Halifax Active Transportation

[Waye Mason]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

2015 AT Updates;

- Quingate/Windsor AT Connector - COMPLETED
- Highfield Park AT Greenway - COMPLETED
- Hollis Street Bike Lane - UNDER CONSTRUCTION
- Sackville AT Greenway - CONSTRUCTION IMMINENT
- University Avenue Bike Lane - DELAYED UNTIL 2016

And the most exciting of all!!!

Rainnie Drive will have a protected two-way on-street bike lane from North Park to Gottingen constructed later this year! The lane will be built on the south-side and feature a two-way cycle path, painted buffer, and some pylon posts adjacent to a one-way EB Rainnie with parking on both sides. The lane will run from North Park to a realigned Gottingen with a one-way EB unprotected lane extending down to Brunswick Street. A study is underway to see if the two-way lane can be extended to and along Brunswick Street potentially as far as Spring Garden Road.

David, is that you at the meetings sitting on the other side of Hanita from me?

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by Waye Mason

David, is that you at the meetings sitting on the other side of Hanita from me?

Bingo.

I meant to properly introduce myself today after the meeting (even parked my bike next to yours so I wouldn't forget) but those diagrams Hanita had we just too exciting.

[Drybrain]

Waye, if I can make one tiny little critique of the Vernon-Quinpool connector, which overall I love: the entrance off of Windsor Street has a very steep curb lip (or whatever it's called). Since cyclists are entering the connector at a shallow, glancing angle, we have to slow significantly to mount it without the risk of skidding to a crash. It's A: annoying, and B: possibly a safety hazard, since it means coming to a near-stop in a lane of traffic. If it were made more flush with the street (a simple and inexpensive fix, I assume) it'd be a much improved piece of infrastructure.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

adjacent to a one-way EB Rainnie with parking on both sides

What is an EB Rainnie?

To wreck Rainnie becuase of the roundabout is bad enough, but to sacrifice it for a 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 bike lane is even worse.

[Hali87]

Eastbound

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

What is an EB Rainnie?

To wreck Rainnie becuase of the roundabout is bad enough, but to sacrifice it for a 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 bike lane is even worse.

Rainnie will be eastbound (inbound) only when it reopens next week.

The changes to Rainnie are required to meet current safety standards. National transportation standards did not allow Rainnie to connect to the roundabout. To address this it was realigned to intersect with Cogswell. Due to the proximity of the roundabout a standard intersection would be dangerous and slow traffic so Rainnie was converted to one-way inbound. The street is currently four lanes wide which is excessive so some of it has to be removed hence the protected bike lanes.

To address the changes in traffic flow a right-turn channel will be installed Cogswell EB - Gottingen SB, a left-turn only lane for Gottingen NB - Cogswell WB, and Rainnie & Gottingen will be realigned so it is straight-thru Gottingen SB - Rainnie EB & Rainnie WB - Gottingen NB with a stop sign and a marked crosswalk for Rainnie EB.

[Dmajackson]

Rainnie Drive has a small "island" built into its western end. In photo below where the red truck is will be the protected bike lane. This lane ties directly into the AT trail that goes around the roundabout and connects to the Commons. For cyclists who bike on-street it can be accessed from Cogswell, and exited onto Ahern Ave.


Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Rainnie will be eastbound (inbound) only when it reopens next week.

The changes to Rainnie are required to meet current safety standards. National transportation standards did not allow Rainnie to connect to the roundabout. To address this it was realigned to intersect with Cogswell. Due to the proximity of the roundabout a standard intersection would be dangerous and slow traffic so Rainnie was converted to one-way inbound. The street is currently four lanes wide which is excessive so some of it has to be removed hence the protected bike lanes.

To address the changes in traffic flow a right-turn channel will be installed Cogswell EB - Gottingen SB, a left-turn only lane for Gottingen NB - Cogswell WB, and Rainnie & Gottingen will be realigned so it is straight-thru Gottingen SB - Rainnie EB & Rainnie WB - Gottingen NB with a stop sign and a marked crosswalk for Rainnie EB.

Disaster awaits.

[Waye Mason]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Waye, if I can make one tiny little critique of the Vernon-Quinpool connector, which overall I love: the entrance off of Windsor Street has a very steep curb lip (or whatever it's called). Since cyclists are entering the connector at a shallow, glancing angle, we have to slow significantly to mount it without the risk of skidding to a crash. It's A: annoying, and B: possibly a safety hazard, since it means coming to a near-stop in a lane of traffic. If it were made more flush with the street (a simple and inexpensive fix, I assume) it'd be a much improved piece of infrastructure.

I'll work that for sure.

[Waye Mason]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Rainnie will be eastbound (inbound) only when it reopens next week.

