Walking in Waterloo Region

[tomh009]

A wide sidewalk doesn't have to be an MUT. It could just be a wide sidewalk.

That's what I was thinking.  To me, if we want to accommodate (and balance the priority of) both bicyclists and pedestrians, and we have enough room for bike lanes + sidewalk, then there should really be two options:

• Bike lane for bicycles, sidewalk for pedestrians (an extra-wide sidewalk would be nice but I don't know how many pedestrians will actually walk here)
  
• A single segregated MUT with a bike lane and a pedestrian lane
  

As Dan says, some bicyclists are not comfortable near cars.  But similarly some pedestrians are not comfortable near bicyclists.  So to me segregation between the two is better, space permitting.  Giving bicycles a lane and a half (bike lane + 1/2 MUT) while pedestrians have to share the MUT with the bicyclists doesn't seem like a good balance to me.