110505 Photo of the Day - Spot the Bike Lane

Submitted by bclark on
52nd Street NW (looking NB) between Bowness Road and Home Road NW. That's right, the lane is occupied by the parked pick-up truck (despite the no-parking signage). Last fall the City installed a two-way bike lane on the west side of the road. The lane was indicated by painted lines. Within about four months the lane markings were pretty much obliterated. 52nd Street is a one-way southbound road for motorists. Thus the lack of lines and inadequate signage makes for a very dangerous situation. Many times I've encountered motorists driving in the bike lane, resulting in a stand-off while I waited for them to clue in and move out of the bike lane. Fortunately they have all been paying attention to this point. I can't fault them completly though, even my wife drove partly in the bike lane the other day because she couldn't make out where it was on the road. This is after hearing me harp ad-nauseum on the safety of the route.

Forums: 

They used chalk, I think

Submitted by DarrenB on

I too have been wondering what happened to the bike lanes. That wasn't great paint they used, was it?

OpenFile is doing a story on the bike lane there. I got interviewed yesterday by the reporter who also lives on that street. Her take is that drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians are all frustrated by the half-baked solution that currently exists.

I put together a letter...

Submitted by bclark on

...for the area Alderman and a few others. It had an extensive write-up on this lane with lots of photo examples of the first go at the lane and the most recent one. Let me know if your contact at OpenFile wants additional information. I'd be happy to help out.

Great

Submitted by DarrenB on

If you can send me your email in a direct message, Brent, I will forward it to her. I will also make her aware of this thread. I am sure she will be interested.

I just take the middle...

Submitted by mercator on

When I use 52nd, I stand and hammer right up the center of the road, keeping an eye out for oncoming traffic. When a car comes, I'll move left if they are in the correct lane, but I'll move right when they swing round the corner and take the bike lane. That happens about 25% of the time.

I just rode this the other

Submitted by pinkrobe on

I just rode this the other day. It is a bit freaky to be riding against traffic with no indication that there's a contra-flow bike lane there. Nobody honked or swerved at me, but it felt weird all the same.

dislike.

Submitted by BCDon on

While I haven't ridden this road, I really dislike contra-flow bike lanes unless said lane is physically separated from the road.

Another shot

Submitted by DarrenB on

Here is another reason why painted bike lanes don't cut it on 52nd St -- can you spot the lane? A segregated bike lane, possibly an elevated bike lane, is needed here.

 

Really?

Submitted by mikewarren on

An elevated bike lane?

How about just getting the no-parking signs enforced? A wide road should be sufficient for everyone to "just get along"...one would think.

Yes, really

Submitted by DarrenB on

Yes, really -- just like this:

No, seriously -- by elevated bike lane I mean one that is constructed at the height of the sidewalk/curb instead of lower down at the height of the roadway. The curb provides the segregation from traffic. Vehicles basically can't drive or park are discouraged from driving or parking on an elevated bike lane, as they do now, because they would have to climb the curb to do so.  I believe they are cheaper to construct than physical barriers, and I have read that they have been proven to be very effective elsewhere.

Super Elevatioon

Submitted by BCDon on

If you've ever been over to Europe and see how they park there, with the cars upon the curbs, you'll know that normal curbs and sidwalks are no problem for vehicles.

Need to put in a nice large bump so they climb a curb but immediately go back down again - potential damage to undercarriage, oil pan etc. Of course that won't stop the larger 4X4s.

Problem at the bottom of 52 St NW, too

Submitted by ride on

A month or two back I descended 52 St and noticed in my rear-view mirror a guy following me rather closely in his Mercedes. When I got the bottom of the hill, there's a concrete divider and a sign indicating "bikes on the right, cars on the left". The driver tried to squeeze his car into the narrow bike lane on the right in spite of the large sign telling him to go left. Apparently he couldn't get his brain to accept the idea that he should drive on the left side of the road (okay, he was elderly, but still). Even when I stopped, and pointed at the sign, and blocked his access to the bike lane, he still looked confused and not a little peeved.

