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Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

brainfreezed said:
Although I don't blame drivers too much for not knowing, there seems to be many different intersection types when it comes to bike lanes. Some with dashed lines, some cycle tracks go right up to the intersection, sometimes they disappear and sharrows appear, etc. Even Richmond and Adeleide have inconsistent intersection designs along them. There's also a multitude of inconsistent bike lane and track types, and there seems to be a different standard on each street. Sometimes there are flexi-posts, sometimes not, sometimes a thick buffer, and for some reason Sherbourne has a green line on it, and no actual separation at points.

I wish they would come up with design standards, based on best-practices (such as Netherlands/Copenhagen), go through a proper consultation process to finalize them, and apply them uniformly.
Click to expand...

Good point. The newer cycle routes often have solid lines right to the curb. Not sure of the logic, but if everyone followed the dashed or dotted lines, it might make things less chaotic.
 
Unfortunately, if one tries to stay to the right of the bicycle lane lines, close to the curb, you can put your life at risk from spills.

eroded_sewer_grates_jardrivers.jpeg.size.xxlarge.letterbox.jpeg

eighth_st_grate.jpg


They should mark our bicycle lanes with...
bike_lanes_fall.jpg
 
On Monday, July 4th, construction will begin on Richmond Street between York Street and Church Street to upgrade the watermain, remove existing streetcar tracks, and to reconstruct the westbound track. Construction is expected to continue until November 30th, 2016.


For the duration of the project Richmond Street will be reduced to be one lane between York Street and Church Streets.


Please see below for specific closure information provided by the Financial District BIA:


Lane and Cycle Track Closures

  • Vehicular traffic will be reduced to one lane.
  • This work requires the use of three traffic lanes and as a result, within the limits of the construction zone, the Richmond cycle track cannot be maintained during the construction period. Cyclists can share the available single lane with vehicles (single file) or use alternate routes on Queen Street, King Street or Wellington Street. Signs for cyclists will be posted to direct cyclists around the work zone. There may be times when work shifts into the north lane of Richmond Street, at which point for safety, cyclists may want to use an alternate route to avoid streetcar track.
TTC Service Changes

  • The five Downtown Express Bus routes that operate westbound on Richmond Street will be diverted to operate on Queen Street instead of Richmond Street during this construction project. For TTC route information visit ttc.ca.
Phase 1 (July 4th to August 7th)

During Phase 1, crews will:

  • Remove streetcar track allowance between Yonge Street and Bay Street.
  • Install new watermain between Yonge Street and Bay Street.
  • Complete watermain work on Yonge Street at Richmond street (in northbound curb lane and southbound curb lane).
Phase 2 (August 8th to November 30th)

During Phase 2, crews will:

  • Complete rail welding work between Victoria and Church Street.
  • Reconstruct the westbound track allowance only from Church Street to York Street.
  • Complete curb, sidewalk and streetscape work, from Church Street to York Street.
  • Reconstruct Richmond Street from Victoria Street to York Street and resurface the road between Church Street and Victoria Street.
For more information, please visit the City’s Downtown Construction Projects website.
 
This from Montreal may be of interest:

With more than 700 kilometres of bike paths, Montreal has one of the largest cycling networks in North America.

And that network is expanding. Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre’s administration is on pace to fulfill a promise to add 200 kilometres of paths during his four-year mandate.

But many cyclists say maybe the city should build fewer bike paths.

They say the city appears too focused on adding kilometres, so it resorts to merely painting lines on streets that do little to enhance cycling, when it should be addressing gaps in the network. As a result, many bike paths don’t take cyclists where they need to go, critics say, with too many the city’s paths running east-west, and comparatively few going north-south.

“It’s absolutely horrible going north to south in Montreal if you’re on your bike,” said Daniel Lambert, a spokesperson for the Montreal Bike Coalition.

From: http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/cyclists-say-montreals-bike-path-often-leads-nowhere
 
Miscreant said:
Hmm. Interesting discussion. I fully agree that it makes me nervous when I see cyclists pass on the right a car about to or in the process of turning right. But I don't agree that the proper manoeuver for the driver is to actually merge into the bike lane before turning right. For one, if this were the rule then it runs the risks of endangering cyclists who might be in a driver's blind spot at the moment he decides to move into the bike lane before his right hand turn. For another, I think too little mental separation between car lanes and bike lanes can encourage the attitude that bike lanes are just lanes that exist for drivers in those instances where they want to use them to their advantage.

