Raise the Hammer

This problem is quite complex. The cycle track on the south side of York as proposed above would make for some extremely hazardous interactions at Queen street and an extra signal phase is not likely to solve the problem. Signal timing is often calibrated to vehicular traffic and often the best timing for cyclists does not align with vehicles (Just look at the current intersection at Hess and Cannon - because of signal timing further back on Cannon westbound cyclist traffic rarely reaches the intersection with a green light to use the 2-stage turn as design - requiring jumping across 3 lanes of traffic or waiting for an extremely long light). In addition to phasing issues, this design approach is abnormal so for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists predicting the behaviour of other modes would be challenging - especially for infrequent users.

Continuing the track on the North side of the eastbound lanes or south side of the westbound lanes is also hazardous. High volumes of car and truck traffic turning left at Queen would have to pass through the cycle track. Even as a confident cyclist that area makes me nervous. At the opposite end integrating traffic flow east/westbound on York beyond Dundurn would be a significant challenge as well.

It would be great to maintain cycling infrastructure on both York and Dundurn, but the best solution may be an alternate route. My suggestion would be divert from Cannon onto Hess following Napier (some intersection required at Queen - but way better than alternative locations), through Victoria Park, Head St, across Dundurn to Hunt Street, a short stretch on Breadalbane and back to the King cycle track. This route limits elevation gain/loss, has reasonable intersections and is useful for local and through cyclist traffic.(https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/43.262778,-79.8899822/43.2625922,-79.8755499/@43.2647766,-79.8838999,15.5z/data=!4m24!4m23!1m20!3m4!1m2!1d-79.8894981!2d43.2626646!3s0x882c9b639415dbdf:0xaccdf855dbcdf627!3m4!1m2!1d-79.8891913!2d43.2634163!3s0x882c9b63bb430171:0xb566e40b4514565b!3m4!1m2!1d-79.8874406!2d43.2633007!3s0x882c9b6310ced43f:0x331e71838f0b6cdc!3m4!1m2!1d-79.8767227!2d43.2607614!3s0x882c9b7f2a06a205:0x673547020105672e!1m0!3e2)

Comment edited by js298902 on 2017-02-01 16:11:09