Had a face-off here

Submitted by bclark on

With a guy in a beat up old station wagon. I was NB within the concrete barricade area and I could tell he was going to come into it. I stopped, leaned on the sign and pointed to it as he also came to a stop. He flipped me the bird and swore something (couldn't tell what 'cause his windows were rolled up). Okay, yeah, I admit, I shouldn't have been riding in the bike lane like the rules say! Obviously he had more right to it than I do! ;)

Sharing the love

Submitted by mercator on

I had a chance to do some driver education as I rode down this road last weekend. A truck pulling a trailer full of lawnmowers turned out in front of me as I was heading south. He was driving on the right side of the road, at about 25km/hr. As I passed him on the left, I saw his window was rolled down so I told him he was driving in the bike lane. It kind of startled him, he had to stop talking on his cell phone to say 'sorry'.

Update 52nd Street NW

Submitted by bclark on

As some are aware I have been actively pursuing the matter of the disappearing bike lane on 52nd St NW through various means with the City. Today it was confirmed to me that the City will indeed be repainting the bike lane. It was explained that the most recent paint application used a more environmentally friendly paint that turned out to be less durable than required. The repainting will employ what the City expects to be a much more durable paint (3-5 year hold) that still meets the environmental criteria.

While this is not what I would consider a "case-closed" final solution, it should at least clearly define the presence of the bike lane to motorists while the road is snow free. I did highlight additional concerns with the confusing sharrows and poor signage so hopefully they address this as well.

I was told that work would commence as part of a larger program addressing fading bike lanes throughout the City once the streets are clear of gravel and pending some dry weather. The person I spoke to was not aware if any specific schedule but I did stress that this lane is somewhat unique in that it is contraflow and may be deserving of some priority attention.

New Article on OpenFile

Submitted by DarrenB on

Just spotted a new article on OpenFile.org today:

"A Nightmare on 52nd Street"

http://calgary.openfile.ca/calgary/file/2011/04/nightmare-52nd-street-nw

Coincidentally, this morning I captured my commute up 52nd St NW (against the road traffic) using the now invisible contra-flow bike lane. I also did a follow-up this morning with the City to find out why my 5 week old 311 request was never actioned or responded to. They couldn't tell me why. Very disappointing. 

If you want to see what it looks like, have a look on YouTube:

Thats pitiful

Submitted by Scott on

I would ride the other side on this road. No car coming at you for the first time on this road would have any idea of the lane so would get freaked out by you being on the wrong side of the road. It also should have the barrier all the way down this stretch. Painted lines wont stop a car from parking on the shoulder or coming at you.

Scary idea.

I do ride on the south side

Submitted by gyrospanner on

But only when I blast out of Bowmont park heading south to get to Home Road.

But then when you get close to Home Road, there are drivers heading south that turn west on 52 and I always feel that I could get squished into the concrete barrier...

I spoke with the fellow who owns the house on the south/downhill side of that intersection and he told me that that corner freaks him out. He told me that guaranteed at least twice a winter people crash into that barricade!

And I wish they'd pave that parking lot at the entrance to Bowmont because the gravel gets on the bike path!

Ha, I decided to ride home

Submitted by winterrider on

Ha, I decided to ride home through Bowmont park today and went up 52nd to access it.

Wouldn't you know it I had cars honking at me for riding on the right side of the road. Even though I knew about the alignment, I just plain forgot and there is no obvious indication there anymore.

After correcting myself and going in the bike lane I saw two cars coming toward me that clearly didn't know where the bike lane was either.

This street is an accident waiting to happen. If they want to keep that alignment they should put concrete blocks in all the way down.

re:Your 311 Call. And a short rant.

Submitted by chrisguy on

It's probably in the same place as my months-old 311 call asking how much Parks and Transportation each spent on cycling annually. I knew it wasn't a good sign when the 311 operator tried to log it as "So you want traffic survey results?". 'Nuff said.

