07-28-2022, 09:30 AM
(07-27-2022, 03:39 PM)ac3r Wrote: See the above point. Riding with traffic is bad for many reasons. Now riding between train tracks with a train speeding by on each side every 10 minutes - fence or not - would be even worse than this. Who would want to bike there? I'll try to elaborate, I guess.
OK, “E” for effort. You officially get points for attempting to respond.
That being said, you’re still not making sense. Dan B. said it already, but I just have to re-iterate: Clearly, how bad it is to ride next to traffic depends on how busy that traffic is and how much separation one has from that traffic. Right?
Therefore, it is absurd to say that bicycling next to traffic is bad, and then turn around and say that riding separated from a traffic lane with one vehicle every 10 minutes, running on rails so they cannot deviate from their planned course, is somehow worse than riding with no separation with many vehicles every single minute, driven by amateurs and with no technological measures to prevent deviation. Riding between the LRT lanes is, at worst, way better than the present layout.
Additionally, in my idea there is no crossing of the bike lane by motor vehicles, whereas with the present plan there are not just crossings, but a dangerous (and dangerous-feeling) style of crossing.
You’re right that we settle for mediocrity (and worse), but even if we had the completely separate bridge (a great idea which I hope comes to fruition), some trips would make more sense to use the Northfield bridge, and they should get good infrastructure too. The only exception would be if the new bridge was so close to the existing bridge that it would be reasonable to declare the existing bridge a no-pedestrians zone, which I don’t believe is the case with the existing proposal. I don’t think you can do much better than putting that path down the middle, unusual though it is.
The only way your position makes sense is if trains are, in effect, a sort of bogeyman for you, where no matter the specifics, riding near them is horrible, worse than riding immediately next to mixed traffic in a factually dangerous situation.