The changes to Rainnie are required to meet current safety standards. National transportation standards did not allow Rainnie to connect to the roundabout. To address this it was realigned to intersect with Cogswell. Due to the proximity of the roundabout a standard intersection would be dangerous and slow traffic so Rainnie was converted to one-way inbound. The street is currently four lanes wide which is excessive so some of it has to be removed hence the protected bike lanes.

To address the changes in traffic flow a right-turn channel will be installed Cogswell EB - Gottingen SB, a left-turn only lane for Gottingen NB - Cogswell WB, and Rainnie & Gottingen will be realigned so it is straight-thru Gottingen SB - Rainnie EB & Rainnie WB - Gottingen NB with a stop sign and a marked crosswalk for Rainnie EB.

This and all the traffic modelling says that Cogswell can take the traffic. Really this is all setting up for Cogswell overpass coming own. Next I hope is a roundabout at Gottingen/Cogswell, and then the Willow Tree.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Waye Mason

Next I hope is a roundabout at Gottingen/Cogswell, and then the Willow Tree.

What street are you going to close at the Willow Tree?

[curnhalio]

Originally Posted by Waye Mason

This and all the traffic modelling says that Cogswell can take the traffic. Really this is all setting up for Cogswell overpass coming own. Next I hope is a roundabout at Gottingen/Cogswell, and then the Willow Tree.

Sorry, but I feel the Willow Tree is a bad spot for a roundabout. It will have wonderful effects on Robie traffic in both directions but disastrous effects on Quinpool AM and Bell/Cogswell PM flows as all those cars would have to wait for a now largely free flowing Robie St.

[IanWatson]

Hollis Street bike lane was painted when I walked to work this morning!

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

Hollis Street bike lane was painted when I walked to work this morning!

That must mean they will be digging it up to do water/sewer repairs soon.

[Jonovision]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

Hollis Street bike lane was painted when I walked to work this morning!

And then when I walked by yesterday the stretch from the construction site of the Maple to Salter street was completely full of parked cars and the signage had not been changed to say no parking?

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

And then when I walked by yesterday the stretch from the construction site of the Maple to Salter street was completely full of parked cars and the signage had not been changed to say no parking?

Maybe those are to come once they pave and paint the section north of the Maple.

That being said, I know they did "compromise" on this lane and will allow cars to stop in the bike lane outside of rush hour. I'm not sure if parking will be allowed though...

[Dmajackson]

Recently the landowners of the Agricola NSLC have opened the rear of the lot to public parking. It appears to hold ~100 spaces which coincidentally is roughly the same number of on-street spaces that would be lost if Agricola Street were to have bike lanes installed.

I think it would be smart of Halifax to negotiate with the landowner over the possibility of constructing a multi-level parkade to hold ~200 spaces. This would cover the lost spaces on-street and provide some future area growth and a place for locals to park in the winter when on-street parking is banned for months at a time. In exchange for building a parkade the landowner would receive permission to build townhouses or a low-rise apartment building on Maynard Street.

A public parkade in the heart of Agricola's retail corridor is a no-brainer that everyone would benefit from along with the installation of bike lanes.

[Dmajackson]

Recently the landowners of the Agricola NSLC have opened the rear of the lot to public parking. It appears to hold ~100 spaces which coincidentally is roughly the same number of on-street spaces that would be lost if Agricola Street were to have bike lanes installed.

I think it would be smart of Halifax to negotiate with the landowner over the possibility of constructing a multi-level parkade to hold ~200 spaces. This would cover the lost spaces on-street and provide some future area growth and a place for locals to park in the winter when on-street parking is banned for months at a time. In exchange for building a parkade the landowner would receive permission to build townhouses or a low-rise apartment building on Maynard Street.

A public parkade in the heart of Agricola's retail corridor is a no-brainer that everyone would benefit from along with the installation of bike lanes.

[coolmillion]

^ great idea. I have often thought that this space should be used for something. Until it is developed it should be used for parking. I heard that when restaurants started opening on Agricola many long time residents found it more difficult to find on street parking. This isn't surprising but could be fixed easily with a little creativity.

[Nouvellecosse]

That would make for an awfully unattractive streetscape on Maynard though. But so is a surface parking lot I suppose.

My first reaction would be to view such a move as regressive, because the loss of street parking should be easily offset by the increase in cyclist patrons, and that we're never going to get anywhere in terms of encouraging less auto dependence if every time we make any progress with things like facilitating active transportation, we immediately counteract it by reinforcing the pre-eminence of the automobile. Other than downtown, this is the regions densest, and most walkable retail area. If businesses can't even thrive here without multi-story parking garages, we may as well just give up.

But at the same time, it's probably unlikely they're ever going to give up the surface parking lot for development, so we may as well maximize the land usage somehow.

I was actually walking around the area tonight and I just find there is so much empty and underutilized space. The back streets like Maynard and Creighton are crying out for some townhouses and Gottingen really needs some nice midrises.