And don't even get me started on the one-way, two-way, separated, integrated, car-bike extravaganza they've got going on there with 52nd St. Seriously, if it's so hard figuring out how to put a bike way on a *short residential one-way*, maybe it's time for TransDep to throw in the towel and just ask for help already.

nail: head

Submitted by mikewarren on

I think you hit the nail on the head: TransDep needs more (cycling) expertise, which was my main experience with the people I talked to at the University area presentations.

Reviewing the 2001 plan mentally, I see many of the areas that called for wide outside lanes or on-street bike lanes now have re-paved sidewalks (*ahem*, "regional pathways") instead. (For example, 12 mile coulee, 32nd by the University, 19th street). Or nothing (but that's more "just" budget issues).

They're getting there slowly (e.g. 5th/6th, 26th ave) but I think they really just don't know what to do...

Can't take that bike lane!

Submitted by DarrenB on

Brent and Stewart -- I thought you two would especially get a kick out of this video (even if the videography is very poor!). Here is what happened to me on the way home from our meeting today when I tried to go up 52nd St NW (actually, I was lucky to not have been hit):

Ouch...

Submitted by bclark on

Yeah, that is a bad one. I'll take that route today and see what happens. Someone a while back said we should keep all this as evidence in the event someone gets injured by a car and wants to pursue the matter. I'd be more than happy to make a copy of my December 10th, 2010 letter to the City available.

Grade: F

Submitted by RichieRich on

I cannot believe the city hasn't done anything to fix this area yet. Last week I basically rescued a child from that lane as a vehicle attempted to enter that "lane". The parent wasn't even aware of the impending head-on collision.

Most motorists can't see the cyclist-symbols on the roadway (maybe cos only 10% of the image is left), and they don't notice the ~8 signs all the way down, nor do they figure that when they first turn into that road that the segregated cycling lane (split by concrete barriers no less) may indicate something important. This may be one of the few areas that may benefit from rumble strips to differentiate the vehicle/cycling lanes (and man do I ever hate those strips.

Anyone phoned 311 (again) on this problem area?

AAAAARRRGGHH!

Submitted by gyrospanner on

Did I ever mention how much I hate 52nd?

Maybe there is a case for physical separation of the bike lane here?

On the bright side, somebody did sweep up all that gravel at the Bowmont Park parking lot up by the church!

Grade: Duh

Submitted by RichieRich on

I'm not sure why I like beating my head against the proverbial wall, but I actually make an effort to ride that street at least weekly just to see what kind of crazy stuff I'll see.... or the blissful naive hopes/dreams that the city will actually do something logical.

I too have actually thought

Submitted by gyrospanner on

about riding 52 for the weirdness that you might encounter!

I would do it for the extra km or three that you can get from that ride going down to the river and Montgomery (Good Stuff!).

But when I step back and think about it, I always wonder why a road that links Edworthy ti Bowmont is such a major POS for cyclists?

SLAP My FACE! It was designed with only car traffic in mind, cyclists come second! As Homer Simpson says, D'Oh.

More reason for a segragated bike lane! D'Oh!!

Great video!

Submitted by philosohpie on

I remember going there for the first time last year; I was rather perturbed by how it was a 'one way' and how I couldn't determine confidently whether or not the bike lane was two-way.

I believe I was going by a bike map at the time. Accidents have happened, and are waiting to happen.

Perhaps, in a movement reminiscent of the path-shovelling days of winter, we should meet-up with white and yellow chalk and reclaim this rather useful bike lane.

Uh...

Submitted by Scott on

I have a question... is there a particular reason they made a bike lane wide enough to fit cars? I look at the pics, I look at the vids and aside from the stupid one side of the street thing and not one on both sides... why on earth is it so bloody big? No wonder cars are confused. When people get in their cars they turn off their thinking and shift into auto pilot to go on their merry way. I have never ridden this thing but I can tell it's a moronic design at best. Someone WILL get hurt. It's inevitable.

It's for two way bike

Submitted by winterrider on

It's for two way bike traffic. I wouldn't want it any narrower.

