Cycling in Waterloo Region

[plam]

So, I asked the local city councillor to look into adding bike racks to the downtown Galt arena. It's a historic spot and really nice. I thought that kids could use some bike parking at a place frequented by lots of kids. After 11 months, I got a reply that it was going to happen.

The results, as always for the City of Cambridge, are insulting, cheap, and useless. Ambition is for the people who live in the places where we go on holidays, not for where we actually live!

That doesn't seem to qualify as "bike racks", but rather as "bike rack". The design is better than the wheel-bender racks but the number is, of course, grossly insufficient. Thanks for taking the initiative though!

[dtkvictim]

Work started recently on the Duke St cycle tracks between Victoria St and Water St. Duke St east of Frederick will be after that according to the Engage page. Annoyingly this means the existing cycle tracks on Water St near Duke St are closed for the 3rd time since opening, if I'm counting correctly.





I'm confused by the construction drawings in a few parts. What are the intended transitions where the cycle tracks end at Water St and at Frederick St - did they just give up on having it make sense? There is a protected corner at Water & Duke, but heading east just leads into seemingly nothing.

The transition at Victoria St, especially heading west, doesn't make sense to me unless it's predicated on the Victoria St cycle tracks or multi use trail existing. Not to mention a 40KPH area that lasts for like 20 meters, or two back to back "begins" signs without an "ends" sign as you enter Victoria St (surely that must be a mistake), but don't get me started on that again.

[danbrotherston]

@Dtkvictim

For the Duke St. transitions, there is no plan...they cycleway is supposed to continue on Duke St. but it won't, hence the transition is broken, by politics.

As for Victoria St. the transition there makes sense to me, in the diagram you have, as you proceed left to right, you come up the bike lane on the bottom side of the image, you cross Victoria on the bottom side, and then cross Duke to get to the bike lane.

The biggest problem here is that we have no idea how the signals will work for this. If there were dedicated bike signals, it would work great. If not, then oh well.

As for the 40km zone signs on Duke, look where the arrows are placing them, in both cases they are in the receiving lanes for vehicles turning ONTO Duke St. so they come from Victoria which is not a 40km/h zone, onto Duke St. which is a 40km/h zone

[dtkvictim]

For the Duke St. transitions, there is no plan...they cycleway is supposed to continue on Duke St. but it won't, hence the transition is broken, by politics.

I thought there was plans to at least paint transition lines and sharrows the the Regional section. Surely turning boxes would be worth painting in the meantime.

As for Victoria St. the transition there makes sense to me, in the diagram you have, as you proceed left to right, you come up the bike lane on the bottom side of the image, you cross Victoria on the bottom side, and then cross Duke to get to the bike lane.

The biggest problem here is that we have no idea how the signals will work for this. If there were dedicated bike signals, it would work great. If not, then oh well.

In the diagram as it's oriented, the up down crossing over Duke shows both directions which wouldn't make sense in regards to just crossing Victoria St. But I'm realizing the Transit Hub work includes a MUT here, so it does make sense. I was thinking more towards how they handled the transition at Margaret and Wellington, and I guess both options have pros and cons.

I'm assuming a two phase crossing without a dedicated bicycle phase. The Region takes a year to figure out how to turn them on, no chance they can (or more realistically are willing) to do a dedicated bicycle phase.

As for the 40km zone signs on Duke, look where the arrows are placing them, in both cases they are in the receiving lanes for vehicles turning ONTO Duke St. so they come from Victoria which is not a 40km/h zone, onto Duke St. which is a 40km/h zone

Yes, but there needs to be an ENDs sign on the bottom of the diagram, before crossing Victoria. Otherwise Victoria would be included in this "AREA". There should never be back to back AREA signs for the same speed according to how they've been implemented everywhere else in the region. I have no problem with Duke being 40; I have a problem with it being 40 for 10 meters to the left of Victoria St in the diagram. The amount of speed limit changes (especially the AREAs which I'm pretty opposed to the design language of) has reached the point where I think people are tuning them out. While the overall speed of these roads may have dropped because the 5% of people like me who try and comply are slowing down, the overall compliance rates of speed limits has also dropped which is a different kind of dangerous.

