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ION - Waterloo Region's Light Rail Transit
 The station area planning snapshot document is a good read for anyone interested in the development of the rapid transit network.
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I found that really interesting, thanks for posting it.
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Whenever I pass Caroline St, where they have started working on the LRT, I see cars driving around the construction site. There are clearly signs that say that the road is closed, and yet day after day cars drive up, find out they can not get past, then back out along the mud road. Do they just think that those signs do not apply to them?
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(11-08-2014, 01:01 PM)Brenden Wrote: Do they just think that those signs do not apply to them?

Yes. That seems a common attitude among a certain breed of entitled car drivers. It also applies to those cyclists who seem to think that the pedestrian sidewalks along the closed section of Caroline are the official detour route for bicycle lanes.
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(11-08-2014, 01:01 PM)Brenden Wrote: Whenever I pass Caroline St, where they have started working on the LRT, I see cars driving around the construction site. There are clearly signs that say that the road is closed, and yet day after day cars drive up, find out they can not get past, then back out along the mud road. Do they just think that those signs do not apply to them?

Often streets are closed as through-roads but open for local access. I'm imagining that these drivers are trying to get to the parking. Presumably people only make this mistake once.

(11-08-2014, 01:09 PM)ookpik Wrote: Yes. That seems a common attitude among a certain breed of entitled car drivers. It also applies to those cyclists who seem to think that the pedestrian sidewalks along the closed section of Caroline are the official detour route for bicycle lanes.

Between William and the Iron Horse, the bike path is the sidewalk. The infrastructure is sending mixed signals here (and will be different post-construction as well).
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(11-08-2014, 04:51 PM)plam Wrote: Between William and the Iron Horse, the bike path is the sidewalk. The infrastructure is sending mixed signals here (and will be different post-construction as well).

I was referring to the section of Caroline between Erb and William, but in any case:

CITY OF WATERLOO BY-LAW NO. 08 –077
Quote:Part IV - General
1. Operation of Vehicles
(a) Driving on a Boulevard, Sidewalk or Multi-Use Trail
i. No person shall drive a motor vehicle or a motor-assisted vehicle on any boulevard, sidewalk or multi-use trail except on a driveway;
ii. No person shall drive a bicycle having a wheel or wheels more than 50 centimetres in diameter or ride a skateboard on any boulevard or sidewalk except on a driveway.
iii. No person shall drive a motorized snow vehicle within the City.

The "Coles Notes" version: Happy Cycling
Quote:Sidewalks are for kids and pedestrians!
• Kids can ride on the sidewalk. Adults have to ride on the road
• Some roads have a lot of cars. Use Google bike directions for a bike-friendly route
P.S. I don't see any exceptions for construction. 
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(11-08-2014, 05:14 PM)ookpik Wrote:
(11-08-2014, 04:51 PM)plam Wrote: Between William and the Iron Horse, the bike path is the sidewalk. The infrastructure is sending mixed signals here (and will be different post-construction as well).

I was referring to the section of Caroline between Erb and William, but in any case:

CITY OF WATERLOO BY-LAW NO. 08 –077

Quote:Part IV - General
1. Operation of Vehicles
(a) Driving on a Boulevard, Sidewalk or Multi-Use Trail
i. No person shall drive a motor vehicle or a motor-assisted vehicle on any boulevard, sidewalk or multi-use trail except on a driveway;
ii. No person shall drive a bicycle having a wheel or wheels more than 50 centimetres in diameter or ride a skateboard on any boulevard or sidewalk except on a driveway.
iii. No person shall drive a motorized snow vehicle within the City.

The "Coles Notes" version: Happy Cycling

Quote:Sidewalks are for kids and pedestrians!
• Kids can ride on the sidewalk. Adults have to ride on the road
• Some roads have a lot of cars. Use Google bike directions for a bike-friendly route
P.S. I don't see any exceptions for construction. 

I tend to take a more pragmatic point of view. Laws don't replace good judgment, and people follow what the infrastructure is saying more than they follow the law. They certainly are not universal, which suggests that Waterloo's laws may or may not be optimal for all road users.

Sidewalks are usually not good for riding because 1) cars coming out of driveways don't expect or see traffic on sidewalks; 2) there might be people walking on the sidewalk.

