Quote:
Originally Posted by GullFoss
I think most traffic engineers would suggest this is the correct way of looking at the problem
Dedicated bike lanes likely reduce traffic flow rates on high volume roads by taking up a lane that could otherwise be used for vehicle traffic. Bike lanes should be removed on these streets and avenues and reoriented to less busy thorough fares.
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Depends what you think ‘the problem’ is when building a Cycle Track. Is the problem ‘how do we move cyclists efficiently and safely?’ Is it ‘How do we minimize vehicle traffic?’ Or is it ‘how do we balance the first two without losing any parking?’ The problem the traffic engineers were given for the cycle Track Network was the third one. The parking issue is a lot less of a problem now, as the success of the Cycle Track Network has led to more protected lanes going up (like 2nd St) and some where parking is indeed being removed to accommodate protected lanes (the work in 14th and 15th Ave).
The issue with the less used thoroughfares, at least as they pertained to the original network plans and layout, is that they failed all problems. They don’t allow cyclists to move efficiently or safely because they lose priority crossing busy streets. The light priority is either terrible, or there aren’t lights at all.youve failed problem 1. So to mitigate that you would need to improve the priority on these routes, which would negatively affect vehicle traffic, notably on 1st, 4th, 5th and 8th Streets. You’ve failed problem 2. But to do it in the first place, you fail problem 3.
12th Ave was picked because it allowed the traffic engineers to deal with all the problems. They could convert a permanent parking lane to a cycle track, and use a flow lane as a temporary parking lane, which would maintain parking spots most of the day but also maintain lane kilometres during peak traffic flow. Because it’s busy thoroughfare, the cycle lanes would benefit from the same light and travel priority as vehicle traffic, allowing efficient movement that could be expanded in the future to connect the Elbow River Pathway all the way into Sunalta.
Given the restrictions and parameters they were working under, the traffic engineers dealt with the problems pretty darn well all things considered. So well the network is being expanded, which I take as a sign of success.