's not necessarily that the results are completely flawed, but the process that drives those results leaves a lot of people feeling excluded.

[rmpeers]

I think bike lanes are necessary and that's just one reason why I would like to see a completely new mayor and council who are capable of doing them right and who also are capable of sticking to a budget.

[nerka]

How the Galloping Goose has now become "unsafe" is beyond me as I've never experienced any accidents or close calls and still find it quite spacious. It is busy, but that's a beautiful thing! If anything, the only thing I find less safe is its proximity to tent city.
 

I also missed when the Goose became "unsafe". I still find it pretty much cycling Nirvana. For sure it is busier than ever.  Caution (and safe speed) is required between Cecilia Ravine and Harbour Road. That's not a bad thing though.

 

I look forward to new pavement in the gravel areas near the McKenzie construction. The gravel is a pain, but a small price to pay for the big upgrade happening there.

[LJ]

So I am in Shanghai right now. they have bike lanes here, and they are separated from vehicle traffic.

They lanes are used by bike riders and thousands of electric scooters. There are no spandex warriors, just folks riding their bikes and thousands of scooters honking horns. There appears to be no nominal speed limit and the scooters and bikes ride right thru the red lights when pedestrian traffic is trying to cross perpendicular to their travel. Insane. you have to be willing to take your life in your hands and be able to knock people off their bikes/scooters to ensure your safety.

[Hotel Mike]

I was just there in the spring. I was really impressed with electric scooters. Despite horn-honking the scooters are so quiet and non polluting. LJ, look at the cars' licence plates. Licence fees are extremely high...but if you have a green licence plate, it means you have an electric vehicle, and pay no registration fee.

[Ismo07]

On another note, chatting today with a freight delivery driver who works in Keating but his deliveries are in the core. He drives a rig and trailer every day 6AM to 3PM downtown and has had to adjust his routes as Lower Fort  is impossible to park a rig and 40ft trailer and actively load and unlaod now. This also means his clients have to adjust their hours to receive goods between 6-7AM now and his rates have gone up as he has to park further away....this is passed onto the clients customers or absorbed...nobody spoke with his bosses about the changes even though they are a major business in the city. 

 

 

 

There was never a zone long enough for him in the past so likely he blocked a lane to do so.  So in the past he unloaded illegally and now he can't.  Is that what his issue is?

 

I think this is where listening to a 3rd party and then putting it out there in a forum like this isn't really an opinion and adds inaccurate facts to the conversation.  I don't like to post here too often but lower Fort (if we are talking about the 500 block) actually had heavy consultation with the restaurants and the delivery companies that serve them. Your fellows boss may not have been consulted directly however and through any process it's really impossible to hear from everyone.  Because of this consultation there is a new 18m loading zone on the south side (added to the 12m that existed on the north side) which was never there before the bike lanes (so is that a win/win).  It might also be time for tractor/trailers to not deliver into the downtown core.  There has never been a loading zone long enough for them except the old bus stop converted to a loading zone in front of the Odeon.  I realize changing that model will cost more which will increase the cost for all of us, but time for smaller trucks to be driven in town.  Most deliveries are made in this manner now.  Times are changing that's for sure and people who don't like change tend to rant and the stories get a little bigger than needed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rjag]

 

There was never a zone long enough for him in the past so likely he blocked a lane to do so.  So in the past he unloaded illegally and now he can't.  Is that what his issue is?

 

 

 

 

Thats why I like this forum, someone always has the facts. Cheers. I'll definitely ask the guy next time I see him! 

[tedward]

 

There was never a zone long enough for him in the past so likely he blocked a lane to do so.  So in the past he unloaded illegally and now he can't.  Is that what his issue is?

 

 

On lower Fort St is an alleyway that trucks used to back into to unload off the street. The new bike lanes reduced the amount of space available to make the turns required moving the trucks onto the street. When cars are parked at the meters the buses have trouble making the turn from Wharf onto Fort and maneuvering up the block.

