Cycling in Waterloo Region

[ijmorlan]

There is a left turn lane, but there are FOUR through lanes. These aren't turn lanes, they have matching receiving lanes on the other side. The road literally becomes a four lane plus turn lanes road for 40 meters for no reason. This is not a logical situation.

As a side note:

I think the pedestrian scramble is significantly weakend here (edit: here being Waterloo Region)...because our policies around ped signals are so fundamentally oppressive, most peds will just ignore the signal and cross on the don't-walk sign--and absolutely rightly so, our engineers gave up the right to ever claim pedestrians are in the wrong for ignoring their signals when they put a ped signal protecting a retaining wall--so it wouldn't really solve the problem. Also, fundamentally, when your signal phasing is 3-4 minutes, nobody is going to wait that long, and I will eat my hat if regional traffic signal engineers correctly prioritize ped crossing time in a ped scramble.

I just took a closer look at the plan and indeed I see that what I thought was a northbound right turn lane is marked as straight through / right turn. This makes no sense given that on the other side there are posts marking off the bike lane so there is only one lane on the north side of the intersection.

Coming southbound, the rightmost lane should be a right-turn-only lane (but is it actually marked as such? I’m not sure), which implies that on the south side of the intersection there should be no vehicles coming into the second lane except for buses headed for the bus stop. But it doesn’t look like the designers understood that when making that plan.

I’m just amazed that we’re at a point where most of King St. can be redesigned as a 2 lane road. I just wish we would extend that: the part from Columbia to Weber definitely does not need 4 lanes (when Weber was closed, that part of the road was sometimes restricted to 2 lanes and jammed up a little, but with traffic able to use Weber instead I can’t see that being an issue). At most the area between Weber and Conestoga Mall (around the expressway) might need the 4 lanes but even that I’m finding myself doubting.

[danbrotherston]

There is a left turn lane, but there are FOUR through lanes. These aren't turn lanes, they have matching receiving lanes on the other side. The road literally becomes a four lane plus turn lanes road for 40 meters for no reason. This is not a logical situation.

As a side note:

I think the pedestrian scramble is significantly weakend here (edit: here being Waterloo Region)...because our policies around ped signals are so fundamentally oppressive, most peds will just ignore the signal and cross on the don't-walk sign--and absolutely rightly so, our engineers gave up the right to ever claim pedestrians are in the wrong for ignoring their signals when they put a ped signal protecting a retaining wall--so it wouldn't really solve the problem. Also, fundamentally, when your signal phasing is 3-4 minutes, nobody is going to wait that long, and I will eat my hat if regional traffic signal engineers correctly prioritize ped crossing time in a ped scramble.

I just took a closer look at the plan and indeed I see that what I thought was a northbound right turn lane is marked as straight through / right turn. This makes no sense given that on the other side there are posts marking off the bike lane so there is only one lane on the north side of the intersection.

Coming southbound, the rightmost lane should be a right-turn-only lane (but is it actually marked as such? I’m not sure), which implies that on the south side of the intersection there should be no vehicles coming into the second lane except for buses headed for the bus stop. But it doesn’t look like the designers understood that when making that plan.

I’m just amazed that we’re at a point where most of King St. can be redesigned as a 2 lane road. I just wish we would extend that: the part from Columbia to Weber definitely does not need 4 lanes (when Weber was closed, that part of the road was sometimes restricted to 2 lanes and jammed up a little, but with traffic able to use Weber instead I can’t see that being an issue). At most the area between Weber and Conestoga Mall (around the expressway) might need the 4 lanes but even that I’m finding myself doubting.

Indeed. At least in terms of cycling, the MUT beings at Weber, so there is less need...I'd be happy to leave it 4 lanes, so that we have room to put an LRT down the middle cheaply and easily .

To be fair, I think those designing the road, didn't know the section north of University would be 2-3 lanes instead of 4-5, but it still doesn't justify making the intersection wider, any reasonable engineer, looking at that intersection, with it's pedestrian safety record, should be prioritizing shortening crossings.

[Bob_McBob]

A cyclist was killed by a pickup truck driver just north of Elmira last night.

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...lmira.html

[danbrotherston]

A cyclist was killed by a pickup truck driver just north of Elmira last night.

https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...lmira.html

Yet another preventable tragedy.

Credit to The Region Record on writing an accurate headline.

[ac3r]

Construction on the first phase of the downtown cycling grid has started today, expected to conclude in September with the second phase beginning next year: https://www.kitchener.ca/en/news/constru...-grid.aspx

[tomh009]

Construction on the first phase of the downtown cycling grid has started today, expected to conclude in September with the second phase beginning next year: https://www.kitchener.ca/en/news/constru...-grid.aspx

Delta St/Sydney St construction has also started, and, as I recall, this will effectively extend the IHT down to Rockway.

[dtkvictim]

Construction on the first phase of the downtown cycling grid has started today, expected to conclude in September with the second phase beginning next year: https://www.kitchener.ca/en/news/constru...-grid.aspx

Delta St/Sydney St construction has also started, and, as I recall, this will effectively extend the IHT down to Rockway.

I noticed utility markings the entire length of Joseph and on Queen near Joseph the last few weeks. Today the entire length is lined with constructions pylons. I suspected it was related to the cycling grid, but I guess this confirms it.

I know they are closing Delta St, what's happening on Sydney?

[tomh009]

Delta St/Sydney St construction has also started, and, as I recall, this will effectively extend the IHT down to Rockway.

I noticed utility markings the entire length of Joseph and on Queen near Joseph the last few weeks. Today the entire length is lined with constructions pylons. I suspected it was related to the cycling grid, but I guess this confirms it.

I know they are closing Delta St, what's happening on Sydney?

As I recall, Sydney St is getting bike lanes, which (when combined with Nyberg St and Delta St) will connect the IHT to the Rockway neighbourhood.

[danbrotherston]

I noticed utility markings the entire length of Joseph and on Queen near Joseph the last few weeks. Today the entire length is lined with constructions pylons. I suspected it was related to the cycling grid, but I guess this confirms it.

I know they are closing Delta St, what's happening on Sydney?

As I recall, Sydney St is getting bike lanes, which (when combined with Nyberg St and Delta St) will connect the IHT to the Rockway neighbourhood.

I think Sydney is getting a MUT on the south side.

[tomh009]

As I recall, Sydney St is getting bike lanes, which (when combined with Nyberg St and Delta St) will connect the IHT to the Rockway neighbourhood.

I think Sydney is getting a MUT on the south side.

Is this a MUT? I would have guessed a sidewalk, but maybe it's really a MUT.

   

   

[KevinL]

Certainly looks wide enough for an MUT.

[tomh009]

Certainly looks wide enough for an MUT.

It's pretty wide in the first photo (between Charles St and Delta St) but it seems significantly narrower in the second photo (alongside the golf course).

[dtkvictim]

Joseph at Gaukel, Water, and Victoria have all been dug up. Only took a photo at Gaukel, but they all look similar.

[danbrotherston]

Downtown Grid in progress!!!!!!!

[ijmorlan]

Downtown Grid in progress!!!!!!!

Nice! I regularly drive through Joseph St. there and was wondering what was happening.