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+--- Thread: Cycling in Waterloo Region (/showthread.php?tid=186)
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RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - dtkvictim - 04-13-2022
(04-13-2022, 01:04 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: I haven't looked at the plans recently, but I would think they'd only need to take the two trees on one side...one of which doesn't look too healthy.
Looks like all the trees from both sides were removed today.
Also, looking at what has been built and the construction drawings, the intersections across the grid are not great. But I guess that's just 2 way cycle tracks?
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - cherrypark - 04-13-2022
(04-13-2022, 10:09 AM)ac3r Wrote: Here's some more brilliant Waterloo Region bike infrastructure...a flexible bollard right in the middle of the bike lane: https://www.reddit.com/r/waterloo/comments/u2dqtq/door_zone_bike_lane_now_featuring/
I have sent a pic to a friend of that garbage before... What wasn't framed is the "Max 50 kph" sign about 15m before the "Kids at Play, 40 kph" index card they tacked on at the start of that long drag strip through the neighbourhood. And whatever the hell the "lane" into sharrows they painted on. Impressively bad top to bottom.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Bob_McBob - 04-15-2022
A driver swerved to avoid another car in Kitchener and managed to hit a cyclist instead 🙄
https://kitchener.citynews.ca/police-beat/cyclist-seriously-injured-after-collision-in-kitchener-5269883
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - dtkvictim - 04-23-2022
Looks like work is underway on the Queen St portion of the cycling grid as well.
To be honest, this segment is incredibly confusing to me, both in terms of its purpose and its design. I don't get the purpose of such a short segment when it's not connecting 2 high quality pieces of infrastructure. Are that many cyclists really using Church St? It would be good if Dan's plans for Benton came to fruition, but that seems very far away.
For someone that understands construction drawings better than me (https://www.engagewr.ca/16695/widgets/65742/documents/77658):
- What is happening in front of the existing retirement home driveway, opposite Joseph? I see a triangle next to the elephant feet, but that can't be a concrete barrier blocking the driveway. So the intention for cyclists turning to Joseph street is to float directly in the path on cars with no protection?
- What is happening with the green paint section next to #150?
- How does someone get from Church St to southbound Queen St?
![[Image: DUryeZA.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/DUryeZA.jpg)
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - ijmorlan - 04-23-2022
(04-23-2022, 11:13 PM)dtkvictim Wrote: Looks like work is underway on the Queen St portion of the cycling grid as well.
To be honest, this segment is incredibly confusing to me, both in terms of its purpose and its design. I don't get the purpose of such a short segment when it's not connecting 2 high quality pieces of infrastructure. Are that many cyclists really using Church St? It would be good if Dan's plans for Benton came to fruition, but that seems very far away.
For someone that understands construction drawings better than me (https://www.engagewr.ca/16695/widgets/65742/documents/77658):
- What is happening in front of the existing retirement home driveway, opposite Joseph? I see a triangle next to the elephant feet, but that can't be a concrete barrier blocking the driveway. So the intention for cyclists turning to Joseph street is to float directly in the path on cars with no protection?
- What is happening with the green paint section next to #150?
- How does someone get from Church St to southbound Queen St?
I think the idea is to join the separated lanes on Joseph with Church, essentially making the two one continuous route for bicycles. It’s not primarily about that little bit of Queen, although eventually presumably it will link up with future improvements on that street as well.
Cyclists turning to Joseph St. would wait at the stop line south (left, on the plans) of Joseph. I assume bicycles will get a separate phase so when they are turning left there is no straight-through car traffic conflicting with them.
Do you mean Church St. to southbound Queen on a bicycle? If so it looks like turn left at Queen into the bicycle lane, then jog across Queen at Joseph. Depending on traffic conditions and rider comfort it might be easier to just turn left like a motor vehicle and then take the bicycle lane at Joseph.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - danbrotherston - 04-24-2022
(04-23-2022, 11:55 PM)ijmorlan Wrote:(04-23-2022, 11:13 PM)dtkvictim Wrote: Looks like work is underway on the Queen St portion of the cycling grid as well.