[KAS]

On lower Fort St is an alleyway that trucks used to back into to unload off the street. The new bike lanes reduced the amount of space available to make the turns required moving the trucks onto the street. When cars are parked at the meters the buses have trouble making the turn from Wharf onto Fort and maneuvering up the block.

The alley behind the Bard?  There was a large truck in there this morning unloading.  So it can be done.

[Bingo]

The bottom line is that parking downtown for trucks and other vehicles is worse.

[LJ]

I was just there in the spring. I was really impressed with electric scooters. Despite horn-honking the scooters are so quiet and non polluting. LJ, look at the cars' licence plates. Licence fees are extremely high...but if you have a green licence plate, it means you have an electric vehicle, and pay no registration fee.

I agree that the electric scooters are quiet and non-polluting but that is the only plus. You don't need any form of licence to drive a scooter at 30-40k anywhere. Roads, bike lanes, sidewalks anywhere, silent scooters everywhere. If your lucky they honk their horn, if your not they just run into you. I have travelled all around the world and never seen anything like it. I was in Bejing about 15 years ago and there were thousands and thousands of bikes everywhere, travelling about 3-5kph, now all those people own scooters travelling 30-40kph with the same regard. It is just an absolute CF watching a couple of hundred scooters going through red lights weaving through traffic and pedestrians at every intersection. Fortunately the road cleaning crews come through quite often to wash the messes off the roadway.

[Ismo07]

The bottom line is that parking downtown for trucks and other vehicles is worse.

 

I would like to hear more about this Bingo.  There are likely more loading zones in the City than ever before.  Downtown is certainly busier than perhaps it has been these last couple years.  A couple more strategies coming that will open up more availability as well for larger vehicles (not tractor/trailers however).

 

Are you speaking anecdotally or are you a delivery driver. 

[nagel]

Well it probably is worse due to the ~1500 parking spots lost from developments, but not really from the 54 spots lost on Pandora and Fort in total, and I'd say loading has actually been improved due to more loading spots being incorporated into the designs.

[Bingo]

I would like to hear more about this Bingo.  There are likely more loading zones in the City than ever before. 

 

More loading zones for trucks take away parking spaces for cars.

You also have trucks parking in the middle of the road in the two way turn lanes.

[Nparker]

I watched a large truck unloading cargo along one of the remaining lanes on Fort Street across from the Bay Centre yesterday. If the truck's driver had opened his door, traffic would have come to a complete standstill as there simply would not have been enough space for a vehicle to safely pass in the other lane. In the 10 minutes or so that I was nearby, I witnessed exactly zero cyclists in the bike lanes.

[Brantastic]

10 minutes of zero cyclists on Fort seems uncharacteristic of its usage. Fort's bike traffic is not nearly as busy as Pandora, but I usually pass many others whenever I use them...  Either way, I'm sure traffic will pick up once the Wharf bike lanes are constructed. Anyone know of the construction start date? Last I heard was just fall 2019.

[Cats4Hire]

Either way, I'm sure traffic will pick up once the Wharf bike lanes are constructed. Anyone know of the construction start date? Last I heard was just fall 2019.

Hopefully delayed for proper consulting and actually listening to what people/businesses have to say. I was on the 15 from Esquimalt for the first time since the lanes were put in yesterday and I was legit worried we were going to hit a parked car or go up on the sidewalk it was so tight turning off Warf on Fort. I'd also like to mention I didn't see a cyclist in the lanes until about Quadra. This was about 10:30 AM yesterday.

[On the Level]

Either way, I'm sure traffic will pick up once the Wharf bike lanes are constructed. 

 

It depends upon how it is implemented.  A Wharf street bike lane has the potential to introduce issues so severe that it won't last as currently designed.  They (city staff, Helps etc) need to put some real effort towards trying to understand unintended consequences.  There is going to be significant conflict between cyclists and pedestrians on that route.  Has any traffic analysis been done?