Metro Vancouver Bike & Pedestrian Discussion

[Alex Mackinnon]

Originally Posted by cabotp

I figured they would allow biking on the Sea to Sky Hwy. But I assumed since you can't be on the freeway west of Abby or around there. That it would apply all the way to Horseshoe bay.

Well, I had the privilege of installing good portion of the bike symbols on the highway last summer; so yes you're allowed to bike on the sea to sky. The thing to watch out for is the amount of debris in bike lanes which are really just shoulders. It seems like a lot of stuff just got swept up and left on the sides of the road.

I don't think we put any markings for bikes past Squamish though.

[wrenegade]

I am seriously dumbfounded at the amount of traffic lanes the CoV is removing. Now they want to get rid of traffic lanes on the Cambie Street bridge? Have they ever been over that bridge? The sidewalks are huge! And why are bike lanes necessary on Main, Quebec AND Ontario (which is already a "Greenway"/"Bikeway"). Sorry, but this is beyond excessive.

I just came back from a weekend in Montreal where the only times I was in a car were to and from the airport. The rest of the time we walked, took the metro (holy crap, huge platforms!) and used the AMAZING Bixi network. I think I was in a bike lane (painted, not separated) once and never felt unsafe. How about we work on getting more people on bikes in the first place and work on sharing the road, instead of punishing vehicle drivers. Dunsmuir is a fucking mess. God help the people trying to exit from the Pacific Centre parkade.

Seriously though, Bixi works in Montreal where the streets are covered in ice and snow 4 months a year, why isn't it here yet? (And get rid of the helmet laws, the best part about Bixi is about grabbing a bike and going, not having to worry about carrying crap around with you).

[sacrifice333]

A bike lane on Main, Ontario, & Quebec? Are they aware they missed a N/S lane between Main & Quebec?! It runs all the way from Broadway to 2nd!!!

Anyways... here's a pic of the Dunsmuir bike lane near Howe.

My pic.

[racc]

Originally Posted by awvan

I am seriously dumbfounded at the amount of traffic lanes the CoV is removing. Now they want to get rid of traffic lanes on the Cambie Street bridge? Have they ever been over that bridge? The sidewalks are huge! And why are bike lanes necessary on Main, Quebec AND Ontario (which is already a "Greenway"/"Bikeway"). Sorry, but this is beyond excessive.

What a ridiculous comment. There are sidewalks on every street, there are safe lanes for cars on every street. Of course there should be safe cycling facilities on every street. It is just common sense.

[wrenegade]

What I was saying is that the sidewalks on the Cambie street bridge are oversize, and are applicable for use by both bikes and pedestrians. Thus, it is my opinion that bike lanes are a waste of time on that particular bridge.

edit: Oh, and in my opinion there are safe biking facilities already on most streets. They are called lanes. We can all learn to share safely.

[flight_from_kamakura]

Originally Posted by awvan

I just came back from a weekend in Montreal where the only times I was in a car were to and from the airport. The rest of the time we walked, took the metro (holy crap, huge platforms!) and used the AMAZING Bixi network. I think I was in a bike lane (painted, not separated) once and never felt unsafe. How about we work on getting more people on bikes in the first place and work on sharing the road, instead of punishing vehicle drivers. Dunsmuir is a fucking mess. God help the people trying to exit from the Pacific Centre parkade.

Seriously though, Bixi works in Montreal where the streets are covered in ice and snow 4 months a year, why isn't it here yet? (And get rid of the helmet laws, the best part about Bixi is about grabbing a bike and going, not having to worry about carrying crap around with you).

well, montreal has far more bikepaths than vancouver does, including several awesome crosstown separated ones (though a portioin of maisonneuve may have been closed for the f1 while you were there last weekend). in my experience (i spent several years at mcgill and lived all around the plateau), the level of security and speed/convenience in the separated lanes significantly exceeds that of the unseparated lanes and the level of security and speed/convenience of the unseparated lanes significantly exceed that of simple traffic lanes. and this is in a city with better drivers and a longer cycling/pedestrian tradition. so i think you just missed something with the paths there.

also, bixi is shut up during the winter months.

and as everyone knows (i won't even look at the moronic hastings forum), removing traffic lanes, if done with intelligence, doesn't necessarily increase congestion.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by flight_from_kamakura

and as everyone knows (i won't even look at the moronic hastings forum), removing traffic lanes, if done with intelligence, doesn't necessarily increase congestion.

(bold mine)

[aberdeen5698]

I had my first chance to use the officially opened Dunsmuir bike lane when I headed downtown to BCIT this afternoon. My first clue that something was different came when I turned onto the Adanac/Union bike route near Clarke Drive - there were noticeably more bikes heading eastbound out of downtown than what I normally see. And when I crossed the viaduct I was with several cyclists heading INTO the city - usually I only see outbound cyclists.

The lanes themselves are great - plenty of room for riders in both directions and a very relaxed feeling compared to the previous painted route. I really like not having to squeeze past the bus which was always laying over between Cambie and Hamilton.

And finally, a decent number of bike racks next to BCIT! I've been relegated to locking my bike to a utility pole much of the time. The new racks are already pretty popular, but I was able to find a space without any trouble: (my photo, taken today)



I didn't see any congestion on Dunsmuir, but I wasn't there during the AM peak. The separated right turn lanes seem well thought out - I can't help thinking that the combination of them and the prohibited right turns through the narrower section are probably going to minimize the traffic impact of having fewer lanes. The reality is that in the old days there was always a lineup of right-turning vehicles in the right lane and so there were really only two through lanes anyway. In fact a lot of the congestion I've seen when driving on Dunsmuir in the past seemed to result from people lane-hopping back and forth to get around the right- and left-turning cars.

