03-21-2018, 03:05 PM
(03-21-2018, 02:09 PM)tomh009 Wrote:(03-21-2018, 01:24 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: There is some data in some city open data portal. I haven't looked it up, I'm going more based on the experience of using it. Basically, on busy weekends, pedestrians crowd the trail so it becomes dangerous/difficult to use on a bike.
If there was separation between bikes and peds it would be fine, but it needs to be wider (like 4.5 meters) to do that.
My weekend experience is mainly for Saturday mornings, for the segment between Victoria Park and Vincenzo's. I haven't felt that part crowded (admittedly I'm walking so that might give me different perspective). Is the crowding worse in the afternoons? Which parts of the trail?
In my experience, in other countries there are many separated paths that are much narrower than 4.5m A quick search got me to the ODOT design guide which says minimum width of 3m for a shared use path and 3.6m for one with separated bicycle and pedestrian lanes (1.8m each). Is the 4.5m an Ontario standard for such a path?
As for crowding, it's mostly in the afternoon on weekends, when the park is really busy, and the busiest section is between Victoria and Queen (the other sections are probably not too busy). If there's a festival, it will be really really busy.
And again, it's not that it's impossible to use, just that it becomes annoying, and occasionally a little dangerous.
I'm not quoting any standards, my 4.5 meter standard comes from the minimum 1.5 meter sidewalk, plus a 3 meter bi-directional bike path. You could probably make due with a 2.5 meter bike path, given there are no curbs, for a 4 meter total width, but 1.8 seems far too narrow for a bidirectional facility.
But I don't think standards in this part of the world have really been developed for this type of infrastructure. The Dutch no doubt have some pretty well supported standards.