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[Bicycles] Bike lanes and cycling infrastructure in Victoria and the south Island


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#8241 DustMagnet

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Posted 03 June 2019 - 03:46 PM

I'm saying obviously either Oak Bay, Esquimalt or Saanich would be #1 cycling into Victoria because they touch it. I bet I can tell you the top 3. Even with the Lochside trail it's further and harder to convince people to ride from Sidney than it is to convince them to ride from Oak Bay.

 

Ok, I see the logic in that - closer communities are more likely to be sources of cycle commuters.

 

That does indeed seem to bolster the argument that OB needs a good cycling artery to downtown.



#8242 Cats4Hire

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Posted 03 June 2019 - 03:51 PM

I actually thought the goal was to continue the Fort/Pandora lanes into Oak Bay via Oak Bay Avenue and Cadbaro Bay anyway. I guess Oak Bay just hasn't agreed to that?

#8243 Jackerbie

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Posted 03 June 2019 - 03:57 PM

I actually thought the goal was to continue the Fort/Pandora lanes into Oak Bay via Oak Bay Avenue and Cadbaro Bay anyway. I guess Oak Bay just hasn't agreed to that?

 

Oak Bay's active transportation plan from 2011 identifies a need for improved bike infrastructure on Oak Bay Ave, but the recommendation is for larger painted lanes. Buffered bike lanes (which are not separated, as Pandora is) are recommended for Cadboro Bay Road. I don't know what the status is of any of Oak Bay's improvements other than existing in planning studies.


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#8244 DustMagnet

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Posted 03 June 2019 - 03:58 PM

I actually thought the goal was to continue the Fort/Pandora lanes into Oak Bay via Oak Bay Avenue and Cadbaro Bay anyway. I guess Oak Bay just hasn't agreed to that?

 

The article implies that it's Victoria that is waffling about routing now.



#8245 sebberry

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Posted 03 June 2019 - 04:01 PM

The frustrating thing for me is that the mere presence of new bike infrastructure often leads to a marked increase in traffic congestion - but the argument is often 'think of all the bikes that aren't cars adding to congestion'.  

 

You can't say 'look at what we're doing to alleviate congestion' while pointing to physical barriers that only serve to increase it!


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#8246 Brantastic

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Posted 04 June 2019 - 04:51 PM

^The "mere presence" of bike lanes only serves to increase congestion? Seems like a ridiculously hyperbolic thing to say, but okay.

As for the Oak Bay bike lanes, I was also disappointed to see that the more updated plans for the AAA cycling network show Leighton instead of OB Ave. I figure this has to do with council's desire to get it done by 2022, as Leighton would clearly be faster. It really would not have the ridership OB Ave would have though, and it would seem like a pointless project as Leighton is already a fairly comfortable cycling street. The fact that they would end at the Oak Bay border is yet another example of the lack of regional planning that results from having 13 municipalities governing a small area of 380,000 people. 

I'm a bit confused about what Corey said about back-pedalling the Gorge Rd bike lanes. I haven't seen or heard anything about this, nor could I see any other possible route to serve Burnside-Gorge (other than the existing Galloping Goose, of course).



#8247 Gary H

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Posted 04 June 2019 - 04:57 PM



Yesterday saw the highest bike ridership on the Galloping Goose since the counter was erected in December of 2014, and the first time to hit more than 4,000 in a day. 4,289 passed the counter yesterday, beating 3,869 on May 29, 2017.

 

More people riding to work because of the rush hour traffic jam going into downtown due to the Bay St. Bridge closure?

 

As can be seen in the pic below, you've got three bumper-to-bumper roads  (Harbour St., Tyee Rd, and Esquimalt Rd) converging into a single lane to cross the JSB entering downtown.  Esquimalt Rd. is backed up to past Catherine St. and probably to the base.  Tyee Rd. is backed up to well beyond Bay St. and that's with traffic splitting off onto Harbour Rd.  It's a real mess!

 

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Edited by Gary H, 04 June 2019 - 04:59 PM.


#8248 RFS

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Posted 04 June 2019 - 05:07 PM

Wow, its almost like one lane into downtown isn't enough! Like, maybe the same number of lanes they used 100 years ago doesn't work in 2019??? Whodathunkit
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#8249 sebberry

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Posted 04 June 2019 - 05:09 PM

^The "mere presence" of bike lanes only serves to increase congestion? Seems like a ridiculously hyperbolic thing to say, but okay.

 

If you take away a full lane to give to a bike lane, and cars are now waiting an extra light or two to get through the intersection, how is that not increasing congestion?


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#8250 On the Level

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Posted 04 June 2019 - 06:03 PM

It's either poor planning or deliberate.  I believe it's the latter, being all about punishing people out of their cars regardless if they need them.  

 

Wait until the "traffic calming" and creating "safe spaces" for kids to "play soccer" like in Germany.

