Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[max]

Barriers were back in as far as University as of yesterday afternoon. Don't think they'll put them in on the block between University & York until construction at York wraps up.

 

[DSC]

Barriers are going back in on the North side of Adelaide. They've done from Bathurst to Spadina and are currently working their way over to Charlotte.

Thank god! Not sure why they did not coordinate the line painting guys with the barrier guys a bit better. I realise that the York to Victoria blocks are a mess but....

 

[kotsy]

Whose pole is this anyway? Outrage over two poles blocking a Toronto bike lane

The city of Toronto and local companies are playing hot potato over who exactly is responsible for the obstruction. So far, no one has stepped up to claim the poles.

www.thestar.com

 

[champagnecladding]

Some work in progress as of today on Dundas East between Alton and Greenwood. Does anyone know the extent along which curbs will be added?

 

[Northern Light]

Does anyone know the extent along which curbs will be added?

Yup.

Bit more detail in my post of May 29, 2023:

Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

Plus we got a new bike lane map that I spent like 30 minutes examining with the kid this morning.

urbantoronto.ca

 

[champagnecladding]

Great, thank you. The lengths of those stretches are a little underwhelming. Fully converting Alton to Coxwell would have been nice at least.

 

[Northern Light]

Great, thank you.

You're welcome.

The lengths of those stretches are a little underwhelming. Fully converting Alton to Coxwell would have been nice at least.

Cycling is piggy-backing. The work is getting done because Transportation or Toronto Water are doing works and some pavement had to be re-done, so cycling took the chance to say, but don't put it back the way it was.....

They'll be doing more of that; they mostly need to wait for road reconstruction or resurfacing to do major stuff with a few exceptions.

But they're going to try to grab additional opportunities when they can, this was one.

 

[dgto]

could they not resurface the bike lanes while they are at it?

 

[Coolibop]

With those lower cycling curbs, how does waste collection work? I'm asking as I know the Huntingwood reconstruction starts Monday (images below; pharmacy to Warden to start) and there were some awkward moments when they had the white plastic bollards...

Looking forward to this one as it's a total road reconstruction and brings a lot of pedestrian/cycling friendly infrastructure (raised ped crossings, reduced curb radii, transit stop improvements).

 

[H4F33Z]

With those lower cycling curbs, how does waste collection work? I'm asking as I know the Huntingwood reconstruction starts Monday (images below; pharmacy to Warden to start) and there were some awkward moments when they had the white plastic bollards...

Looking forward to this one as it's a total road reconstruction and brings a lot of pedestrian/cycling friendly infrastructure (raised ped crossings, reduced curb radii, transit stop improvements).

View attachment 493403View attachment 493404View attachment 493405

Lucky for you, someone did ask this exact question in a Q & A during consultation and here is the answer. TLDR: They will pick up from the traffic lane.

 

[Coolibop]

And here I thought I read every page... Wups

I find practice did not match 'standard procedure' at all. I saw garbage trucks almost uniquely driving over the bollards primarily because bins are left at the end of driveways. Most were damaged within the first few weeks. Hopefully the standard procedure is enforced a bit better.

In addition, I find it strange that the greenery can be strattled in option 3 (did they factor plant height?). I can only forsee tire tracks right through the middle of the planters by the springtime (after snowfall)... Which gets me thinking: when there's snowfall, they won't be able to straddle at all if the snowbanks are too high.

 

[DSC]

Though Adelaide from York to Yonge remains a dangerous battlefield (and best avoided on bikes, or cars), I noticed today that the City have just resurfaced Adelaide from Victoria to Church and are starting to put down the temporary marks for lane markings - which appear to show the bike lane on the north side, as planned. Once they finish those blocks I assume they will keep moving east to Parliament.

TOInView notes that the resurfacing will be extended from Church to Jarvis and there will be (or has been) some (minor?) sewer work at Adelaide & Jarvis too. The new bike-lane traffic lights are already up (though not working yet) at Adelaide and Jarvis. The paving machines are still there so this may be on their to do list for next week?

 

[W. K. Lis]

Normalize bicycling as transportation​

We need comfortable routes for slow & wobbly bike rides from here to there.​

From link.

Some of my most-shared tweets are color commentary on what passes for “bike infrastructure.” It’s the junk that looks like this:

The only people using “bike infrastructure” where 55 mph (88 km/h) vehicles can clip you at any moment are people who have no other choice.

Kitchen staff at a restaurant, hotel cleaning staff, and other low-paid wage workers have to get to work, and they might not be able to afford the $10k-per-year cost of owning a personal vehicle.

Bicycling is a basic form of transportation, but it faces numerous challenges, including inadequate infrastructure and distorted views of people on bikes.

A recent psychological study shed light on the perceptions of cyclists, specifically focusing on the impact of safety attire. The disturbing theme of the findings was that it’s common for people driving cars to dehumanize people riding bikes.

The study found that cyclists wearing helmets were perceived as less human compared to those without helmets. Interestingly, this perception was not solely attributed to helmets obscuring hair and facial features. Cyclists wearing hats, which also obscured similar amounts of hair and facial features, were perceived as more human than those wearing helmets. On the other hand, cyclists without helmets but wearing high visibility vests were more likely to be perceived as less human compared to other attire types tested.

The positive outlook on this study is that when a human being behind the wheel of a car recognizes a human being on a bicycle, they’re more likely to make a human connection. Some have called this “the wind in the breeze effect.”

If you drive up behind a slow, wobbly cyclist, you slow way down and give plenty of space when passing. Your mind might race with speculation about who they are, where they’re from, why they’re riding a bike, etc. But that wobbly slowpoke is a human being.

You later drive up behind a fast cyclist, leaning into the handlebars, decked out in gear, and you don’t give them much attention. They look and act like a skinny vehicle, so you’re more likely to treat them like a vehicle. Dehumanized.

The study findings suggest safety attire itself contributes to the dehumanization of cyclists. This is significant for traffic safety efforts, as dehumanization has been found to predict aggressive behavior towards cyclists. Motorists pass too closely, or get mad at the speed differential and cut the cyclist off, sending them into a curb or worse.

Othering contributes to a culture that marginalizes people on bikes and puts them at risk.

The best way to change the way we think about bicycling is to normalize bicycling. A cynic would say “Walt Disney was a moron because Americans hate walking. They’ll never walk around an amusement park for more than a few minutes.” The response to the cynic is to plan the future you want, not the future you think is inevitable. Half of our car trips are under a few miles long. We run errands all the time that could be served by a bike, but most of us don’t have routes that make us feel safe.

If you look like a sleek machine, people are more likely to treat you like a machine. And worse, planners and engineers are going to assume the “bike infrastructure” pictured above is adequate.

Bicycling has the potential to be a legitimate form of transportation—in cities and suburbs—rather than just a recreational activity or hobby. A bike can be an excellent tool to get from here to there. But we have to plan and design deliberately to achieve that outcome.

 

[evandyk]

I was just in Copenhagen, and almost nobody wears a helmet, despite everybody cycling. I get why any individual would choose to wear a helmet, but I think it's well established that generalized helmet wearing doesn't make cycling any safer in the aggregate.

 

[afransen]

I was just in Copenhagen, and almost nobody wears a helmet, despite everybody cycling. I get why any individual would choose to wear a helmet, but I think it's well established that generalized helmet wearing doesn't make cycling any safer in the aggregate.

This is why I don't like helmet shaming people, which is common in North America.