Cycling in Waterloo Region

[jamincan]

Without even looking hard, there are several trails that they're missing.

[Robh002]

Maintenance! Snow removal, leaf removal, pavement repair, parking enforcement,

[danbrotherston]

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/920...is-summer/

[Spokes]

Some highlights:

In July, the region will install the 4.45-kilometre network of separated bike lanes, connecting Waterloo's two universities with uptown Waterloo. The lanes will be separated from traffic by concrete curbs or flexible bollards and will be plowed in winter.

Installing the lanes — mostly at night and on weekends to reduce traffic disruptions — will cost $1.9 million. With additional costs reaching $350,000 a year, mainly for snow removal.

The network will reduce King Street to just one driving lane in each direction between University and Columbia, and reduce Erb Street from three driving lanes to two.

[timc]

I ride on University Avenue every day, and I had no idea this was coming. Was there any public consultation? How are we dealing with the bus stops where there are protected bike lanes? I always end up playing leapfrog with the buses. Will the buses now just stop in the regular lane with pedestrians crossing the bike lane to get to the bus? How accessible is that? So many questions.

[danbrotherston]

I ride on University Avenue every day, and I had no idea this was coming. Was there any public consultation? How are we dealing with the bus stops where there are protected bike lanes? I always end up playing leapfrog with the buses. Will the buses now just stop in the regular lane with pedestrians crossing the bike lane to get to the bus? How accessible is that? So many questions.

There were several public consultations, but they were a while back (this project is over a year delayed).  How they deal with bus stops is TBD, but probably just by having the bus stop in the bike lane, which is going to be the biggest weakness in this project.

[timc]

I don't think the bus can stop in the bike lane if there are bollards. Or will there be gaps for bus stops?

[creative]

How do you avoid the bus stopping in the bike lane and/or stopping in the driving lane and have departing passengers exit into the bike lane? I don’t have any idea how to solve this problem. What solutions would you propose?

[jamincan]

In Copenhagen, the bus stops in the normal lane and passengers disembark into the bike lane. I would think that bikes ought to yield to the bus, but it seems that the standard there is for passengers to check before crossing.

[Watdot]

Passengers and pedestrians aren't even accommodated properly on University Ave as it is. Sidewalks are too small and in poor shape. Redevelopment of University Ave as a whole is needed.

[ijmorlan]

In Copenhagen, the bus stops in the normal lane and passengers disembark into the bike lane. I would think that bikes ought to yield to the bus, but it seems that the standard there is for passengers to check before crossing.

A better approach is to have passengers use an island between the motor vehicle lanes and the bicycle lane. Doesn’t work everywhere due to space availability but should be workable on University.

[timc]

Like this: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:...300681.JPG

[danbrotherston]

How do you avoid the bus stopping in the bike lane and/or stopping in the driving lane and have departing passengers exit into the bike lane? I don’t have any idea how to solve this problem. What solutions would you propose?

People have more or less answered this question here already, but I'll summarize my position.

Bus stop bypasses are the "correct" solution, they're used in Europe, especially the Netherlands, and they take no more space than any other solution, but they would require reconstruction and thus cannot be used here[1].

What I expect they will do is have a break in the bollards and curbs (yes, we are getting curbs on University) for the bus to use, which will be inconvenient, but fairly safe for all users.

There is precedent for letting passengers off in not the curb lane--this is what streetcars do in Toronto--but it barely works there with a lifetime of experience, and the biggest light show you've ever seen (https://youtu.be/TMM3n80hTQw?t=147) neither of which we have here, so probably safest for buses to come to the curb.  With growth in cycling, we can start to justify a bus stop bypasses.

And yes, the entire corridor is garbage for all users except drivers and needs major enhancements of better crossings, better sidewalks, better bike lanes, and better transit stops. This gives us one of those things only.

[1] There is a product which allows a city to develop bus stop bypasses as a temporary installation, however because it is a retrofit solution it *does* require more streets space, which probably isn't an option on University without removing lanes (it *might* be possible removing ONLY turn lanes, but that would still be a non-starter I think). Still, it is something that might fit on King St. as we are already removing a lane, so possibly they will try it there, I did raise the existence of this product with the project manager....well...at least the previous one.

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/03/05/s...-bus-stop/
https://peopleforbikes.org/blog/floating...t-oakland/

[ijmorlan]

[1] There is a product which allows a city to develop bus stop bypasses as a temporary installation, however because it is a retrofit solution it *does* require more streets space, which probably isn't an option on University without removing lanes (it *might* be possible removing ONLY turn lanes, but that would still be a non-starter I think). Still, it is something that might fit on King St. as we are already removing a lane, so possibly they will try it there, I did raise the existence of this product with the project manager....well...at least the previous one.

Turn lanes definitely should not be removed. It might be OK to remove regular lanes (personally, I would reduce almost all 4-lane roads in the city to 2-lane), but not turn lanes. In fact, in many places the problem is that we have more regular lanes than we need and not enough turn lanes (I’m looking at you, Belmont! And you, Westmount! Don’t make me come over there, Union!).

[danbrotherston]

[1] There is a product which allows a city to develop bus stop bypasses as a temporary installation, however because it is a retrofit solution it *does* require more streets space, which probably isn't an option on University without removing lanes (it *might* be possible removing ONLY turn lanes, but that would still be a non-starter I think). Still, it is something that might fit on King St. as we are already removing a lane, so possibly they will try it there, I did raise the existence of this product with the project manager....well...at least the previous one.

Turn lanes definitely should not be removed. It might be OK to remove regular lanes (personally, I would reduce almost all 4-lane roads in the city to 2-lane), but not turn lanes. In fact, in many places the problem is that we have more regular lanes than we need and not enough turn lanes (I’m looking at you, Belmont! And you, Westmount! Don’t make me come over there, Union!).

I totally agree.  Of course you'll find that turn lanes increase safety, where as more through lanes increase throughput.

Guess which one of those things our engineers optimize for.