Cycling infrastructure (Separated bike lanes)

[H4F33Z]

Why can't we just install bollards or flexiposts on every bike lane. Now, they're "safer" but emergency vehicles can still park. That could probably boost ridership for a lot of routes because it's "safer", discourages drivers from parking and would be pretty affordable. It's only $238 per bollard and $238,000 for a kilometre or double for more "safer" bike lanes. This wouldn't be too much in the city's budget. the bollards can be denser depending on the street situation. Now, I know people would think that this is a lazy plan for Toronto. Yeah, it is, but what do you think Toronto Council can do. They can either take 10 years to analyze and plan for a permanent high quality facility or they can just simply upgrade a bike lane to cycle track with bollards or even parking. This wouldn't work everywhere though, but it's pretty simple. Painted lines are not enough and this one simple addition can cause the cycling shift and mindset change. Any suggestions to this plan?

 

[W. K. Lis]

Why can't we just install bollards or flexiposts on every bike lane. Now, they're "safer" but emergency vehicles can still park. That could probably boost ridership for a lot of routes because it's "safer", discourages drivers from parking and would be pretty affordable. It's only $238 per bollard and $238,000 for a kilometre or double for more "safer" bike lanes. This wouldn't be too much in the city's budget. the bollards can be denser depending on the street situation. Now, I know people would think that this is a lazy plan for Toronto. Yeah, it is, but what do you think Toronto Council can do. They can either take 10 years to analyze and plan for a permanent high quality facility or they can just simply upgrade a bike lane to cycle track with bollards or even parking. This wouldn't work everywhere though, but it's pretty simple. Painted lines are not enough and this one simple addition can cause the cycling shift and mindset change. Any suggestions to this plan?

A raised bicycle lane, with a sloping curb and the sewer grates OFF the bicycle lane, would be better. From link.

Example of a raised cycle track with a rolling curb in Portland, Oregon.

 

[Fred.S]

Why can't we just install bollards or flexiposts on every bike lane. Now, they're "safer" but emergency vehicles can still park. That could probably boost ridership for a lot of routes because it's "safer", discourages drivers from parking and would be pretty affordable. It's only $238 per bollard and $238,000 for a kilometre or double for more "safer" bike lanes. This wouldn't be too much in the city's budget. the bollards can be denser depending on the street situation. Now, I know people would think that this is a lazy plan for Toronto. Yeah, it is, but what do you think Toronto Council can do. They can either take 10 years to analyze and plan for a permanent high quality facility or they can just simply upgrade a bike lane to cycle track with bollards or even parking. This wouldn't work everywhere though, but it's pretty simple. Painted lines are not enough and this one simple addition can cause the cycling shift and mindset change. Any suggestions to this plan?

That would be nice for a quick fix, and could probably be done in many places, but there are some considerations. You generally need a 0.3 m double line buffer for the flex posts to sit in, and the bike lane itself needs to be at least around 1.6 m for small snowplows and street sweepers, although depending on the roadway width, you need more buffer for winter snow storage. This means you basically need at least a 2 m wide bike lane (including buffer) to allow for adequate maintenance both in the bike lane and the general traffic lanes, as well as having a comfortable width for bikes to maneuver. A lot of existing bike lanes are only 1.5 m wide (the older standard, and current minimum), and some older ones are narrower, down to 1.2 m. In some cases bike lanes can be widened by narrowing adjacent traffic lanes to newer more narrower Toronto standards. Alternatively You could remove and reinstall the bollards seasonally for the winter, which is done in some places (though I believe no longer in Toronto), but there is obviously an extra cost to this.

A raised bicycle lane, with a sloping curb and the sewer grates OFF the bicycle lane, would be better. From link.

Example of a raised cycle track with a rolling curb in Portland, Oregon.

That photo is actually of Sherbourne Street in Toronto (Google link), seems they got it wrong in the article. The fully-mountable curb cycle tracks are alright for 2-lane low-traffic streets with not a lot of curbside activity (i.e. not commercial areas), but otherwise motor vehicles have no problem or disincentive to stop or park on them . Really they are just fancy buffered unprotected bike lanes. A full curb is best, or a semi-mountable roll curb which still discourages encroachment, but is mountable for vehicles to get out of the way of emergency vehicles if necessary.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Are bicycle repair shops "essential"? In New York State, auto repair shops are "essential".

From link.

"Bike shops and advocates who have reached out to the (New York State) governor’s office have been told to fill out a form to request “essential” status. No, seriously. Here’s the form. (We are still awaiting clarification from the governor’s office.)"​

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"Mayor London (England) Breed later tweeted that bike shops could remain open."​

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"Jon Orcutt of Bike New York said Cuomo should follow Breed’s lead.​

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We urge the governor to look to San Fransisco and Berlin, who have already declared bike shops as essential retail under similar lockdown orders,” he said.​

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Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Danny Harris also looked to San Francisco for leadership.​

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Cars aren’t the only social distancing-complaint way to get around,” Harris told Streetsblog. “Gov. Cuomo should follow the lead of Mayor London Breed and designate bicycle repair shops as essential businesses during the shelter-in-place order.”​

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StreetsPAC Executive Director Eric McClure suggested that the governor is being short-sighted."​

 

[WislaHD]

I was wondering about that, my bike probably will need some spring maintenance, not sure if my local shop will be open during this time.