When I left BCIT about 9:30PM I again saw several cyclists using the bike path. I'd previously returned via Pender Street, and didn't see any other cyclists all that often.

It's looking pretty good from what I can see so far...

[deasine]

Great photo aberdeen.

City of Vancouver also posted a new video WRT Dunsmuir bike route.

http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/transport/cycling/separated/index.htm

There are a few elements that I didn't see on the bike route, including those brightly coloured green (which really should be mahogany) bike lanes crossing roads or alleyways that I think are needed for this route.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

The separated right turn lanes seem well thought out - I can't help thinking that the combination of them and the prohibited right turns through the narrower section are probably going to minimize the traffic impact of having fewer lanes. The reality is that in the old days there was always a lineup of right-turning vehicles in the right lane and so there were really only two through lanes anyway.

The same is/was true for Pacific Blvd under the Granville Bridge. Previously 3 lanes with the left lane holding cars left turning south on Howe, now its 2 through lanes that jog a bit and a left turn lane to Howe (that overflows a little bit) - but the left turn lanes works very well and traffic through there moves very well because there's less dodging and the through lanes take you right through.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by racc

What a ridiculous comment. There are sidewalks on every street, there are safe lanes for cars on every street. Of course there should be safe cycling facilities on every street. It is just common sense.

Its clear that the cycling zealots on this forum have no clue the damage being done to the city in the name of giving a tiny minority of commuters preferential treatment over the vast majority.

Their "balanced" viewpoint on what makes a successful city can be deduced by scanning through the forum and realizing they post on almost nothing else except cycling routes. How well-rounded. Things must be a little slow on velolove.

I notice the idiocy of "car-free" day is returning to Main St this weekend, after being chased off Commercial. Since the #3 is the busiest bus route in Metro, why don't they call it "public transit free day"?

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I notice the idiocy of "car-free" day is returning to Main St this weekend, after being chased off Commercial.

Actually it hasn't been "chased off" Commercial at all - Commercial will ALSO be closed, as well as several other streets. Seems like a lot of people actually like the idea.

[Zassk]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I notice the idiocy of "car-free" day is returning to Main St this weekend, after being chased off Commercial. Since the #3 is the busiest bus route in Metro, why don't they call it "public transit free day"?

I had no idea that buses on those streets were shut down on those days. How do people get to these events without buses or cars?

[IanS]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

Actually it hasn't been "chased off" Commercial at all - Commercial will ALSO be closed, as well as several other streets. Seems like a lot of people actually like the idea.

Didn't the car free days program get canceled on Commercial last year because it was causing too much damage to the local businesses?

[lezard]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

Actually it hasn't been "chased off" Commercial at all - Commercial will ALSO be closed, as well as several other streets. Seems like a lot of people actually like the idea.

But wanting a car free day means they hate cars, so they must be zealots.

As for getting there, the buses are not shut down, simply rerouted.

From Translink:

Bus: Attention 3 Main/Downtown Customers Bus Minor Jun 8 2010
2:35M
Effective Sunday, June 20, 2010 from 9:00am until 8:00pm

City of Vancouver will be hosting Car Free day on Main between 12th & 33th. The following reroute will apply.

3 Main: Regular route to Main @ 12th then via 12th / Kingsway / Fraser / 33rd Av / Main then regular route.

3 Downtown: Regular route to Main @ 33rd Av then via 33rd Av / Fraser / Kingsway / 12th / Main then regular route.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by IanS

Didn't the car free days program get canceled on Commercial last year because it was causing too much damage to the local businesses?

Yes. Sucks when moonbeaminess runs headlong into reality:

The cars were back on Commercial Drive yesterday, after four weekends of street closings, and Ed Wilkerson of Magnet Hardware is thrilled and relieved.

So is the owner of Café Abruzzo two blocks away and the staff at Caffé Roma across the street. And they're all hoping that the remainder of the experimental city Summer Spaces program on their street gets cancelled so their business can get back to normal on what is usually one of the city's liveliest streets...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/no-car-days-stall-on-commercial-drive/article1239763/

Apparently there is a grand total of One planned for Commercial this year.

And I love how those arguing to get cars off the road and into transit claim its no big deal rerouting the #3, Granny can walk that extra 1.5 km to get the bus after all.

[twoNeurons]

I don't even own a bike... but I'm all for biking lanes... and not for commuters... more for regular people, utility cycling.

[lezard]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Yes. Sucks when moonbeaminess runs headlong into reality:

The cars were back on Commercial Drive yesterday, after four weekends of street closings, and Ed Wilkerson of Magnet Hardware is thrilled and relieved.

So is the owner of Café Abruzzo two blocks away and the staff at Caffé Roma across the street. And they're all hoping that the remainder of the experimental city Summer Spaces program on their street gets cancelled so their business can get back to normal on what is usually one of the city's liveliest streets...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/no-car-days-stall-on-commercial-drive/article1239763/

Apparently there is a grand total of One planned for Commercial this year.

And I love how those arguing to get cars off the road and into transit claim its no big deal rerouting the #3, Granny can walk that extra 1.5 km to get the bus after all.

One day is no big deal.

[wrenegade]

So dumb. There is a Bikeway/Greenway one block west on Ontario. Why close all of Main? Especially to buses?! I was going to furniture shopping on antique row on sunday, not going to bother anymore.

[racc]

Originally Posted by IanS

Didn't the car free days program get canceled on Commercial last year because it was causing too much damage to the local businesses?

If you actually bothered to do any research before posting, you would have known that most merchants really liked the one day car free festivals. It was the lower key Summer Spaces, the on-going car free days every weekend that some merchants didn't like as much although some did. In particular, the Commercial Drive Summer Spaces was less successful. That said, I believe the Gastown one was well received.