The best solution, to my mind, is for drivers to wait for a clear bike lane before turning right, while at the same time for cyclists to merge to the left of the car as the driver waits to execute the turn. I think the underlying issue is that there's this belief that a cyclist shouldn't have to stop behind a car to wait for it to make its move. This is partly because stopping as a cyclist is annoying, as starting back up again takes more energy. The result is that cyclists start to foolishly either merge left to pass the right-turning car, or they foolishly try to sneak in on the right hand side before the turn, all in the interest of not stopping with traffic when necessary like other vehicles do.

But again, the problem would be solved if right-turning cars were safer and more patient, and if cyclists accepted that sometimes you just need to wait behind traffic until it's safe to proceed.
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The HTA is very clear! It is illegal to turn from any lane in such a way as to 'cut across' another without first attaining that lane. It applies to full lanes, it applies to cycling lanes. That is why the solid line becomes dashed two car lengths or more before an intersection, unless the municipality has marked them wrong. Most cops don't even do this lane change correctly. To not attain the lane first is an offence.

Edit: See here: https://www1.toronto.ca/City Of Tor...Article/Understanding_bike_lanes_FINALweb.pdf
 
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Miscreant said:
Well, fair enough. I'll trust that you guys know more about this than I do. But I will add this: as far as I know--correct me if I'm wrong--it's technically wrong to stop in a bike lane. Vaguely aware of this, when I've been a driver (which is infrequently, I'm a cyclist or a pedestrian most days), I've been reluctant to get into the bike lane because it was my understanding that I wasn't to stop in it at all, which is technically supposed to happen when making a right hand turn, at least on a red, if not for safety on a green.

I think there's a fair bit of ambiguity on this score. In my view, the best policy is to stop in the lane, check your mirror, and wait to make your turn only when you see no cyclists approaching on the right. In other words, you give them the right of way since you're making a two-lane right hand turn.
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If you are stopped at a light while waiting to turn right in a bike lane (and cyclists are also required to do this) you are permitted and required to do this until such time as you can make a safe turn on a red, or when the light turns green.
 
steveintoronto said:
The HTA is very clear! It is illegal to turn from any lane in such a way as to 'cut across' another without first attaining that lane. It applies to full lanes, it applies to cycling lanes. That is why the solid line becomes dashed two car lengths or more before an intersection, unless the municipality has marked them wrong. Most cops don't even do this lane change correctly. To not attain the lane first is an offence.

Edit: See here: https://www1.toronto.ca/City Of Toronto/Transportation Services/Cycling/Article/Understanding_bike_lanes_FINALweb.pdf
Click to expand...
Unless it's a cycle track, in which case there is a solid line and the car must yield to bikes as if they were pedestrians.

The OP is wrong, because a car safely entering the bike lane to hug the curb and turn forces bikes to wait or go around. This eliminates the risk of passenger side t-boning and is by far the safest situation for bikers and pedestrians.
 
animatronic said:
On Monday, July 4th, construction will begin on Richmond Street between York Street and Church Street to upgrade the watermain, remove existing streetcar tracks, and to reconstruct the westbound track. Construction is expected to continue until November 30th, 2016.
Click to expand...

How about they upgrade the cycle track while they're at it. Kick out the goddamn parked cars.
 
Richmond/Adelaide update: these lanes are still lovely. Was in a pack of 20+ cyclists at Jarvis & Adelaide late yesterday afternoon. The cycle counter still exists on Richmond at Jarvis. It's so nice to have critical mass now!
 
steveintoronto said:
Could intercity cycle highways revolutionise the daily commute?
The Guardian‎ - 3 days ago

Germany is building the world’s biggest ‘bicycle autobahn’ to connect 10 cities and remove 50,000 cars from the road every day. With the popularity of e-bikes growing too, is Europe about to see a new era of long-distance cycle commuting?
Click to expand...

Well, that'd be great for Germany, because their regular bike lanes are generally garbage (not just paint, but sometimes paint on sidewalks so you're dodging pedestrians ... and trees).
 
Apparently someone's been scattering tacks in the Adelaide lane. I know we have a few hardcore bike haters in this city but that's some UK/Australia-level bullshit.
 
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