Cycling in Waterloo Region

[goggolor]

I took a spill there last year... fortunately it was late in the season and cold enough that I was wearing gloves, otherwise I would have badly torn up my hands. I was going quite slowly as I was about to stop at the street and it was still pretty bad.

[Bob_McBob]

Well it seems like public opinion even among many cyclists is that you're just an idiot if you fall on tracks, despite research showing how dangerous these kinds of skewed crossings are as well as several reports today from people who had similar falls at this location. It's pretty clear the reconstruction a few years ago resulted in a significantly less safe trail crossing, and it would only take minor modifications to eliminate the issue, but apparently we shouldn't spend a single cent until the rest of the trail is perfect because the issue only affects impatient idiots.

[clasher]

I haven't gone down at that spot but have had it happen at other crossings, usually when it's wet out but that alley is tricky because it's often dark so it can be tough to see the tracks in the pavement.

[jamincan]

I avoid the alley entirely (I take Willis Way to Father David Bauer and then join the trail from there) partially because I hate skewed crossings of tracks and partially because it's completely unclear to me where I'm actually supposed to go through the Waterloo Town Square parking lot and for crossing Erb & Caroline.

[ijmorlan]

Another thought about the railway embedding: it would actually be less of a hazard if the space between the tracks was slightly depressed. Then, rather than 2 flangeways which can grab a bicycle’s tires, it would just be a slight step down into the space between the rails. This is already done in parts of the LRT where there is no cross-traffic, but purely (I speculate) as a cost-saving measure.

Of course I still say that flangeway fillers are the real solution.

[timc]

This is already done in parts of the LRT where there is no cross-traffic, but purely (I speculate) as a cost-saving measure.

I think the lower level between the tracks along the LRT is for drainage purposes.

[Acitta]

On the rare occasion when I have gone through there I have just stayed on the left side and not crossed the tracks if I recall correctly.

[plam]

Looks like they're getting ready to install segregation on University Ave. Yesterday I was driving on Erb near Regina. It's also totally needed there. Cars were taking the contraflow bike infrastructure to make a left turn. Argh!!

[danbrotherston]

Looking at old aerial and Streeview shots, what actually caused the issue is the realignment of the tracks for the LRT a few years ago. Until then, there was a clearly defined crossing at the east end of the alley, and brick paving stones running along either side of the track. After the realignment they just paved the entire alley with asphalt and set the tracks in it, which encourages cyclists to cross at a very shallow angle.

Even in that instance, it was still not an authorized crossing.

[ijmorlan]

Looking at old aerial and Streeview shots, what actually caused the issue is the realignment of the tracks for the LRT a few years ago. Until then, there was a clearly defined crossing at the east end of the alley, and brick paving stones running along either side of the track. After the realignment they just paved the entire alley with asphalt and set the tracks in it, which encourages cyclists to cross at a very shallow angle.

Even in that instance, it was still not an authorized crossing.

What wasn’t an authorized crossing? I’m pretty sure King St. and its sidewalks, as well as Hughes Lane and of course Regina St., all had crossings of the tracks. As to the space between the buildings on either side of the tracks, that was marked on City maps as being part of the Laurel trail, and cleared by their sidewalk plows.

[danbrotherston]

Even in that instance, it was still not an authorized crossing.

What wasn’t an authorized crossing? I’m pretty sure King St. and its sidewalks, as well as Hughes Lane and of course Regina St., all had crossings of the tracks. As to the space between the buildings on either side of the tracks, that was marked on City maps as being part of the Laurel trail, and cleared by their sidewalk plows.

Sorry, I should have been clearer, I mean the trail between the buildings parallel to the tracks.

That was never a trail according to the region who owns the land, they have tolerated the city pretending it is a trail for a long time.

[ijmorlan]

What wasn’t an authorized crossing? I’m pretty sure King St. and its sidewalks, as well as Hughes Lane and of course Regina St., all had crossings of the tracks. As to the space between the buildings on either side of the tracks, that was marked on City maps as being part of the Laurel trail, and cleared by their sidewalk plows.

Sorry, I should have been clearer, I mean the trail between the buildings parallel to the tracks.

That was never a trail according to the region who owns the land, they have tolerated the city pretending it is a trail for a long time.

And before the Region, CN presumably. I believe the paving bricks dated from an early ’90s renovation.

Do you know for sure the official status now? There is an official traffic sign at the east end forbidding motor vehicle traffic and advising bicycles/pedestrians to be careful because it is shared with trains.

[danbrotherston]

Sorry, I should have been clearer, I mean the trail between the buildings parallel to the tracks.

That was never a trail according to the region who owns the land, they have tolerated the city pretending it is a trail for a long time.

And before the Region, CN presumably. I believe the paving bricks dated from an early ’90s renovation.

Do you know for sure the official status now? There is an official traffic sign at the east end forbidding motor vehicle traffic and advising bicycles/pedestrians to be careful because it is shared with trains.

Regional staff have claimed the official status, I have no personally pulled the land deeds lol, but I generally trust them.

And yes, the city also put up the sign.  Frankly, it seems like one of these "stop asking questions lest we be forced to do something about it" situations.

That being said, I think it would be not too hard to fix, it would only take about 15 parking spaces in the parkade and some small renovations to redirect the path out through the parkade and avoid the entire alley...it should be trivial to work across the road from that point--its safer and less congested there anyway.

[ijmorlan]

And before the Region, CN presumably. I believe the paving bricks dated from an early ’90s renovation.

Do you know for sure the official status now? There is an official traffic sign at the east end forbidding motor vehicle traffic and advising bicycles/pedestrians to be careful because it is shared with trains.

Regional staff have claimed the official status, I have no personally pulled the land deeds lol, but I generally trust them.

And yes, the city also put up the sign.  Frankly, it seems like one of these "stop asking questions lest we be forced to do something about it" situations.

That being said, I think it would be not too hard to fix, it would only take about 15 parking spaces in the parkade and some small renovations to redirect the path out through the parkade and avoid the entire alley...it should be trivial to work across the road from that point--its safer and less congested there anyway.

There is already a path connecting Regina to King next to the parkade. I guess taking some extra space to widen would be helpful. But why would anybody use that when the direct route is available? The only real problem is the flangeways; the fact that the space is shared with trains simply isn’t a problem, safety or otherwise (well, except administratively!).

More fundamentally, we have a regulatory framework which isn’t capable of officially taking into account local conditions and making appropriate accommodations, or at least not without excessive expense. It shouldn’t take more than a few hours’ total time by various people to request, investigate, and approve a request to consider that area to be shared right-of-way between trains and multi-use trail, subject to a low maximum speed for the trains and reconsideration in the event train traffic increases significantly.

It’s a good thing trains already exist. If they were invented now I doubt level crossings would even be allowed, anywhere, and trains would end up being infeasible to install almost everywhere.

[jamincan]

I seem to recall that trains go through there at a crawl with a flag man ahead of them anyway.