Trails

[Canard]

On the Iron Horse trail, there were a couple of times where I definitely realized a few minutes later "shoot, I some how am not on the trail anymore" and had to backtrack. It was not obvious where I should turn/cross/etc to stay on it. So better signage would be a help for those just starting to use the system, like me. Now that I know a bit better where to go, it's not so bad.

[tomh009]

Yes, the signs aren't so easy to spot. But if they are consistent and people learn to look for them, I think they will be fine.

[KevinL]

They are planning to improve the trickier Iron Horse crossings, like West/Victoria and Courtland/Stirling.

[Pheidippides]

The small project on the Laurel Trail near/behind Waterloo City Centre was wrapping up today. I took these this morning and the fences were still up, but by late this afternoon the fences were coming down. Notice that there is a counterflow cycle lane now in the one-way driveway that nearly lines up with Willis Way which now has sharrows.
   
   
   
   

[Markster]

Nice. I was using that lane both ways basically every day back in 2004.

[tomh009]

They are planning to improve the trickier Iron Horse crossings, like West/Victoria and Courtland/Stirling.

What are they planning to do?  Courtland/Stirling is the most problematic one, I think, although Victoria probably has more traffic.

[KevinL]

They are planning to improve the trickier Iron Horse crossings, like West/Victoria and Courtland/Stirling.

What are they planning to do?  Courtland/Stirling is the most problematic one, I think, although Victoria probably has more traffic.

Designated pedestrian crossings away from the lights, mainly. At Courtland/Stirling, the path would cut across that median island that splits Stirling; at Victoria and West, the path would finally go straight through officially, with a marked path behind Lai Lai.

[Canard]

So each of these locations would have two additional crossing lights/request buttons? The lights would end up being very close to the existing intersections.

I would prefer to see Courtland/Stirling just become a scramble crossing. I think that would be easier for everyone. Is there any reason in Ontario this couldn't be done? Are there any scramble crossings anywhere in the province?

Those two crossings are definitely the worst on the Iron Horse Trail.

[jamincan]

Yonge-Dundas has one, or used to have one, I think.

[tomh009]

What are they planning to do?  Courtland/Stirling is the most problematic one, I think, although Victoria probably has more traffic.

Designated pedestrian crossings away from the lights, mainly. At Courtland/Stirling, the path would cut across that median island that splits Stirling; at Victoria and West, the path would finally go straight through officially, with a marked path behind Lai Lai.

Median island?  I don't there are currently any median islands at Courtland and Stirling.  Are they planning to add one?

[Canard]

The triangle of land formed between the Stirling WSW>Courtland NW bypass:

   

[clasher]

I remember posting a picture from the Iron Horse Improvement PDF that is on the CoK website but I can't find it. Anyway here it is from page 63:

   

I don't know if these are just recommendations or if they are planning to do them all... but it seems like a good idea to me.

[panamaniac]

I remember posting a picture from the Iron Horse Improvement PDF that is on the CoK website but I can't find it. Anyway here it is from page 63:



I don't know if these are just recommendations or if they are planning to do them all... but it seems like a good idea to me.

So would the traffic signals be pushed back from the intersection to the line of the trail in the case of Stirling/Courtland?

[Canard]

It looks like "no" to both, and it merely legitimizes crossing with the desired path, but does nothing to actually promote traffic to yield to cyclists/pedestrians. It's a very small step in the right direction, but I can't help feel more could be done. Though I'm not sure how.

I just finished a 22 km ride along Toronto's waterfront trail system, and I liked how virtually all road/trail intersections had large speed bumps right before the cars would reach the trail. So they slow to 5 km/h anyway, and then there's no reason for them not to stop to let cyclists pass. It seems like a very good psychological move. "I have to slow down anyway, so I may as well stop and let these folks through."

[panamaniac]

That surprises me a little - that strikes me as actually taking a step back from the current configuration of intersection, at least in terms of cyclist/pedestrian safety.  In my experience, most trail users currently cross at the intersection, at least when there is traffic.