Cycling in Waterloo Region

[Michaelkokokons]

I used to live on university street & it was honestly a nightmare. Here’s a wild thought. If it could potentially work, would it be a good idea? What if we had university street from Weber to Philip all one way. Then going down Columbia street from Philip to Weber street make it one way the opposite direction. You can have wider sidewalks, dedicated bus lanes. Etc. would be challenging at first I think. Just a crazy thought

[dtkvictim]

From Toronto, but... 'It's frustrating': Mississauga residents group says bike lane project violates their Charter rights

https://www.toronto.com/news-story/10569...er-rights/

Tagidou told council she believed the proposed cycling infrastructure in the residential stretch between Cawthra and Dixie would increase risks of injuries and death as “homeowners and businesses on a daily basis struggle to negotiate the bicycle lanes.”

"The city, by constructing bicycle lanes on Bloor Street between Cawthra and Dixie, would strip us of the freedom to make fundamental personal choices of our individual dignity to live without fear and the individual independence to choose how we live our lives in our homes as well as out on Bloor Street," she said at the January meeting.

[ac3r]

Thanks to anti-vaxxers, I suspect we'll be hearing about "muh charter rights!!!!" a lot more in the future than we ever used to.

[ijmorlan]

I was hoping to hear something about the supposed nexus between the bike lanes and charter rights, but they never really seemed to get to it. Too bad, I need a laugh.

[Chris]

What about my Charter rights to move around on this rock anyway I see fit. If that involves me riding my bike across her front lawn and bunny hopping on her car who is she to deny my rights as a bike owner to do as I please?

[Acitta]

New website launched to highlight Grand River trails network
Interactive maps highlight amenities in a new Cambridge Loop mapped out for cyclists

The Grand Watershed Trails Network

[bravado]

I have a planning/engineering question... I've been really liking the multi-use trail along Franklin in Cambridge. It's a really great way to get North-South in the city. It unfortunately has a LOT of driveway crossings and some very un-attentive drivers.

Since Franklin is a separated road, people trying to pull out of their driveway/parking lots are only looking at traffic from one direction and constantly don't notice me coming on a bike in the other direction. What sort of path/driveway design would help with this, other than the existing awful dotted lines?


This gas station for example has people turning in constantly and they never check for any pedestrians or bikes. This seems pretty negligent to me?

[ac3r]

One option may be to use green paint that is commonly used on the MUTs and bike lanes and apply it to the driveway entrances/exits. It would ultimately still come down to how attentive drivers are regarding bikes, scooters, skateboarders, pedestrians etc but at least it would make it a bit more obvious that there may be non-vehicular traffic coming by. I don't bike in Waterloo Region much because it's still dangerous so I'm not familiar with much of the infrastructure here, but it does indeed seem negligent they would not add some sort of signage or similar to warn drivers. Seems like it should be obvious to include such things...like putting stop signs on intersections.

[ac3r]

Also...unrelated to your post this reminded me of something, so here's a general question for those who frequently bike...

What's the most direct way to get to Cambridge on a bike (or similar mode of transport)? The only way I can think of is King Street East but that's extremely dangerous to do since there are multiple highway exits and King Street East itself has no infrastructure for anything but cars/trucks...you're stuck riding in the traffic or in the gravel gutter. You need to be suicidal to do that. The only other way I can think of is Fountain Street or Fairway Road but those are very inconvenient and would add another half our or more to your trip.

Is the only option King or just taking your bike on the bus? Or I guess you could use the gravel trails along the river, but that's hardly convenient either. I'm curious since I own a house in Hidden Valley and would like to be able to bike to Cambridge more often, but can't think of any way to do so lest I gamble with my life or just use the bus.

[danbrotherston]

I have a planning/engineering question... I've been really liking the multi-use trail along Franklin in Cambridge. It's a really great way to get North-South in the city. It unfortunately has a LOT of driveway crossings and some very un-attentive drivers.

Since Franklin is a separated road, people trying to pull out of their driveway/parking lots are only looking at traffic from one direction and constantly don't notice me coming on a bike in the other direction. What sort of path/driveway design would help with this, other than the existing awful dotted lines?


This gas station for example has people turning in constantly and they never check for any pedestrians or bikes. This seems pretty negligent to me?

I am not an engineer, which means that I am not qualified to sign plans.

But I feel that I am more qualified to answer this question than our engineers are, since they actually build stuff like this, that is just utterly incompetent.