[danbrotherston]

For the Duke St. transitions, there is no plan...they cycleway is supposed to continue on Duke St. but it won't, hence the transition is broken, by politics.

I thought there was plans to at least paint transition lines and sharrows the the Regional section. Surely turning boxes would be worth painting in the meantime.

I think that part of the plan was (rightfully) cancelled. So I think there's basically no plan at this point (like I said, between Duke and Ontario, the Downtown Grid is dead at this point). I'm sure this is something that will just languish for a long time. Ironic given the absolute terror that engineers treat doing something not by the book. They could probably get sued here if there was a collision resulting from their unwillingness to actually solve this challenge.

As for Victoria St. the transition there makes sense to me, in the diagram you have, as you proceed left to right, you come up the bike lane on the bottom side of the image, you cross Victoria on the bottom side, and then cross Duke to get to the bike lane.

The biggest problem here is that we have no idea how the signals will work for this. If there were dedicated bike signals, it would work great. If not, then oh well.

In the diagram as it's oriented, the up down crossing over Duke shows both directions which wouldn't make sense in regards to just crossing Victoria St. But I'm realizing the Transit Hub work includes a MUT here, so it does make sense. I was thinking more towards how they handled the transition at Margaret and Wellington, and I guess both options have pros and cons.

I'm assuming a two phase crossing without a dedicated bicycle phase. The Region takes a year to figure out how to turn them on, no chance they can (or more realistically are willing) to do a dedicated bicycle phase.

Yeah, fair enough that doesn't make sense in the context they are showing, I kinda hope (and in Kitchener, it's not impossible) that they were forward thinking and expected a MUT along Victoria. I know Margaret and Wellington was a hard-won battle lol.

As for a dedicated bicycle phase, you're probably right lol, but sure would be nice.

As for the 40km zone signs on Duke, look where the arrows are placing them, in both cases they are in the receiving lanes for vehicles turning ONTO Duke St. so they come from Victoria which is not a 40km/h zone, onto Duke St. which is a 40km/h zone

Yes, but there needs to be an ENDs sign on the bottom of the diagram, before crossing Victoria. Otherwise Victoria would be included in this "AREA". There should never be back to back AREA signs for the same speed according to how they've been implemented everywhere else in the region. I have no problem with Duke being 40; I have a problem with it being 40 for 10 meters to the left of Victoria St in the diagram. The amount of speed limit changes (especially the AREAs which I'm pretty opposed to the design language of) has reached the point where I think people are tuning them out. While the overall speed of these roads may have dropped because the 5% of people like me who try and comply are slowing down, the overall compliance rates of speed limits has also dropped which is a different kind of dangerous.

I mean, I'm not sure, my sense would be that you don't need a sign on Duke, you need a sign on Victoria indicating the new limit. But I haven't exactly read the TAC manuals on this.

[dtkvictim]

Some of these pictures are bit old, but the only thing that changed is the paint was added. The block between Francis and Water hasn't had the top coat added for some reason, so it's been pretty rough for a few weeks now.

I hope the lights at Victoria and Duke will now cycle on a timer, or that detection loops were added for cyclists. I've waited at this light on my bike for minutes at a time and it would only change once a car pulled up.

Otherwise I've found this is a pretty handy alternative for getting between the Spur Line trail and downtown, without having to go through Victoria and Weber. The crossing at Duke and Victoria just works a little better when returning to downtown.

[dtkvictim]

Hit image limit

[tomh009]

I hope the lights at Victoria and Duke will now cycle on a timer, or that detection loops were added for cyclists. I've waited at this light on my bike for minutes at a time and it would only change once a car pulled up.

I think those lights are super long for cars, too. The pedestrian button does seem pretty responsive, though.

[Bytor]

Some of these pictures are bit old, but the only thing that changed is the paint was added. The block between Francis and Water hasn't had the top coat added for some reason, so it's been pretty rough for a few weeks now.