But given the situation, the ONLY thing that makes sense to me on that street is to put concrete barrier all the way down. It doesn't have to be a solid wall, leave gaps between adjacent blocks that are just too narrow for cars to get through and it would cut the cost dramatically.

But I can't see any other reasonable solution.

Every single time I go on that road, either on bike, or on car (and I use this road quite a lot) I see someone on the road who doesn't know how to drive or ride it. Including as I posted above myself the other day.

silly

Submitted by mikewarren on

It seems silly to me to have a two-way lane beside a one-way car lane...especially with the drastic speed difference in uphill vs downhill cyclists on that stretch of road. The best solution I would see is:

* shared bike + car lane downhill (bikes are doing at least 30km/h without too much effort, "take the lane" etc)
* one-way bike-only lane on the way uphill (but on the right "correct" east side of the road)

Ideally, also no parking on the "uphill" (east) side of the road, but that's gravy and really there's not a whole lot of people getting in and out of cars (i.e. not as bad as trying to ride in the door-prize zone downtown).

As bonus points, this mimicks what it looks like they attempted on 19th street NW (although instead of a bike lane, they re-paved the sidewalk with asphalt on the uphill side, and the downhill side should probably have bike sharrows).

I think you've made the most

Submitted by winterrider on

I think you've made the most salient point which is they should move the parking from the east side of the road to the west, and run the contraflow bike lane where everyone expects is to be.

If they won't do this they the only other reasonable option in my opinion is to physically separate the whole lane.

Anyone checked for bike lanes lately?

Submitted by DarrenB on

I have been out of town and haven't been up 52nd St lately. Did the bike lanes ever appear as Alderman Hodges stated at the LPT meeting? He claimed Roads was just waiting for some good weather. Well, it is here and I see they are out painting other (new) bike lanes nearby, like on 37th St NW and Charleswood Dr.

52nd St POS

Submitted by RichieRich on

not as of Tuesday morning or evening. I chose to ride it both directions (95% of the time I go up) that day "just cos".
And it's still a bad experience compounded by very hard to see road markings and odd signage that's mounted about 3m above the roadway (ie hard to see for most vehicles). As I've said before, it's just a matter of time before there's an incident on this road.

July 1st -- no change

Submitted by DarrenB on

Drove that route this morning and it looks the same as ever, despite that city crews have been busy throughout the local area putting in NEW bike lanes this week. Clearly the safety concerns with this road have fallen on deaf ears. Very sad that the City doesn't see that someone is going to get seriously injured or killed here.

52nd St NW Still not fixed

Submitted by DarrenB on

Well, it has been weeks since Alderman Hodges announced at the last LPT meeting that the 52nd St NW bike lane restoration was a top priority for the Roads department, and that as soon as we had some warm, dry weather, the paint crews would be out pronto. Well, a couple weeks of great weather have come and gone, and no new bike lanes have appeared, despite the fact that city crews have been all over the northwest re-painting pedestrian crossings and new bike lanes (including a few blocks away on 37th St NW). I hate to be cynical about his promise, but I also hate being lied to. But it sounds like he is free for a meeting either tomorrow or Monday to discuss this issue and the Cycling Strategy (which Ald. Hodges voted against in Council).

Here's a look at the current state of the (non-existent) bike lane:

 By the way, it didn't come through very well on the video, but there is an obstruction (City sewer maintenance?) in the middle of the street about a block down, but no signage whatsoever directing automobile traffic to the LEFT, which is counter-intuitive to motorists but necessary to avoid head-on collisions with north-bound cyclists in the bike lane!

Exactly!!

Submitted by Scott on

Like I said earlier... I really dont know why on earth this bike lane barrier is so damn wide. Makes no sense at all. None. Nada. Zip.

Finally some bike-lane action (52nd st NW)

Submitted by bclark on

I rode this last night and noted that some work has begun on the bike lane. The City has scraped off the original bike lanes and sharrows. They have dashed in a double set of white lines extending from the barrier at Bowness Road north along the entire street. I'm not sure whether they will just be putting in lines or actually adding barriers but we can keep our fingers crossed that something visible will be there soon (hopefully...I've had this hope dashed before). I also can't say whether this is the final solution Alderman Hodges had alluded to in conversations with me or how well whatever they are planning will hold up to the winter.