To be honest, this segment is incredibly confusing to me, both in terms of its purpose and its design. I don't get the purpose of such a short segment when it's not connecting 2 high quality pieces of infrastructure. Are that many cyclists really using Church St? It would be good if Dan's plans for Benton came to fruition, but that seems very far away.
For someone that understands construction drawings better than me (https://www.engagewr.ca/16695/widgets/65742/documents/77658):
- What is happening in front of the existing retirement home driveway, opposite Joseph? I see a triangle next to the elephant feet, but that can't be a concrete barrier blocking the driveway. So the intention for cyclists turning to Joseph street is to float directly in the path on cars with no protection?
- What is happening with the green paint section next to #150?
- How does someone get from Church St to southbound Queen St?
I think the idea is to join the separated lanes on Joseph with Church, essentially making the two one continuous route for bicycles. It’s not primarily about that little bit of Queen, although eventually presumably it will link up with future improvements on that street as well.
Cyclists turning to Joseph St. would wait at the stop line south (left, on the plans) of Joseph. I assume bicycles will get a separate phase so when they are turning left there is no straight-through car traffic conflicting with them.
Do you mean Church St. to southbound Queen on a bicycle? If so it looks like turn left at Queen into the bicycle lane, then jog across Queen at Joseph. Depending on traffic conditions and rider comfort it might be easier to just turn left like a motor vehicle and then take the bicycle lane at Joseph.
This is correct, and I think it's actually more important than it might at first appear. Having clear continuity in infra is important, even when it's a short segment, this makes it very clear where you are supposed to go to follow the route and to be safe (the route of course being Joseph to Queen to Church).
I don't think many cyclists are using Church, but the intention is to have more cyclists use it. It is intended to be a high quality piece of infrastructure. I think it is a pretty quiet road and is probably acceptable, if it was made part of a clear route, it may get that increase in usage. That being said, I think the main obstacle with Church is the hill. I would have been better to route cyclists around the hill, but that means Charles or King and it seems that wasn't in the cards (Courtland is flat enough as well, but getting around the hill takes you really far south).
But ebikes are a thing...so I guess we will see how it goes.
As for 2, I assume you mean the green on the sidewalk at 150 (my old building
), to me this looks like a turn box. A place for cyclists to wait in order to turn RIGHT onto Queen from Joseph, while not blocking traffic going left onto Queen. I am impressed that they are extending the Queen bike lanes right to the intersection. It sure would have been good if the region hadn't built a truly dangerous section past Courtland, and also, not build anything on Courtland....
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - ac3r - 04-24-2022
There's an Earth Day bike ride taking place today, starting at Centre in the Square at 2PM: https://twitter.com/GroundUpWR/status/1517192375952723970
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - jwilliamson - 04-24-2022
(04-24-2022, 10:38 AM)ac3r Wrote: There's an Earth Day bike ride taking place today, starting at Centre in the Square at 2PM: https://twitter.com/GroundUpWR/status/1517192375952723970
Sounds like fun. We'd come except we're stuck in Amsterdam.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - dtkvictim - 04-24-2022
(04-24-2022, 02:08 AM)danbrotherston Wrote:(04-23-2022, 11:55 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: I think the idea is to join the separated lanes on Joseph with Church, essentially making the two one continuous route for bicycles. It’s not primarily about that little bit of Queen, although eventually presumably it will link up with future improvements on that street as well.
This is correct, and I think it's actually more important than it might at first appear. Having clear continuity in infra is important, even when it's a short segment, this makes it very clear where you are supposed to go to follow the route and to be safe (the route of course being Joseph to Queen to Church).
I don't think many cyclists are using Church, but the intention is to have more cyclists use it. It is intended to be a high quality piece of infrastructure. I think it is a pretty quiet road and is probably acceptable, if it was made part of a clear route, it may get that increase in usage. That being said, I think the main obstacle with Church is the hill. I would have been better to route cyclists around the hill, but that means Charles or King and it seems that wasn't in the cards (Courtland is flat enough as well, but getting around the hill takes you really far south).
I'm not opposed to it, but I'm concerned about the amount value gained for the political capital being spent. At least from my perspective (happy to be wrong) this is the most visible section of the grid to suburban motorists, but also likely to be one of the least used sections. I think the hill is an obstacle, but I think crossing Benton is a bigger one.