 

This is bonkers.  The only solution I can see is to move office space out of the downtown core into Saanich and the Westshore.


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#8251 Tom Braybrook

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Posted 04 June 2019 - 06:10 PM

...here you go...put your two-cents worth in... https://teaminteract.ca/victoria/



#8252 On the Level

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Posted 04 June 2019 - 06:17 PM

...here you go...put your two-cents worth in... https://teaminteract.ca/victoria/

 

Interesting titles.  How does one become a "Sex and Gender Champion"?

 

"research is focused on using wearable technologies to study physical activity, transportation interventions, and equity in urban spaces"

 

What is "equity in urban spaces"?  What is a "transportation intervention"?

 

I'll counter your teaminteract.ca with a https://www.cornify.com/



#8253 Mike K.

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Posted 04 June 2019 - 06:29 PM

They've managed to attract 220 fans to their Facebook page with research being conducted in Montreal, Vancouver, Saskatoon and Victoria. On Twitter they're following more people than are following them back, but have managed to cross 300.

 

You would think that a group going to as much effort as this organization appears to be would have sizeable support, at least on the periphery through social media, and considering their efforts are underway in two of Canada's three largest cities with with a couple of years under their belt.


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#8254 Midnightly

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Posted 04 June 2019 - 09:26 PM

If you take away a full lane to give to a bike lane, and cars are now waiting an extra light or two to get through the intersection, how is that not increasing congestion?

 

 

i think another huge part of the issue is the bridge is still running during rush hour.. it's still being lifted for harbor traffic so that can halt traffic completely for 5-10+ minutes each time they lift the bridge imagine doing that 2-3x during rush hour



#8255 Tom Braybrook

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Posted 04 June 2019 - 09:45 PM

thanks!

 

I'll counter your teaminteract.ca with a https://www.cornify.com/

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#8256 FogPub

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Posted 05 June 2019 - 12:02 AM

^The "mere presence" of bike lanes only serves to increase congestion? Seems like a ridiculously hyperbolic thing to say, but okay.

 

When they take car lanes away to put in bike lanes that weren't there before, congestion increases: you're trying to put a constant x-amount of traffic into y-minus-one lanes.

 

But heaven forbid the sensible thing ever get done: widen the road* so as to keep the existing lanes AND add bike lanes...

 

* - where possible, which is most places other than the downtown core.



#8257 Mike K.

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Posted 05 June 2019 - 07:56 AM

This morning Councillor Loveday posted a tweet about overhearing someone complaining about nowhere to park their bicycle, complete with a photo of a bike rack along the bike lane on lower Pandora. Councillor Collins then added a photo of City Hall's bike rack being full.

 

I think we might be getting more bike parking at City Hall.

 

Meanwhile someone responded to Loveday, saying "Free parking and free bike lanes, must be nice. I drove around in circles looking for a parking spot to do a job downtown, then paid $8 for parking and had to walk my tools and materials over. This tweet is not amusing."


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#8258 DustMagnet

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Posted 05 June 2019 - 08:00 AM

...you're trying to put a constant x-amount of traffic into y-minus-one lanes.

 

 

I think this is a misconception.  The goal is not to put the same amount of traffic through fewer lanes.

 

If you read the planning documents for the cycling infrastructure you'll see that part of the goal is to reduce the number of vehicles per day on roads that have the bike lanes installed.  For example, the idea that Vancouver St. would have several diverters to prevent motor vehicle through-traffic was to reduce 5000-6000 cars per day down to 1000-2000 (if I recall the numbers correctly).



#8259 Brantastic

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Posted 05 June 2019 - 08:06 AM

If you take away a full lane to give to a bike lane, and cars are now waiting an extra light or two to get through the intersection, how is that not increasing congestion?

Sure, that's assuming car lanes were removed, which is the minority of bike lanes built or in planning in Greater Victoria. Which is why saying that the "mere presence" of bike lanes only serves to increase congestion is to me a clear example of the blanket hatred of anything bike-related on this forum. 



#8260 rjag

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Posted 05 June 2019 - 08:12 AM

Sure, that's assuming car lanes were removed, which is the minority of bike lanes built or in planning in Greater Victoria. Which is why saying that the "mere presence" of bike lanes only serves to increase congestion is to me a clear example of the blanket hatred of anything bike-related on this forum. 

 

Pandora? Fort? McKenzie, Vancouver essentially closed to traffic, Humboldt closed etc Soon to be Shelbourne, Feltham....

 

Its not hatred of bike lanes, its the unintended or perhaps intended consequence of the placement of them. When you remove 1 lane of traffic on a busy arterial 3 lane route you are adding 50% more capacity to the remaining lanes. In a 2 lane reduced to 1 lane its 100% increase. End result is more smaller residential roads are seeing large increases in traffic on roads not designed for that, which in turn increases risk. 


Edited by rjag, 05 June 2019 - 08:13 AM.

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