The first thing that should happen, is the path should be visually distinct from the driveway.  They are both in asphalt right now, drivers don't have any reason to even know they are crossing paths with other road users.

Visual distinction could be the dotted line you mention, but even better would be a stronger signal using colour (most Dutch paths are red, we prefer green apparently.

Raising the path above the driveway would further strengthen this distinction for drivers.

Narrowing the driveway and squaring off the entrance would also reduce the speed drivers enter and exit the driveway.

Moving the path back from the road, so leave enough space between the path and the road for a driver to wait (allowing drivers to focus on the path, then after focus on the road).

Disallowing driveways on busy roads (which creates stroads) would make getting in and out of the driveway easier so the cognitive load on drivers is reduced giving them more attention to spend on you.

And I mean, this is off the top of my head. It's not like this is rocket science. It's not that our engineers couldn't figure this out (they certainly don't know it), but they don't care...this path meets all their engineering standards, so they aren't liable if you get hit, and it meets the requirements council gave them for active transportation without taking space from cars. That is their ONLY concern, they see this as a major success. Even better, they will later use the poor uptake of this infrastructure to justify NOT building more infra in the future.

[danbrotherston]

Also...unrelated to your post this reminded me of something, so here's a general question for those who frequently bike...

What's the most direct way to get to Cambridge on a bike (or similar mode of transport)? The only way I can think of is King Street East but that's extremely dangerous to do since there are multiple highway exits and King Street East itself has no infrastructure for anything but cars/trucks...you're stuck riding in the traffic or in the gravel gutter. You need to be suicidal to do that. The only other way I can think of is Fountain Street or Fairway Road but those are very inconvenient and would add another half our or more to your trip.

Is the only option King or just taking your bike on the bus? Or I guess you could use the gravel trails along the river, but that's hardly convenient either. I'm curious since I own a house in Hidden Valley and would like to be able to bike to Cambridge more often, but can't think of any way to do so lest I gamble with my life or just use the bus.

There is a bridge around Conestoga College.

This map is a little out of date (there is also now a path now along Homer Watson which connects along Conestoga College Blvd to the bridge as well.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?m...sp=sharing

[bravado]

Also...unrelated to your post this reminded me of something, so here's a general question for those who frequently bike...

What's the most direct way to get to Cambridge on a bike (or similar mode of transport)? The only way I can think of is King Street East but that's extremely dangerous to do since there are multiple highway exits and King Street East itself has no infrastructure for anything but cars/trucks...you're stuck riding in the traffic or in the gravel gutter. You need to be suicidal to do that. The only other way I can think of is Fountain Street or Fairway Road but those are very inconvenient and would add another half our or more to your trip.


Is the only option King or just taking your bike on the bus? Or I guess you could use the gravel trails along the river, but that's hardly convenient either. I'm curious since I own a house in Hidden Valley and would like to be able to bike to Cambridge more often, but can't think of any way to do so lest I gamble with my life or just use the bus.

My parents live on Pioneer in Doon, the route from Conestoga College to downtown Galt through Blair is gravel/dirt for only 15% of the route... It's actually pretty good now, but could obviously be so much better. I'm no athlete, but it's about 40 minutes on my e-bike all the way from East Galt. The new separated path on Homer Watson is actually outstanding and very nice.

Hidden Valley -> Wilson -> Homer Watson -> cross the 401 at Conestoga College -> Blair -> Galt is what I would assume is the best route. If you're going to Hespeler or Preston, you'd have to go through Preston which also connects to this same route that I mentioned.

Why this isn't a priority for the city for students to get to Conestoga via bike is entirely lost on me.

[ac3r]

There is a bridge around Conestoga College.

This map is a little out of date (there is also now a path now along Homer Watson which connects along Conestoga College Blvd to the bridge as well.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?m...sp=sharing

My parents live on Pioneer in Doon, the route from Conestoga College to downtown Galt through Blair is gravel/dirt for only 15% of the route... It's actually pretty good now, but could obviously be so much better. I'm no athlete, but it's about 40 minutes on my e-bike all the way from East Galt. The new separated path on Homer Watson is actually outstanding and very nice.

Hidden Valley -> Wilson -> Homer Watson -> cross the 401 at Conestoga College -> Blair -> Galt is what I would assume is the best route. If you're going to Hespeler or Preston, you'd have to go through Preston which also connects to this same route that I mentioned.

Why this isn't a priority for the city for students to get to Conestoga via bike is entirely lost on me.

