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Bicycle Paths

Jarrek said:
Ever wondered what Toronto's true bicycle network looks like? (Bike Lanes & Paths/Trails)

http://www.theurbancountry.com/2011/06/torontos-fragmented-bicycle-network.html

Pretty fragmented!
Click to expand...

Wow, that's bad. Toronto's "network" looks like a toddler got a hold of the eraser tool in Illustrator and moved the mouse around like crazy. A good compromise would be to designate "bicylce boulevards" on quiet residential sidestreets to at least get networks that crisscross the city. One of the problems, unfortunately, is that there are very few east-west streets in Toronto that continue for more than 3 blocks apart from the arterials at 2km intervals. However, you can always find the path of least resistance. For example, Broadway-Roselawn-Elm Ridge-Roselawn-Castlefield-Beechborough roughly parallels Eglinton from Laird to Keele, and all it would take to designate it as a bike route would be for the road crews to paint bike symbols and arrows on the asphalt.
 
Yeah it's pretty bad if you look at it. The city makes it look good by including bike friendly streets, bike signed routes and sharrows in their maps, but those aren't really any type of proper bike infrastructure.

There are many streets in the city that bike lanes could be added to, and some of these dots could be connected without much investment in capital.

For example, the Waterfront trail in south Etobicoke consists of bike paths, quiet residential streets, and Lake Shore Blvd. None of the streets have bike lane symbols painted onto them, and they're really poorly signed. If you know the route well, it's not much of a problem, but otherwise it can be quite confusing.

And then you get bike paths that lead to nowhere, like this one:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...326,-79.505903&spn=0.001735,0.004128&t=h&z=19
 
Jarrek said:
Ever wondered what Toronto's true bicycle network looks like? (Bike Lanes & Paths/Trails)

http://www.theurbancountry.com/2011/06/torontos-fragmented-bicycle-network.html

Pretty fragmented!
Click to expand...

That style of map is not really representative of the true cyclability of a city because it assumes that cyclists are only welcome on bike lanes or trails. In reality, it can be safer and more enjoyable to cycle on a quiet street with no bike lanes than a hectic street with them, and that fact is not reflected in this map. Quiet streets obviously aren't continuous and/or direct (otherwise cars would use them) and for cyclists to make use of them, they need to be linked with pathways. Since these pathways would not need to be very long, they would only show up as an isolated speck on this map, although their existence opens up a much larger street as a bicycle thoroughfare.

That said, it's definitely true that there are too many gaps in Toronto's cycle network. It's just that making this map look more continuous is not the only way to change this fact. Little connections can be quite expensive per km because they often need to cross obstacles such as rivers, streams, roads and highways, but their benefit is also much higher per km than a typical bike trail.

Jarrek said:
And then you get bike paths that lead to nowhere, like this one:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...326,-79.505903&spn=0.001735,0.004128&t=h&z=19
Click to expand...

You've raised a very good issue here. The city does not yet seem to know how to build a bike path for transportation purposes. They say "we're fixing traffic by building tons of bike paths", but then they build cute isolated meandering paths through parks with few, and often awkward, connections to streets, which hampers their utility as transportation corridors. I think this is partly due to the city's habit of designing trails for recreation and partly due to a low level of investment in each individual trail which forces cheaper but more awkward routings.
 
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I rode the (almost) completed central segment of the Finch Hydro path a few times today, and I'm reasonably pleased with it. The city has stepped up the quality relative to older "mixed use" trails but there are still a couple flaws.

First of all, Good Stuff.

Most of the exits allow easy access to road level (where cyclists are safest and are legally expected to ride).

Tobermory south:
5889312315_dffe742426.jpg


Tobermory north:
5889891492_f8326d0d0e.jpg


Blake Avenue:
5889887504_0056e8fb86.jpg


Kenton Drive:
5889314441_3a1baee070.jpg


As well, the main pathway is a good width (3.5m). Although its not as wide as a standard-width bike path in the Netherlands (4.0m), a tractor and I were able to pass without leaving the roadway.

