Trails

[tomh009]

I still don't understand it, but it's definitely less bad now.

[Pheidippides]

The part I find weird is that the section of sidewalk from the Ion tracks to the first driveway entrance east of the tracks is right next to the curb just like section in front and just past the curling club. So why shift this 100m section in 1.5m in from the curb? Normally I would appreciate that, but Seagram is not Bridgeport/Erb/Weber where high volumes of vehicles are whizzing past at 70kph

I know it sounds like I'll never be happy with any pedestrian/active infrastructure decision the cities/region makes, but I think the context of these decisions is important and a blanket policy is not going to work well in all situations.

[danbrotherston]

@pheidippides. Curb faced sidewalks are not good for many reasons, including snow from the road being plowed onto the sidewalk, which applies on all roads.

[Pheidippides]

@pheidippides. Curb faced sidewalks are not good for many reasons, including snow from the road being plowed onto the sidewalk, which applies on all roads.

Silly, that's what the bike lane is for. 

[danbrotherston]

For the record, the end of the trail along Lexington looks like this:

   

Final pavement is in, as well as all curbs, the most that will change here is some paint.  Does anyone have any idea what's intended?

This simply boggles my mind.  Westbound cyclists are dumped out on the wrong side of the road facing oncoming traffic.  And turning traffic is likely to turn into their path.  Why end the trail 20 meters short of the intersection.

Honestly, anyone has any idea.

At least though, there are tactile pavers, so that vision impaired people (who aren't on the sidewalk for some reason) know they're about to be killed.

This is the same trail that literally has curbs in the middle of the trail for no reason.

[ijmorlan]

For the record, the end of the trail along Lexington looks like this:



Final pavement is in, as well as all curbs, the most that will change here is some paint.  Does anyone have any idea what's intended?

This simply boggles my mind.  Westbound cyclists are dumped out on the wrong side of the road facing oncoming traffic.  And turning traffic is likely to turn into their path.  Why end the trail 20 meters short of the intersection.

I’m confused. Is this at Lexington and Davenport? And do you mean westbound, or eastbound cyclists will get dumped out on the wrong side of the road? I may very well just be misunderstanding where this is…regardless, I agree it looks weird, just from the photo.

[Pheidippides]

These were the latest documents I could find (March 2017 PIC), but I am not sure they are the final plans.

Edit: just found this construction update from September 2017. It looks like an interim plan (full map).

[danbrotherston]

@ijmorlan yes at Davenport and Lexington. Yes, sorry I mean eastbound. Having a Kitchener moment.

@Phiedippides. Yes I saw those also. The build design has little resemblance to the plans. I guess it was a "detailed design issue" and not up for discussion.

[Markster]

They have fixed it by adding a diagonal piece and a smaller square piece:

Ugh, it is less bad, but still not good.

Would it have killed them to have put in a diagonal section on the other part too? That's a really anemic extension they put there. There's still going to be a lot of mud happening there, as built.

[nms]

With respect to the sidewalk dodge along Seagram, I expect that it was a matter of where the property lines lay.  It may have been easier for the City to make the dodge rather than expropriate the 3m swath in front of the properties from the Granite Club to Albert St.  Since the Granite Club is municipal land, the City could put the sidewalk exactly where they wanted it.

[danbrotherston]

With respect to the sidewalk dodge along Seagram, I expect that it was a matter of where the property lines lay.  It may have been easier for the City to make the dodge rather than expropriate the 3m swath in front of the properties from the Granite Club to Albert St.  Since the Granite Club is municipal land, the City could put the sidewalk exactly where they wanted it.

I don't think that's the concern, so much as it is the poorly thought out transition.  The walk should curve, instead of taking a discontinuous jog.  Filling in one corner is a start, but a road would never look like that.

[Markster]

With respect to the sidewalk dodge along Seagram, I expect that it was a matter of where the property lines lay.  It may have been easier for the City to make the dodge rather than expropriate the 3m swath in front of the properties from the Granite Club to Albert St.  Since the Granite Club is municipal land, the City could put the sidewalk exactly where they wanted it.

It was not expected to jog where it did:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Hearing this jog will now be adjusted - thanks for flagging. Apparently the gas line design came later and this was an in-field &quot;solution&quot;.</p>&mdash; Jeff Henry (@jeffhenrykw) <a href="https://twitter.com/jeffhenrykw/status/923605318596042752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2017</a></blockquote>

So we get an awkward workaround.

[Pheidippides]

With respect to the sidewalk dodge along Seagram, I expect that it was a matter of where the property lines lay.  It may have been easier for the City to make the dodge rather than expropriate the 3m swath in front of the properties from the Granite Club to Albert St.  Since the Granite Club is municipal land, the City could put the sidewalk exactly where they wanted it.

Nope. The right-of-way, grey lines in image below, are straight and wide along that stretch. Property lines were not the issue. I think it was the gas line's positioning within that right-of-way that was the limiting factor.
   

[Canard]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Project: Central Promenade Trail and Bridge Construction <a href="https://twitter.com/citywaterloo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@citywaterloo</a> <br><br>Progress pictures: <a href="https://t.co/5ZCoDb86Fe">pic.twitter.com/5ZCoDb86Fe</a></p>&mdash; John Griffin (@uu_john) <a href="https://twitter.com/uu_john/status/925700186998898688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2017</a></blockquote>

[Pheidippides]

The regular and details updates and maps and accommodations (temporary lighting on detours) from the City of Waterloo on the central promenade trail upgrades have set a new bar for effective communication during a construction project. Well done!