Cycling in Waterloo Region

[danbrotherston]

I filled out that survey, it seems like a load of BS to have to "study" this when many other cities have managed to do similar things without massive problems.

Anyway, today I was out riding around and ended up down in Doon Village so I rode home via the new Homer-Watson MUP. It's pretty good going most of the time, gotta be careful at intersections since no one seemed to even check their right side before whipping around the corner. The asphalt is really smooth and there's almost no interruptions so it's a quick way to get down to the college. The curbs could be better but they aren't the worst ones in the area. It does deviate from the road near the Huron intersection and heads toward the ball diamonds, I don't know if they're gonna pave that part too but I think it was stone dust still. There was also "sidewalk closed" signs everywhere. Plenty of landscaping along the trail and a bunch of new trees in the ground so it might be nicer in a few years. Recent rains had washed out some of the landscaping near Lear so I assume they'll fix that sooon.

I was riding toward Ottawa Street so I also decided to see how those bike lanes are coming along, and they are some proper garbage as far as I'm concerned:

Why not put the grey pavers and curb on the left side where the cars are? When traffic is back to normal I don't think I'm gonna be riding down there during the day... like what's the point of doing this shit even? Imagine going to school for 8 years and this is the best idea you can come up with. FFS...

Yeah, the MUT is generally quite good, but intersections remain a problem. This isn't even a cycling issue, it's a problem for pedestrians too. The fact is, regional engineers exclusively prioritize fast turning movements over safety, I've fought with them many times, and they are unwilling to change their priorities. I don't know what it will take to change, but this is one of the more major issues with regional engineering.

Yes, the roll curbs + barrier curb to the sidewalk continues to be incredibly frustrating as well.  I honestly cannot understand what they are thinking. Boggles the mind.