I also think Queen St (especially south of King) should have proper cycling infrastructure in the future, and see this setup as a potential obstacle to it unless they manage a 2-way cycle track the entire way down.
---
Regarding my other questions, I think I need to illustrate my confusion.
1) The stop bar for bikes heading to Joseph. I assume this stop bar is used for both directions on Queen, and not just the one ijmorlan was referring to ("stop line south (left, on the plans) of Joseph"). There is a triangle shape immediately left of this stop bar in the construction drawings, but I can't imagine this is a concrete curb. First, it would blocking the existing retirement home driveway, and second the elephant feet on the drawings wouldn't be needed if it was a curb. This means cyclists waiting there are floating directly in the path of Queen St traffic who fail to follow the shifting lane:
![[Image: OgZaeDY.png]](https://i.imgur.com/OgZaeDY.png)
2) Are these lines I've drawn the intended paths, and use of the turning box?
![[Image: lnhsVm5.png]](https://i.imgur.com/lnhsVm5.png)
I fear some of the expected maneuvers across the grid are confusing to cyclists (who then don't "comply"), and incomprehensible from the motorist perspective who don't see the same paint and signage. Separate signal phases would help a ton, but I imagine that isn't happening.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - ijmorlan - 04-24-2022
[quote="dtkvictim" pid="101549" dateline="1650822622"]
1) The stop bar for bikes heading to Joseph. I assume this stop bar is used for both directions on Queen, and not just the one ijmorlan was referring to ("stop line south (left, on the plans) of Joseph"). There is a triangle shape immediately left of this stop bar in the construction drawings, but I can't imagine this is a concrete curb. First, it would blocking the existing retirement home driveway, and second the elephant feet on the drawings wouldn't be needed if it was a curb. This means cyclists waiting there are floating directly in the path of Queen St traffic who fail to follow the shifting lane:
I didn’t see that other stop bar that is parallel to Queen. I’m a bit confused by that one. Conceptually, it seems clear it’s for waiting to cross Queen; but there is no space behind it for more than one bike to wait conveniently. And I agree it’s in a rather exposed location.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - cherrypark - 04-24-2022
Is the triangle next to the stop bar denoting a raised curb? If its similar to the Joseph ones that would offer a fair amount of protection. Still confused about the retirement home driveway though. Part of me wishes they had just made the lanes sidewalk height but I guess that would have cost more to raise the roadway vs. just partitioning the existing asphalt.
I personally think the connections to Church is really welcome. Joseph ending onto no other option W-E would have been a let down and, while Church is not the easiest traverse, it offers connections to the market and Krug by was of Cedar, which is a pretty important route to link to east Kitchener (as there a few ways over/under the 85, and this is the best one). I use that route all the time going out to the east side of town for cycling. Fingers crossed Benton gets some upgrades like Dan proposed and then it would be even more valuable and it would be nice if they added a signalized crossing at Benton for now.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Acitta - 04-24-2022
(04-24-2022, 10:38 AM)ac3r Wrote: There's an Earth Day bike ride taking place today, starting at Centre in the Square at 2PM: https://twitter.com/GroundUpWR/status/1517192375952723970
Around 35 people showed up. This is an event scheduled for every Sunday at 2PM if anyone wants to come.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Rainrider22 - 04-24-2022
How far/long is the ride Gary...Might be fun for my kids if not touch
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Acitta - 04-24-2022
(04-24-2022, 10:33 PM)Rainrider22 Wrote: How far/long is the ride Gary...Might be fun for my kids if not touch
Today it was about an hour and a half of rather slow riding. It is a family event. There were children there. Also, you don't have to do the whole thing if you don't want to. It was the first time I took part in this. I think that they do different routes on different weeks. Two people chatting on the way talked about one ride that went up to the top of Waterloo and said that today's ride was easier. There are bike safety marshals to make sure everybody gets through intersections safely and the group stays together with no stragglers.
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Acitta - 04-24-2022
Here is a picture of the people who attended today's ride: https://twitter.com/GroundUpWR/status/1518335006724268037