52nd St

Submitted by RichieRich on

I also rode up that way last night going home. The new markings confused some oncoming vehicles (as usual). The double set of markings has me concerned but then again anything they do on this stretch makes me confuzzed. Any way for Bike Calgary finding out from the city what their intentions are and having a review?

I second that idea!

Submitted by gyrospanner on

However, and my apologies for the "Defeatist Attitude," I don't think that they can ever get it right! Nobody can!

The problem starts with the fact that cars and cyclists turn off Home Road (whether northbound or southbound). Home Road is a busy road and that intersection sucks. Cars and cyclists like to go fast down that hill. Maybe it should get a X-walk light? A 30 km/hr speed limit? (It is actually a park at the top of the hill and to the west....)

We Have Been Trying to Find Out

Submitted by bclark on

The 52nd Street problem was specifically discussed at the SPC LPT meeting on the Cycling Strategy. Alderman Hodges committed to getting back to me with the plan for the "final" form this lane will take. In conversation he also stated that the current lane will be repainted, likely as a temporary solution until something more permanent has been devised.

A number of us at Bike Calgary and on other organizations have been working towards a solution to this problem and have presented various ideas on what form the lane could ultimately take. It appears there are a number of factors that complicate the situation and it's not just a matter of someone directing Roads to put in a bike lane and it being done prperly. We've already seen two failed attempts.

At this point I have not heard from Alderman Hodges on the "final" form of the bike lane. I would expect that what we are seeing is the temporary solution. It may turn out to be the permanent one.

I would expect that we will see full line markings in the near future. I am also hopeful that we will see some decent signage to indicate the bike lane. This is a another thing myself and others have pointed out as a necessity.

Yeah, my thoughts too

Submitted by bclark on

That's pretty much the same thing I thought as I saw the notification appear in the middle of my physio appointment at around noon today. I received it from Alderman Hodges office, probably due to my persistence on this issue through his office and at the SPC LPT meeting.

The notification I got was a scan of a letter addressed to area residents and this seemed to constitute the majority of the people when I got there at 4:30 today.

Here's my take.

The meeting was an information session to present the design and answer any questions. For all intents and purposes the design is finalized.

The design is in essence an enhancement of the existing bike lane (i.e. the one before the lines faded). The lane will be 2.75m wide, on the west side of the road and two-way.

The bike lane will be separated from the motorist lane with a combination of concrete barriers, bollards and line markings. The concrete barriers will be placed leading up to each intersection. The existing one at Bowness Road will be extended north to about mid-block. Short ones (~3m each) will be placed at intersections along the street. A second longer one will be placed at the junction with Home Road. Bollards will be placed mid-block (2 each evenly spaced) between each set of concrete barriers. A double white line with intermittent cross-hatch will be painted along between the barriers.

Each entry point (i.e. intersection) will be clearly signed to indicate the lane as a bike lane only (one sign on each concrete barrier and one adjacent to the roadway) and to indicate motorists are not to enter. Bollards will be placed on the center-line of each bike lane at every entry point (again...intersection).

The bike lane will not have a centre dividing line to separate north and south traffic (yes you read that right...will not). There will be bike arrows at each entry point to mark north and southbound bike traffic flow. There will be a short section of yellow line at the junction with Bowness Road. I pressed them on this point and the response was that they could not add a yellow line due to current provincial legislation and City bylaws.

The project lead seemed very convinced that this was the best design possible under the Highway Traffic Safety Act and City bylaws. He was adamant that the safety of cyclists was his main priority and that he did not want to redesign the lane again. My impression was that he was sincere on this.

