Various and Sundry
My riding frequency has increased with the tolerable
weather. It’s not so much the cold, but the sheer amount of snow and ice this
winter were a pain for my commute. Not only are you forced out further on to
the road but there were whole WEEKS when I couldn’t ride. Compared to last
winter, where I was on the road 4 days a week on average, it was abysmal.
Spring riding is at the cusp of ideal. The weather is cool
and crisp, not ridiculous and freezing, and people are generally in good
spirits as the seasons are changing. The long thaw, spring brings renewal. But
it also increases the bike population on the roads. The more of us the better,
the more motorists get used to bikes the less accidents we will have. But the
influx in spring meets a driving population who saw cyclists shrink
significantly in winter. They forgot we were there. So I get honked at much
more in the spring than any other time of year. Then drivers settle in (some
never do, but you get the idea).
I love arriving to work NOT soaked from sweat, I love that
you can dress lightly again on the bike (15c/59F is about t-shirt weather by my
estimation), and this season, since I’ve been on public transit for months, I’m
raring to go.
A few thoughts upon reflection.
1. The Harbord
Lane Proposal
I’ve been reading a lot on the Harbord bike lane proposal,
and I find it challenging. I find the route very safe and well laid out as is.
I can think of dozens of other places where any sort of infrastructure would be
welcome. What we are getting isn’t even separated infrastructure, so I’m
ambivalent there too. So I went out for a ride recently, I rode from Harbord at
Ossington to Wellesly and Parliament to get a feel for how it is with the
existing infrastructure. For someone with my commuting experience, I find it
reasonable, but for a more inexperienced cyclist it is quite hectic, lots of
cars, parked and otherwise, lots of opening doors, pedestrians, other bikes,
etc.
I think what is important about a piece of bike
infrastructure is both visibility and space. You need space on the road that is
designated and separated in some way, and you need to have good sightlines, a
route where there are side roads you don’t notice, obstructions at
intersections, etc. are riskier.
I find Harbord/Wellesly to have good visibility and good
space, and the road is wide enough that there are rarely situations where I’m
obstructing a car. However, as it is busy, there are lots of opportunities for
sudden obstacles, and I’ve been cycle commuting for 5 years, newer cyclists
would find this daunting.
So I would prefer a separated infrastructure in this case
for less experienced riders.
Why does bike infrastructure have to cater to less
experienced riders?
Because experienced riders don’t need infrastructure. They
can ride anywhere. Infrastructure is thus oriented to those who cannot have
that level of performance (e.g. the young, the elderly, those who do not wish
to ride in heavy traffic, etc.). So this means that you should prioritize the
safest infrastructure on the heaviest use routes (heaviest use for bikes that
is). Since Harbord is a heavy use route, it seems sensible to go forward with
some form of separated infrastructure.
2. A Railside
Route?
There was a proposal floating around a few months ago for a
bike route to parallel a rail line going N/S through the middle of the city,
leaning to the West End.
I have marked out the
route here:
I would love to know if anything was done with this, as a somewhat
central N/S route is what is really missing from the cycling toolkit in this
city.
3. Fix Our Roads!
Dear City of Toronto,
please mobilize your street sweepers
en
masse to clear out the piles of dirt that line the gutters
of Toronto
streets. Most of the roads I ride at the moment are free of snow and ice, but
there is literally a pile of dirt (which slows you down and can make you
unstable) on most of them right along my space beside the curb. This is easier
to fix than potholes, and just as important!
4. The Shaw
Contraflow Lane
OK, I’m confused.
They recently placed a contraflow lane on Shaw street. I have commented on the fact
that I don’t like the basic layout of this lane. The bike lane is located
immediately beside cars (no buffer zone, no physical barrier), which is
dangerous. And there are visibility issues at the corners where parked cars
block the sight of oncoming bicycles.
Still, cyclists rode the wrong way on Shaw for years, and
adding a contra-flow lane was the city acknowledging that people were voting
with their pedals, so to speak. Obviously a lot of cyclists disliked their
options on Ossignton and Christie, and this is a compromise to address this
dislike. Although I dislike the idea of riding the wrong way on a one way
street, I do acknowledge that getting change and new infrastructure for bikes
in this city takes forever, so riding the wrong way to “protest” the lack of
infrastructure isn’t beyond the pale.
So I get the addition of the lane.
However, having had a few weeks to live with the new lane, I
have discovered something; many cyclists are riding the wrong way in the
contraflow lane. Rather than riding on the West side of the street they switch
to the east side contraflow lane and ride against oncoming bike traffic.
I have to say, I don’t get this.
It could simply be that they want a bike lane, any bike
lane, rather than riding on the road. But the contraflow lane is CLEARLY marked
as Northbound, and the sharrows opposite it are CLEARLY marked as Southbound.
So I’m finding this hard to justify.
Added to it, I have seen a few near misses
with bikes riding both directions in the contra-flow lane, as it is not wide
enough for two bikes. Add to this that when bikes are going in both directions
(e.g. in the lane going North and in the sharrows going South) there is not
enough room for a car in between. I have seen a few altercations already,
honking motorists and frustrated cyclists.
I’m curious as to why cyclists are using the lane this way,
any observations would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Ian