5889796570_2466bdbf3b.jpg


Okay Stuff:

I would have preferred a different method of of crossing minor streets such as Talbot and Grantbrook. They seem to be installing traffic lights, but I think the best option would be cross the streets on a raised intersection with traffic told to yield to path users. That would eliminate the need for cyclists to stop, reduce the wait time for drivers and be significantly cheaper to operate than a traffic light.

5889316859_3d0d3348ff.jpg


There could have been more exits. The more there are, the more useful the path will be.

Alisa Craig Court, Carney Road and Altamont Road all should have had exits.

The path is still designated a "recreational trail" which is not good in the sense that it allows the city to give path users lower priority at crossings, build less direct routes and provide fewer connections to streets. That said, this path suffers from few of the issues associated with recreational-designed paths.

Bad Stuff:

The new exit from the G Ross Lord dam onto Wilmington Avenue goes onto the crosswalk. Either cyclists have totally been ignored, or they are expected to ride in the crosswalk and along the sidewalk (which is dangerous and illegal).

5889793522_abeffecc22.jpg


To get around the G Ross Lord Reservoir just east of Dufferin, cyclists are expected to use the G Ross Lord paths, a significant detour. It would be much more direct to simply build a path from the south end of the dam west along the north side of Finch and north along the east side of Dufferin

Here is a comparison of the distances between FHC Path @ Tobermory Exit and FHC Path @ Dufferin crossing:
via G Ross Lord paths: 2.7km
via the dam, Finch and Dufferin: 1.8km

Shortening the trip from Tobermory to Dufferin by nearly a kilometre would certainly make the path more attractive as a transportation corridor.
 
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Here's a link to an article that the Ford brothers wouldn't read: The Social Benefits of Cycling Identified, Enumerated and Imitated


Copenhagen, Aspirational City: With all the progress being made on cycling in American cities, we still have places like Copenhagen to remind us how far we have to go, says Andy Clarke at the League of American Bicyclists blog. The city just released its bi-annual Bicycle Account [PDF], and it is chock full of impressive statistics. Among them: 35 percent of the city’s residents bike to work; 67 percent of cyclists report they feel safe in the city; and 69 percent of residents travel by bike at least once a week. The cycling culture in this city is so well established that one of the biggest obstacles to progress is that the cycle tracks are overcrowded, Clarke reports.

The city’s culture of sustainable transportation is paying big dividends, the report notes. Copenhagen researchers found that every mile cycled provides the equivalent of 41 cents in social benefits to the community. Meanwhile every mile driven exacts about 24 cents in costs on society.
Click to expand...
 
ShonTron said:
So the section next to the busway is open?
Click to expand...

No, at the moment only the section between Dufferin and Yonge is open to the public, although construction is not yet finished. The pathway itself is done (it was finished just before I rode it: the pavement was still hot and I got some on my tires!), they're working on the landscaping now. There are a fair number of construction vehicles and workers, but they were very considerate of path users. The sign stated a completion date of August 2011, so I'm guessing the project is right on schedule.

Although it is not yet open, I did ride the busway portion too. It isn't paved yet and at Dufferin, it just ends in a pile of gravel.
 
gweed123 said:
For those of you who are interested, here is an article and a video explaining the new bike lanes that are going in along Laurier Ave in downtown Ottawa:

http://cycle.ottawacitizen.com/feat...eak-peak-of-the-new-laurier-avenue-bike-lanes
Click to expand...

This post might belong in the thread on separated bike lanes, but anyway the design seems fairly well executed. Does anyone happen to know the width of the lane? It is crucial for separated lanes to be at least 2m wide to allow cyclists to pass, since they can't leave the lane anymore.
 
I talked to someone I know in Ottawa about this who said that right now it's all rather confusing, but that will work itself out and overall it looks very well executed.
 
Great letter (except for the American spelling of pedalling)! ;o)

But, you're talking sense with a man who hasn't any, and who's idea of a city is highways, drive-throughs and football stadiums.
 
As with the path in ottawa the idea is good but the issue is they put a path on both sides of the road if they made a bigger path on one side and left the other side free it would have been better.
 
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