A couple concerns did crop up. First, the lack of a centre dividing line is a concern, especially given that southbound cyclists could be travelling quite fast. I had suggested that they at least consider painting lines in the space where the concrete barricades are to be placed. Thoughts? Second, the bollards are to be painted standard-issue white with a red reflector. To me white seems like a difficult to see color. I would think red or yellow would be better. Thoughts?

So, I am fairly convinced, given my weighing of the benefits and drawbacks of various options I have schemed up, that this is the most workable layout and that the design presented addresses most of the concerns cyclists have had on this road. Snow clearing will be an issue but it should be priority 2, i.e. 24 to 48 hours. There is also room to make minor modifications or enhancements within the design should other issues crop up. I did querry about the durability of the paint for markings and they are planning to use an epoxy, which should last five years. Note that the bollards will be temporary initially (i.e. epoxied to the ground) followed by permanent (i.e. bolted). I did not ask about what the speed limit might be for cyclists.

Maybe a bit tough to grasp without a map but I thought I'd get the info out there. Post if you require further clarifications.

52nd St... getting somewhere

Submitted by RichieRich on

Thank you thank you thank you for attending, representing, and taking an active part in their conversation, and reporting back. VERY much appreciated.

Yes it sounds very favorable and likely one of the better solutions.

For everyones consideration and possible feedback to the project manager my concerns are as follows:
- consultation w/ local residents is certainly a requirement, however did the project manager understand that likely 95%+ cyclist users are active cyclists NOT from the local residential area? And a small portion of this 95% may be be part of a movement such as this BikeCalgary group and be willing to engage in intelligent and logical discussions? The reality is that most "recreational" cyclists think and operate their bikes differently than year-round "commuter" cyclists who experience the plethora of positive and negative approaches to addressing cycling needs.
- cyclist lane choices/suggestion : My concern is cyclist head-on incident. If they're not willing to paint lines would they consider additional signs indicating traffic flow direction? This gets them around their issue of TSA and city bylaws for roadway markings.
- White bollards : useless in inclement weather in all seasons. If they must be white, make them "candy-cane" like w/ 3-5 reflector rings starting at 90% of height and going down. A single reflector will easily get dirtied, fall off, be removed, or not provide enough reflection. Ditto for barriers. Keep in mind snow/slush and plows will be blasting at these things.
- Snow clearing : I don't know what "Priority 2" means, but if the road gets plowed the bike lane must *immediately* be plowed afterwards otherwise the lane will become another horizontal snow storage area and cyclists will move over to the vehicle lane.
- Timing : when is the proposal scheduled to be implemented?
- Residential response : how well was the event attended? was there an open discussion? what was the general feeling amongst the attendees?

Two-way lane dangerous

Submitted by mikewarren on

In my opinion, this is a pretty dangerous way to do this give the enormous speed difference (between uphill and downhill riders). Also, with random concrete and posts to hit, you're given less maneuvering room. Down-hill, I will continue to ride in the "driving" lane, thank you very much.

There's NO POINT to having a separated bike lane for downhill cyclists, as many will be going as fast as traffic. It's also highly confusing (to me) to have the uphill traffic on the "wrong" side of the road. Even if that has to be the answer, a gutter-cement-thing or "end of driveway"-style mini-curb to (visually) separate them would be Way Better than barriers that will seriously fuck up anyone hitting them at downhill speeds.

Personally, I think a "no markings" (but really wide) road is almost best, or a yellow-line-designated uphill-only bike lane on the east side of the road and a really wide lane (bonus for sharrows) on the west. For an uphill-only (east-side) bike lane, posts or barriers are fine -- if you really insist ;) -- as you're not going to hit them at 60 km/h. Also with barriers, this will NEVER get snow-plowed or swept of gravel. (Did the concrete-area get plowed at all last winter?)

The south end (intersection with Bowness Road) is tricky, but something somewhat like the existing thing (but narrower? or with a center-bike-path bollard to further discourage cars?) extending a little further could still exist, with a "dotted line" or "red/green/blue pavement" bike lane taking uphill cyclists to the east side of the road (with a "yield to cars" sign or something). Even with heavy traffic, an uphill cyclist should be able to get to the other side of the road before the next block -- and facing the traffic makes it even easier. Mostly the cross-road "bike lane" would be to indicate that's what you're supposed to do.