In some cases, the best thing to do is to ride on the sidewalk. I do not recommend biking on Ottawa St, for instance. There aren't any driveways or pedestrians, and the road is legitimately scary.

On Caroline St, there are not cars coming out of driveways, because the road is closed, so the question is whether the cyclist is going to get in the way of a person on foot. My suspicion is that most of the time on Caroline in November with the construction, the answer is going to be "no". So I do not see a reason (besides "the law says so") to not ride on the sidewalk.
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(11-08-2014, 06:04 PM)plam Wrote: Laws don't replace good judgment... So I do not see a reason (besides "the law says so") to not ride on the sidewalk.
Evidently you're not a pedestrian who has to contend with "two-wheeled terrorists" who lack your good judgment and courtesy.
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(11-08-2014, 10:18 PM)ookpik Wrote:
(11-08-2014, 06:04 PM)plam Wrote: Laws don't replace good judgment... So I do not see a reason (besides "the law says so") to not ride on the sidewalk.
Evidently you're not a pedestrian who has to contend with "two-wheeled terrorists" who lack your good judgment and courtesy.

Demonizing other people who take other means of transportation is not a productive way forward. More than anything, people behave in the way that the built infrastructure encourages.
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But justifying contempt for the law because it's convenient to do so and terrorizing pedestrians who get in the way is a productive way forward?

As for "demonizing other people" I restricted my comments to the "two-wheeled terrorists" subset of the cycling community. Are you defending that subset's unlawful use of sidewalks despite their dangerous behaviour? Or are you suggesting that all cyclists have the right to treat pedestrians with contempt when it's convenient to do so? 

Interesting that cyclists seem entitled to complain about the subset of car drivers who terrorize them on the roads but pedestrians aren't allowed to criticize the subset of cyclists who terrorize them on the sidewalks. Even more interesting because both cyclists and car drivers have the legal right to share the roads while cyclists have no legal right to be on sidewalks let alone to "share" them with those who do. I appreciate that cyclists have to contend with drivers who bully them and treat them with contempt on the roads. But that doesn't give them the justification to channel such bullying and contempt towards pedestrians on sidewalks. 

To be clear: I have no beef with cyclists who "share" sidewalks responsibly by slowing down, signalling and passing pedestrians in a courteous manner or if those options aren't possible by yielding the right of way. My beef is restricted to those cyclists who don't, i.e. who act like "two-wheeled terrorists."
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(11-09-2014, 12:05 AM)ookpik Wrote: To be clear: I have no beef with cyclists who "share" sidewalks responsibly by slowing down, signalling and passing pedestrians in a courteous manner or if those options aren't possible by yielding the right of way. My beef is restricted to those cyclists who don't, i.e. who act like "two-wheeled terrorists."

In many places in Europe the sidewalk is safely shared with bicycles, however it is understood by all that when sharing the sidewalk cyclists must saunter fully erect, hands at the ready on the handlebars and breaks.
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(11-09-2014, 12:05 AM)ookpik Wrote: But justifying contempt for the law because it's convenient to do so and terrorizing pedestrians who get in the way is a productive way forward?

...

To be clear: I have no beef with cyclists who "share" sidewalks responsibly by slowing down, signalling and passing pedestrians in a courteous manner or if those options aren't possible by yielding the right of way. My beef is restricted to those cyclists who don't, i.e. who act like "two-wheeled terrorists."

The assholes who ride on sidewalks without regard for pedestrians aren't likely reading these forums, and no one is defending them. I mean, you can do police crackdowns on all sidewalk bike riding, but most of the people caught will have been normal, non-asshole people who were just trying to not die on the roads.

I think focusing on getting decent infrastructure in place for cycling that people feel safe using is the main productive thing to do with what we have right now.
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Can we get back to talking about Light Rail? I'm tired of seeing this thread pop up, getting excited that there's actually news and just finding people bitching about each other. Isn't there another thread for that somewhere else?
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If anyone hasn't seen them, the drawings and renderings of each of the stations give a very good idea of what they will look like.
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I love how the Transit Hub render describes the Toronto-London main line as a 'spur'. Someone failed their railway terminology class there.
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