 

[ADRM]

The extra curbs they’ve added to the Bloor bike lanes between Bathurst and Spadina are a huge improvement — they’ve targeted places that had quickly become nearly constantly parked-in by drivers since the reconstruction and, in some places, have also managed to further tighten the turning radius to slow down drivers and make their turn across the lanes safer by changing the angle at which they cross.

(I don’t know why it took them a number of months from “completion” to implement the added necessary infrastructure but I am nonetheless quite glad they did.)

 

[PinkLucy]

I was wondering about that, my bike probably will need some spring maintenance, not sure if my local shop will be open during this time.

There are a couple of mobile mechanic services available

 

[Northern Light]

The extra curbs they’ve added to the Bloor bike lanes between Bathurst and Spadina are a huge improvement — they’ve targeted places that had quickly become nearly constantly parked-in by drivers since the reconstruction and, in some places, have also managed to further tighten the turning radius to slow down drivers and make their turn across the lanes safer by changing the angle at which they cross.

(I don’t know why it took them a number of months from “completion” to implement the added necessary infrastructure but I am nonetheless quite glad they did.)

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Just needs some flowers/ornamental grasses!

 

[W. K. Lis]

Just needs some flowers/ornamental grasses!

Or wild tomatoes grown by guerrilla gardeners.

From link.

 

[jje1000]

The extra curbs they’ve added to the Bloor bike lanes between Bathurst and Spadina are a huge improvement — they’ve targeted places that had quickly become nearly constantly parked-in by drivers since the reconstruction and, in some places, have also managed to further tighten the turning radius to slow down drivers and make their turn across the lanes safer by changing the angle at which they cross.

Some very nice steps towards creating further visual/psychological separation for bike lanes and stopping drivers from assuming that it's 'just another lane' (drop a few more in, and it becomes increasingly hard for drivers to swerve in for a stop).

I wonder if there's been any studies on the effectiveness of these selective bike lane separations compared to the ideal fully-separated bike lane?

 

[44 North]

Or wild tomatoes grown by guerrilla gardeners.
From link.

One time I saw a stalk of corn growing out of the asphalt below a jersey barrier in the 401's median, full height and everything. Life finds a way.

 

[H4F33Z]

Does anyone have a updated "Toronto Cycling Network Plan" that was released in 2016, I have the map but the map is a bit outdated. It does provide a backbone but does not include many proposed bike infrustructure after 2016, especially in new developments.

 

[Northern Light]

It needs to be said, in the current crisis there are things more important than new bike lanes; particularly in investing in the safety of healthcare/food service workers and in ramping up healthcare capacity.

That said, NYC, amongst other places is ordering roads closed to create room for people to walk, and cycle, while practicing social distancing.

It would make immense sense, especially in light of overcrowding in some parks, such as the Beaches, to do similar here.

We need to create more usable public space, pronto.

Yonge Street would the logical place to start, seeing as we were looking at closing portions to pedestrians as early as next year.

Lets just test that out now, shall we.

No elaborate investments, just pylons and jersey barriers/fast fences and leave it at that. Should resources permit, a few flower planters/tree planters can be dropped in during late spring/early summer.

On Danforth just paint the damn bike lanes in now. No better time. Traffic is light, and can sustain the change.

For N-S cycling downtown, University Avenue is where its going to go.

So let's just pylon off one lane each way for bikes and be done with it.

 

[Towered]

It needs to be said, in the current crisis there are things more important than new bike lanes; particularly in investing in the safety of healthcare/food service workers and in ramping up healthcare capacity.

That said, NYC, amongst other places is ordering roads closed to create room for people to walk, and cycle, while practicing social distancing.

It would make immense sense, especially in light of overcrowding in some parks, such as the Beaches, to do similar here.

We need to create more usable public space, pronto.

Yonge Street would the logical place to start, seeing as we were looking at closing portions to pedestrians as early as next year.

Lets just test that out now, shall we.

No elaborate investments, just pylons and jersey barriers/fast fences and leave it at that. Should resources permit, a few flower planters/tree planters can be dropped in during late spring/early summer.

On Danforth just paint the damn bike lanes in now. No better time. Traffic is light, and can sustain the change.

For N-S cycling downtown, University Avenue is where its going to go.

So let's just pylon off one lane each way for bikes and be done with it.

Yonge Street is a place to avoid now based on my experience on Friday...

 

[Fred.S]

The extra curbs they’ve added to the Bloor bike lanes between Bathurst and Spadina are a huge improvement — they’ve targeted places that had quickly become nearly constantly parked-in by drivers since the reconstruction and, in some places, have also managed to further tighten the turning radius to slow down drivers and make their turn across the lanes safer by changing the angle at which they cross.

Agreed, they are really nice. If only the other side wasn't a narrow unprotected bike lane, there's quite the contrast. I'm waiting for the day when parking is fully removed on that stretch, and the westbound bike lanes can be widened and protected.