Cycling in Waterloo Region

[ijmorlan]

I don't think there are many things in our region which more concretely demonstrate how little idea engineers have about ped and cycling infra, than having tactile plates in a bike lane.

Those are mostly for the blind, right? So a blind pedestrian won’t necessarily be able to tell where the bike trail is vs. the sidewalk, and might actually be on the bike trail. So as they approach the street they get the warning that they’re about to enter the street.

Ideally, bike trails would be like streets from the point of view of indications for blind people — tactile strips, curbs, etc. At least I think I believe that. Essentially, bike trails would be roads, just with much narrower lanes and a prohibition on motor vehicles.

That’s my theory anyhow.

I’m more concerned about inconsistent or incomplete application of tactile strips. In some locations, I wonder if the tactile strips shouldn’t be wider, or if they really catch all the ways to enter the street.