Cycling in Waterloo Region - Printable Version +- Waterloo Region Connected (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com) +-- Forum: Waterloo Region Works (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=14) +--- Forum: Transportation and Infrastructure (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=25) +--- Thread: Cycling in Waterloo Region (/showthread.php?tid=186) Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
|
RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - plam - 11-14-2014 (11-14-2014, 01:14 PM)BuildingScout Wrote: I don't buy it, starting from the scary quotes on engineered solution and moving on to the ridiculous: The radiant heat that will be produced by the paving will cause dieback of the old growth forest that remains in the park. That also caught my eye. I doubt there's any old growth in Waterloo Region. It all used to be farms, yes? This is a tiny amount of pavement compared to the amount of roads that we have around here. Also, less road traffic means less need for car-focussed roads. I was also wondering about asphalt lifetime. Seems that without cars, it should last longer. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - BuildingScout - 11-14-2014 (11-14-2014, 04:02 PM)plam Wrote: I was also wondering about asphalt lifetime. Seems that without cars, it should last longer. Of course. Asphalt walking paths at the university have lifetimes measured in decades. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - ookpik - 11-14-2014 What about the author's contention that sections of pavement are destined to wash away or collapse long before the asphalt deteriorates naturally? I've seen this happen on other paved trails. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - plam - 11-14-2014 (11-14-2014, 04:46 PM)ookpik Wrote: What about the author's contention that sections of pavement are destined to wash away or collapse long before the asphalt deteriorates naturally? I've seen this happen on other paved trails. Worse than the gravel that is already washing away? That is clearly bad. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - BuildingScout - 11-14-2014 (11-14-2014, 04:46 PM)ookpik Wrote: What about the author's contention that sections of pavement are destined to wash away or collapse long before the asphalt deteriorates naturally? I've seen this happen on other paved trails. As plam says, it couldn't possibly be worse than gravel. Not even close. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - plam - 11-14-2014 But, seeing as the gravel already washes out, it may be true that asphalt may also wash out over time as well. I asked a civil engineering faculty colleague of mine: when water gets underneath asphalt, it does move the asphalt (even potentially uphill). We'll have to see what happens with this path in the next few years. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Markster - 11-14-2014 I understand the worry about the asphalt crumbling away, and it will almost certainly happen without extensive works to improve drainage with ditches on either side of the path. However, the simply asphalt layer is much better than what's there now, and the perfect is the enemy of the good (and the budget). RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - BuildingScout - 11-14-2014 (11-14-2014, 05:57 PM)plam Wrote: But, seeing as the gravel already washes out, it may be true that asphalt may also wash out over time as well. I asked a civil engineering faculty colleague of mine: when water gets underneath asphalt, it does move the asphalt (even potentially uphill). We'll have to see what happens with this path in the next few years. Yes asphalt will eventually wash out too. But it will take a lot longer particularly if the grade was properly thought out, which we have no reason to assume it wasn't. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - plam - 11-14-2014 (11-14-2014, 05:58 PM)Markster Wrote: I understand the worry about the asphalt crumbling away, and it will almost certainly happen without extensive works to improve drainage with ditches on either side of the path. Yeah. In the same vein, holding out for a boardwalk is not really the right thing (and that would get far more icy in the winter). I was thinking about the paved path in Waterloo Park (not the gravel, which is terrible) and I suppose that the ditches help a lot there. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - MacBerry - 11-15-2014 (11-14-2014, 07:08 PM)plam Wrote:All this discourse is much ado about nothing!(11-14-2014, 05:58 PM)Markster Wrote: I understand the worry about the asphalt crumbling away, and it will almost certainly happen without extensive works to improve drainage with ditches on either side of the path. Example: The asphalt pathways and gravel pathways/bike trails in Waterloo Park have been there for 50 plus years ... yes they require maintenance and have been resurfaced or changed from one type to another but the world didn't fall apart regardless of what pathway type is used in one of the nicest parks in Waterloo region. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - mpd618 - 11-15-2014 (11-15-2014, 12:25 AM)MacBerry Wrote: All this discourse is much ado about nothing! I commuted on bike and on foot through Waterloo Park for quite a while. My experience would have been much better had the Laurel Trail through the park been paved. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - ookpik - 11-15-2014 (11-14-2014, 05:57 PM)plam Wrote: But, seeing as the gravel already washes out, it may be true that asphalt may also wash out over time as well.That is my concern. On a flat trail away from flowing water there's no doubt that pavement will last longer. But on a sloped trail or one that's subject to flooding my concern is that water could find its way under the pavement, erode the soil below and thus cause the pavement to collapse. I've seen this happen on paved hiking/walking trails in Europe. We've all seen photos in the media of roads that have collapsed due to flooding or underground water flows (so-called Sinkholes.) Here are paved trails on flat ground in the aftermath of last year's Calgary flood that illustrate the sorts of issues that could arise. Quote:I asked a civil engineering faculty colleague of mine: when water gets underneath asphalt, it does move the asphalt (even potentially uphill). We'll have to see what happens with this path in the next few years.Interesting. So there is a risk. P.S. Just to be clear, I'm not against paving this trail. I simply want to understand if washouts could still be an issue after it's done. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - BuildingScout - 11-15-2014 (11-15-2014, 10:20 AM)ookpik Wrote: Here are paved trails on flat ground in the aftermath of last year's Calgary flood that illustrate the sorts of issues that could arise. Typically the way an asphalt trail fails is when a pothole develops it's left unpatched and then during a flood large amounts of water flow through the hole and erode the ground underneath. Again no one is claiming that asphalt last forever or doesn't eventually need to be replaced. The point is that for every time this happens to an asphalt trail, a gravel trail washes away ten times. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - Drake - 12-07-2014 Was out for a walk this afternoon. Noticed some new paving on Forwell trail and new signage. This was not here a fortnight ago. I found these signs all along the route. The city has been busy. Looks like they have done a great job on these trails. Forwell @ Dearborne Inside Hillside Park. University E @ Carter Ave. RE: Cycling in Waterloo Region - ookpik - 12-08-2014 (12-07-2014, 07:16 PM)Drake Wrote: Why is the distance column headed with a bicycle icon? Is the distance different for pedestrians? |