Cycling in Waterloo Region

[SF22]

What kind of bike parking is available at Fairview Mall? I'm trying to see via Google Streetview, but the images are from 2020 and the entire front-end got redesigned since then, so I'm not sure what's really there. As far as I can tell, there are 3 parking posts on the Kingsway side by the food court. Is that honestly it? 

I ended up at the mall this past weekend, and noticed that there is a bike 'shed' to the right of the old Sears facade, by the mall entrance that leads into Marks/SportChek. There's about 4-5 staple-style racks, plus an overhead awning to help keep rain/snow/sun off. Maybe not the most accessible location (you have to go all the way around the mall to reach them, from any road-access point), but conveniently near a door and reasonably well-sheltered.

[ac3r]

This isn't related to Waterloo Region but I thought I'd share this. It's a bike helmet with indicators on it that you trigger with two buttons on your handle bars. I think that's a neat idea for safety!

https://mashable.com/article/lumos-bike-...tor-lights

[tomh009]

On a positive (anecdotal) note, it looks to me that the downtown bike lanes have been kept pretty clear of snow this winter. Not that I have been on my bike in the last two months, though!

[Acitta]

On a positive (anecdotal) note, it looks to me that the downtown bike lanes have been kept pretty clear of snow this winter. Not that I have been on my bike in the last two months, though!

Yes, I was cycling downtown today and the separated lanes were OK. Painted lanes on Queen St. were not, though.

[Acitta]

I took this picture Monday. The sign on the pedestrian island on Weber St. in Waterloo has been knocked down again.     

[cherrypark]

I took this picture Monday. The sign on the pedestrian island on Weber St. in Waterloo has been knocked down again. 

Is there a law in the province that forbids the use of bollards? Or is that just too much to ask? The number of times that sign as gotten nailed should make it obvious that "refuge" for pedestrians is not safe (not that it would be acceptable with that change alone anyways). Same applies for Victoria/IHT.

[bravado]

I took this picture Monday. The sign on the pedestrian island on Weber St. in Waterloo has been knocked down again. 

Is there a law in the province that forbids the use of bollards? Or is that just too much to ask? The number of times that sign as gotten nailed should make it obvious that "refuge" for pedestrians is not safe (not that it would be acceptable with that change alone anyways). Same applies for Victoria/IHT.

The “law” is that they care more about car + plow maintenance/repair bills than they do about actually protecting people..

But as we all know, safety is a shared responsibility

[danbrotherston]

It's not a law, but engineering practices, and for good reasons. Engineers do actually care about some aspects of safety. They're incompetent about it, but they do care. For example, engineering practices often require a "clear zone" around roads with no obstructions, so that vehicle occupants are less likely to be killed in a vehicle departing the roadway. Of course, that's a highway engineering standard that engineers wrongly apply in (some) cities. Of course, these same engineers also place pedestrians in this clear zone. After all, a pedestrian is no danger to an out of control driver.

So...for the same reason they wouldn't put a bollard on the island. The bollard could injure or kill a driver or other vehicle occupant.

This is why we have flex posts everywhere by the way.

[cherrypark]

It's not a law, but engineering practices, and for good reasons. Engineers do actually care about some aspects of safety. They're incompetent about it, but they do care. For example, engineering practices often require a "clear zone" around roads with no obstructions, so that vehicle occupants are less likely to be killed in a vehicle departing the roadway. Of course, that's a highway engineering standard that engineers wrongly apply in (some) cities. Of course, these same engineers also place pedestrians in this clear zone. After all, a pedestrian is no danger to an out of control driver.

So...for the same reason they wouldn't put a bollard on the island. The bollard could injure or kill a driver or other vehicle occupant.

This is why we have flex posts everywhere by the way.

Fair enough - pedestrians are basically just moist flex posts. Shame about the epidemic of bollard-vehicle collision deaths in Europe by the way.

[danbrotherston]

It's not a law, but engineering practices, and for good reasons. Engineers do actually care about some aspects of safety. They're incompetent about it, but they do care. For example, engineering practices often require a "clear zone" around roads with no obstructions, so that vehicle occupants are less likely to be killed in a vehicle departing the roadway. Of course, that's a highway engineering standard that engineers wrongly apply in (some) cities. Of course, these same engineers also place pedestrians in this clear zone. After all, a pedestrian is no danger to an out of control driver.

So...for the same reason they wouldn't put a bollard on the island. The bollard could injure or kill a driver or other vehicle occupant.

This is why we have flex posts everywhere by the way.

Fair enough - pedestrians are basically just moist flex posts. Shame about the epidemic of bollard-vehicle collision deaths in Europe by the way.

Yeah...about that...that's kinda where our engineers "incompetence" comes into play. They're not really good at designing for safety. Clear zones are probably good practice for highways, but in cities, the only encourage speeding.

And FWIW..."highway" here is "divided highway", here is the equivalent of a two lane intercity highway: https://www.google.com/maps/@52.200424,5...384!8i8192

Significant traffic calming and no clear zone.

[ijmorlan]

Pedestrian safety should take precedence over vehicle occupant safety in the case of pedestrian refuges. I’d be OK with optimizing the barrier design to deflect and/or flip a vehicle rather than cause it to come to an immediate halt, but the idea that we can’t forcibly protect pedestrians just trying to cross a road from the dangers of the road is ridiculous.

[danbrotherston]

I mean, yeah...you're preaching to the choir here.

Sadly, it's a choir of heretics.

[bravado]

Anybody want to start a guerrila bollard campaign, like those sneaky crosswalk painters? I’ll bring the concrete and we can sneak out at night…

[ac3r]

Someone on Reddit posted about wanting to do a guerilla bus stop bench campaign. Maybe we could all join forces in some major region wide offensive? Install bollards on islands and other places, install benches at bus stops, get some old barrels and put trash cans along city trails and stuff. All we need to do is take a trip to KW Surplus and pick up some clipboards and hi vis vests and nobody would stop us!

[SF22]

Someone on Reddit posted about wanting to do a guerilla bus stop bench campaign. Maybe we could all join forces in some major region wide offensive? Install bollards on islands and other places, install benches at bus stops, get some old barrels and put trash cans along city trails and stuff. All we need to do is take a trip to KW Surplus and pick up some clipboards and hi vis vests and nobody would stop us!

I was just saying this morning that I'm so irritated with the lack of shelters at the bus stops closest to my house. One of them has a clear 'space' issue, but the other one totally could fit a shelter and a bench. The stops in either direction (on both sides of the road) both have shelters and benches, but not mine!

(If I owned the house that fronted onto a bus stop, I would be installing a bench along the sidewalk as a matter of civic duty.)