For me, if I head up there (which is pretty rare) I typically ignore the cement cycle-box-thing as it's always chock full of sand and gravel.

Usually, to gain that hill, I will go up the road (48th Street) immediately east of Home Road (although usually because I'm not trying to gain the bike path above Sideshow or 53rd but head further east-ish). As a bonus, I don't think it's ever as steep as the Home Road bike path but if you're trying to connect to 53rd, it's a little longer (actually about 800m via Google). You can connect to 53rd via permanently-barricaded 50th street (brief sidewalk, as the barricade has no bike-through like you'd see in Vancouver) and then either an immediate left down the "alley"/sidewalk after the park or via 40th Avenue.

More comments

Submitted by gyrospanner on

FROM THE LOCALS
I talked to a few people that were locals and most of their concerns centered around the speed at which cars & cyclists go down Home Road, the neighborhood kids on bikes and parking issues. One younger resident, who I have actually talked to before (he lives really close to the corner of Home Road and 52nd) even asked the city employees if they have ever thought of closing 52nd. Some of the other folks were commenting about the high amount of non-local traffic that actually uses that road. It is easy for me to forget that I'm not the only person who uses a small part of that road briefly twice a day....

BTW, there were probably about 10 or 15 "locals" during the time I was there (roughly 4 to 5 pm) and given the age and amount of socializing going on, I felt like I was at a rural church supper. Both Brent and I were carrying packs & helmets and nobody approached us to ask our opinion (well for me - except for the two City Employees and the younger guy I already knew). This sets the scene - I am not crticizing here... There was a fellow from the community association that did bring up one interesting point - the average speed of vehicles on 52nd was between 45 and 48 km/hr (info supplied by the city).

FROM THE CITY
One of the comments that one of the City Employees joked about was that this would be their fourth and final attempt at the bike lane. I wouldn't take the comment about final as really being final, it's sort of like business - "a contract is just a pause in the negotiations!" What I am excited about is the fact that work starts on Sunday, so you should see some new stuff happening there on Monday. Painting will be the first thing to go in, followed by signs, barriers & bollards on Monday, if all goes to plan. I'm as excited as Christmas in July to see what happens.

D'OH

Submitted by gyrospanner on

Tomorrow and Monday are probably holidays, so when we will see changes?

Idunno??????

I can wait 'til Tuesday or Wednesday.......

Up and Running

Submitted by sonicsoul on

Drove by last night and it looks like everything is in place and operational. Didn't have a chance to get up close and take any pictures but did notice it when I looked up the street. I will stop by today if I get the chance.

52nd St

Submitted by bclark on

I rode the new lane this morning and, following-up on the previous post, it is now marked, signed and barriered (is that a word?). I think a motorist would have to intentionally want to aggravate cyclists to be in the bike lane. There is no missing it's presence. The abundant signage should make it obvious even in winter. From what was presented at the info-session, they still have some additional marking and signing to do.

Yeah but...

Submitted by bclark on

I don't know why they had those barriers moved over at the north end. They were on the white line this morning. Maybe they have to do some touch ups? Hopefully they do it soon because some motorist came rippin' around that corner when I was riding up at the end of work today. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for people living there dealing with people speeding through.

New lines?

Submitted by bclark on

Yeah, it looked like they might have added some new lines last night. Midnight painting session? It was hard to get a good look as I was focused on Home Road!

not bad

Submitted by coolegg on

Not bad, IMO. When compared to what I have seen in places like Portland it is obvious the City still has a lot to learn as far as "best practices" for bike lanes, but not bad for a city that is just starting to get it.

Still some work to do I think

Submitted by mercator on

The new bike lane is pretty good, but not fool proof. Yesterday I met a car coming south in the bike lane right at the church. He must have carefully made the turn and then wondered why the lane was so narrow. Anyway, he looked pretty embarrassed as I shook my head at him.

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