Cycling in Waterloo Region

[robdrimmie]

Justice of the Peace

[Rainrider22]

Justice of the Peace

[ijmorlan]

So this should cover bicycle lanes, because bicycles (not to mention pedestrians) are traffic.

It’s basically bigoted to argue otherwise — people only count as traffic if they’re encased in a large metal shell?

I like the way you think.  If I still worked by-law, I'd give it a try.  I loved pushing limits, sometimes the JP would agree, sometimes not.

Bike lanes weren't a thing when I did that job, so my mind didn't even go there.

Coke

Thanks! I guess what I don’t understand is why this would even be in question. Does the HTA contain any language saying that some lanes are more illegal to block than others? Or is it that “traffic” is only obstructed if every lane is blocked by the obstruction? But even that can’t really be right — I’m pretty sure I’d be written up for blocking traffic if I stopped on Hespeler road, blocking just 1 of 3 lanes in one direction.

Or is this like what people mean (generalized) when they say that society as a whole is still racist/sexist/…?

[danbrotherston]

I like the way you think.  If I still worked by-law, I'd give it a try.  I loved pushing limits, sometimes the JP would agree, sometimes not.

Bike lanes weren't a thing when I did that job, so my mind didn't even go there.

Coke

Thanks! I guess what I don’t understand is why this would even be in question. Does the HTA contain any language saying that some lanes are more illegal to block than others? Or is it that “traffic” is only obstructed if every lane is blocked by the obstruction? But even that can’t really be right — I’m pretty sure I’d be written up for blocking traffic if I stopped on Hespeler road, blocking just 1 of 3 lanes in one direction.

Or is this like what people mean (generalized) when they say that society as a whole is still racist/sexist/…?

I mean, this is all a judgement call, even though it shouldn't be, but I can totally understand how blocking a curb/bollard segregated lane is a bigger obstruction than stopping in a road where other users must only cross paint to go around you.

[danbrotherston]

The City of Kitchener has the survey up for the protected bike lane pilot:

https://www.engagewr.ca/separated-bike-lane-pilot

[Spokes]

Thanks for sharing this!

[plam]

The City of Kitchener has the survey up for the protected bike lane pilot:

https://www.engagewr.ca/separated-bike-lane-pilot

The Belmont lanes were useful as detour lanes for the Iron Horse (and good infrastructure in their own right). Good to have a grid. Wish the Iron Horse construction was faster.

[boatracer]

New multi-use trail on Victoria Street from Bruce to Centennial is now out for bid by the Region. Documents can be found here:

https://regionofwaterloo.bidsandtenders....e36e8097dd

Looks like both sides of the road from Bruce to Forwell and south side only to Centennial.

[eh-cun71]

New multi-use trail on Victoria Street from Bruce to Centennial is now out for bid by the Region.  Documents can be found here:

https://regionofwaterloo.bidsandtenders....e36e8097dd

Looks like both sides of the road from Bruce to Forwell and south side only to Centennial.

Great! I've always thought the grass was plenty wide to fit MLT's along here. Hopefully, they can reconfigure the lanes on the new bridge over 85 to give space for bikes and match up with this trail.

Maybe one day these will connect all the way to Woodlawn in Guelph where the exact same kind of trails are being put in!

[danbrotherston]

New multi-use trail on Victoria Street from Bruce to Centennial is now out for bid by the Region.  Documents can be found here:

https://regionofwaterloo.bidsandtenders....e36e8097dd

Looks like both sides of the road from Bruce to Forwell and south side only to Centennial.

Great! I've always thought the grass was plenty wide to fit MLT's along here. Hopefully, they can reconfigure the lanes on the new bridge over 85 to give space for bikes and match up with this trail.

Maybe one day these will connect all the way to Woodlawn in Guelph where the exact same kind of trails are being put in!

There is no plans to extend these MUTs in either direction, getting to Guelph would be over 5 times farther than the planned lanes, and would require coordination with Guelph and Wellington County, going West is also not an option, the MTO owns the bridge over the expressway and is notoriously hostile to cycling infrastructure, and while there is enough space for the planned sections of trail, with only a few choke points that are squeezing the MUTs to 2.4 meters east of Bruce St., to the west there would be orders of magnitude more right of way constraints West of the expressway. It would only really be feasible if the region was willing to remove a lane on Victoria which they aren't right now, or with substantial property acquisition, which takes a long time.

My hope is that Frederick St. which is seriously overbuilt east of the expressway is narrowed to 3 lanes with protected lanes, to provide a connection to the Victoria lanes from nearish downtown.

[Coke6pk]

I like the way you think.  If I still worked by-law, I'd give it a try.  I loved pushing limits, sometimes the JP would agree, sometimes not.

Bike lanes weren't a thing when I did that job, so my mind didn't even go there.

Coke

Thanks! I guess what I don’t understand is why this would even be in question. Does the HTA contain any language saying that some lanes are more illegal to block than others? Or is it that “traffic” is only obstructed if every lane is blocked by the obstruction? But even that can’t really be right — I’m pretty sure I’d be written up for blocking traffic if I stopped on Hespeler road, blocking just 1 of 3 lanes in one direction.

Or is this like what people mean (generalized) when they say that society as a whole is still racist/sexist/…?

Our system works on precedence.  If one person claims they murdered someone only because they were drunk, and they are acquitted, it is more likely that future defences of the same calibre will be accepted.  Sometimes precedence is overturned, but that's where higher courts get involved.

At the local level, if I wrote a ticket for obstructing traffic in a bike lane (and again, we didn't have dedicated bike lanes when I worked there) and the JP ruled that bikes could go around, so they weren't really obstructed ao they find the person not guilty.... getting a conviction from that point on would be very difficult.  I may have been know to push the envelope of some charges... some made it to court, and we won, so the practices continued.... others didn't, so the practice stopped. 

So while laws are black and white for the most part, there is an (normally) an essence of discretion for officers and prosecutors [ie. Stunt Driving:  The HTA says an officer must charge as opposed to Speeding: An officer may charge].  Regardless, JP's and Judge's always have discretion and the ability to (start the process to) overturn laws.

Coke

[panamaniac]

I think you mean "precedent(s)".

[Coke6pk]

I think you mean "precedent(s)".

Perhaps.... LOL.

I type the words I hear... that gets me bad marks in the grammar dept.

Coke

[danbrotherston]

[danbrotherston]

A 17 year old kid (described as a 'cyclist' in the article) was killed by a 20 year old man (described also as "driver") last night. The killer fled the scene in a damaged dark grey 2012-2017 Chevy Sonic, anyone with information is asked to call crime stoppers:

https://www.kitchenertoday.com/police-be...ra-2318740

And before anyone complains about my terminology as being 'angry', it is merely 'correct', the child is dead, as a result of the actions of the man, ergo the man killed the child, ergo the man is the killer.