Is this a new, recent pave after redoing a a street, the first layer of asphalt?

Then it is very common to wait.

You need to let everything underneath settle before putting on the asphalt's top layer as some parts will subside more and others less. Once everything has had a season or two to settle then you apply the top layer which will be thicker where the binding layer has settled more and thinner where it has settled less.

If you put on the top layer right as soon as the binding layer has cooled and hardened (3-4 days) it would just settle right along with the binding layer and your street, driveway, or parking lot would end up uneven. Plus, the dual-layer construction like that also helps it resist frost heave better.

[danbrotherston]

Some of these pictures are bit old, but the only thing that changed is the paint was added. The block between Francis and Water hasn't had the top coat added for some reason, so it's been pretty rough for a few weeks now.

Is this a new, recent pave after redoing a a street, the first layer of asphalt?

Then it is very common to wait.

You need to let everything underneath settle before putting on the asphalt's top layer as some parts will subside more and others less. Once everything has had a season or two to settle then you apply the top layer which will be thicker where the binding layer has settled more and thinner where it has settled less.

If you put on the top layer right as soon as the binding layer has cooled and hardened (3-4 days) it would just settle right along with the binding layer and your street, driveway, or parking lot would end up uneven. Plus, the dual-layer construction like that also helps it resist frost heave better.

This is the story I’ve heard for years from engineers. All I know for sure at this point is that the Netherlands does not do this. When a road is re-opened it is opened with the final asphalt coat. Maybe it’s a weather thing, or a traffic thing, or maybe the story about settling is just BS, who knows.

[tomh009]

If you put on the top layer right as soon as the binding layer has cooled and hardened (3-4 days) it would just settle right along with the binding layer and your street, driveway, or parking lot would end up uneven. Plus, the dual-layer construction like that also helps it resist frost heave better.

This is the story I’ve heard for years from engineers. All I know for sure at this point is that the Netherlands does not do this. When a road is re-opened it is opened with the final asphalt coat. Maybe it’s a weather thing, or a traffic thing, or maybe the story about settling is just BS, who knows.

I expect that the ground does not freeze in the Netherlands.

[danbrotherston]

This is the story I’ve heard for years from engineers. All I know for sure at this point is that the Netherlands does not do this. When a road is re-opened it is opened with the final asphalt coat. Maybe it’s a weather thing, or a traffic thing, or maybe the story about settling is just BS, who knows.

I expect that the ground does not freeze in the Netherlands.

The depth of the freezing is clearly different but we do get frost on the ground some days.

But I’d never heard that it is about frost heaving in winter. Like, that’s usually something that affects subsurface structures mostly. The leaving of asphalt I’ve always been told was about letting the first layer settle and compress under loads before doing the final lift.

[tomh009]

I expect that the ground does not freeze in the Netherlands.

The depth of the freezing is clearly different but we do get frost on the ground some days.

But I’d never heard that it is about frost heaving in winter. Like, that’s usually something that affects subsurface structures mostly. The leaving of asphalt I’ve always been told was about letting the first layer settle and compress under loads before doing the final lift.

Frost on the pavement is not a problem.

Frozen ground absolutely can cause unevenness in the pavement. Not terrible in SW Ontario, but still there, depending on the winter and the location. Not paving the final coat until the following summer is a very logical thing to reduce the risk of frost damage to new pavement.

[cherrypark]

Unclear on if that cross ride on the north side of the Duke/Victoria intersection means that that sidewalk is a theoretical cycling route or MUT? The rest looks great and is a welcome improvement, however much I wish it went the whole way down Duke.

[neonjoe]

Unclear on if that cross ride on the north side of the Duke/Victoria intersection means that that sidewalk is a theoretical cycling route or MUT? The rest looks great and is a welcome improvement, however much I wish it went the whole way down Duke.

I would suspect that that portion is on hold pending the construction of the transit hub. 
Duke St will be closed to vehicular traffic and a new pedestrian/cycling underpass will be constructed.