Thank you both. I didn't notice that bridge on Google maps. That helps, though it's still way out of the way. It'd be alright if you go to the college or live around there, but for general biking to and from Kitchener to Cambridge, that's quite a detour that adds extra time for the trip. It'd be nice if they could build something more direct that runs along King Street but somehow avoids the on/off ramps for Highway 8. I suppose when the LRT gets built, it'd be easiest to just take a bike on the train and hop off where you need, though having specific bike infrastructure would be nice to see. Perhaps one day.

[Acitta]

Also...unrelated to your post this reminded me of something, so here's a general question for those who frequently bike...

What's the most direct way to get to Cambridge on a bike (or similar mode of transport)? The only way I can think of is King Street East but that's extremely dangerous to do since there are multiple highway exits and King Street East itself has no infrastructure for anything but cars/trucks...you're stuck riding in the traffic or in the gravel gutter. You need to be suicidal to do that. The only other way I can think of is Fountain Street or Fairway Road but those are very inconvenient and would add another half our or more to your trip.

Is the only option King or just taking your bike on the bus? Or I guess you could use the gravel trails along the river, but that's hardly convenient either. I'm curious since I own a house in Hidden Valley and would like to be able to bike to Cambridge more often, but can't think of any way to do so lest I gamble with my life or just use the bus.

Take the MUT on Homer Watson or Mill Park Dr./Old Mill Road to Conestoga College Blvd/Doon Valley Dr. to the pedestrian bridge over the 401 to Morningside Dr. (or take the trail, but Morningside is straighter) to Fountain St. Take the Blair Trail from Fountain St. to the MUT along Blair Rd. to the trail through the rare Charitable Reserve which will take you all the way to Riverbluffs Park and Dickson Park. Cross the river at Park Hill Rd. or Main St. Stop at the Grand Cafe on Queens Square for a beverage and snack. If you are going to Preston, there is are MUTs on both sides of Fountain St. until it gets too narrow. I am inclined to ride on the sidewalk in that section, sometimes. If you want to go to Hespeler, go through Riverside Park and take the trail all the way there. Most of the trip is great, and you don't have to spend much time sharing the road with cars. It is much better than the other route which is King St. across the Freeport Bridge through the Sportsworld district, under the 401 and down Shantz Hill Road. That route is not very cyclist friendly, but I have done it many times over the last 20 years.

[bravado]

I have a planning/engineering question... I've been really liking the multi-use trail along Franklin in Cambridge. It's a really great way to get North-South in the city. It unfortunately has a LOT of driveway crossings and some very un-attentive drivers.

Since Franklin is a separated road, people trying to pull out of their driveway/parking lots are only looking at traffic from one direction and constantly don't notice me coming on a bike in the other direction. What sort of path/driveway design would help with this, other than the existing awful dotted lines?


This gas station for example has people turning in constantly and they never check for any pedestrians or bikes. This seems pretty negligent to me?

I am not an engineer, which means that I am not qualified to sign plans.

But I feel that I am more qualified to answer this question than our engineers are, since they actually build stuff like this, that is just utterly incompetent.

The first thing that should happen, is the path should be visually distinct from the driveway.  They are both in asphalt right now, drivers don't have any reason to even know they are crossing paths with other road users.

Visual distinction could be the dotted line you mention, but even better would be a stronger signal using colour (most Dutch paths are red, we prefer green apparently.

Raising the path above the driveway would further strengthen this distinction for drivers.

Narrowing the driveway and squaring off the entrance would also reduce the speed drivers enter and exit the driveway.

Moving the path back from the road, so leave enough space between the path and the road for a driver to wait (allowing drivers to focus on the path, then after focus on the road).

Disallowing driveways on busy roads (which creates stroads) would make getting in and out of the driveway easier so the cognitive load on drivers is reduced giving them more attention to spend on you.

And I mean, this is off the top of my head. It's not like this is rocket science. It's not that our engineers couldn't figure this out (they certainly don't know it), but they don't care...this path meets all their engineering standards, so they aren't liable if you get hit, and it meets the requirements council gave them for active transportation without taking space from cars. That is their ONLY concern, they see this as a major success. Even better, they will later use the poor uptake of this infrastructure to justify NOT building more infra in the future.

What's even crazier is that the gas station has another entrance on the other side, they didn't close a single one to keep pedestrians and cyclists safe. This little miserable plaza has 3 entrances and they didn't get rid of any. The used car dealership next to it still has 2!