Raise the Hammer

Also, the pavement markings at Sherman are borderline useless. Why can't we just do what every other city on the planet does and have green markings through intersections and conflict zones? Why must we remain the Ambitious City in reverse- taking simple ideas from around the planet and watering them down to their most useless possible state. Also, no connections at York and Dundurn and York and Hess.

It's not rocket science people. Every intersection and commercial driveway crossing deserves the safest treatment.

http://bikewaysforeveryone.org/files/bik...

http://familyride.files.wordpress.com/20...

A dotted green line would have been enough to remind drivers that something happens here. I swear, the use of green pavement markings makes no sense. I mean, the monstrous mess of green paint for people going Southbound on Hess... and nowhere else? What?

Also, the stadium precinct plans called for Cannon to be painted like Dundurn with parking on one side and bike lanes both ways. This can be done the entire length of Cannon eastward starting at Sherman as residents are used to having parking on one side. Centre turning lanes are among the biggest wastes of road space possible on such a quiet street.

Just wondering if and how we can create the kind of community mobilization seen in Yes We Cannon but for the B-line LRT project. Are we learning from successes? What needs to happen and what can be done better?

Funny how they thought about the crossing at Hess. There's that little green box to wait at to cross the road to switch to the right-side lane that runs up York. So they thought about one of the breaks.

But every other intersection where the layout of the bike-lane changes? Nothing. So many sad little gaps. No connection to Victoria's bike lane, no connection to Dundurn's bike-lane, etc.

Are there any standards for road markings like these set out in the Highway Traffic Act or any other similar legislation?

Hi Charles; There are standards in the Ontario Traffic Council's Ontario Traffic Manual Book 18, which is the guideline for cycling infrastructure design in Ontario that was released last year. In the section regarding intersection treatments, it does list a continuum of treatments ranging from "no markings" to full length, high-visibility paint through the intersections. Given the traffic speeds and the number of turning movements, we were hopeful that the City would choose to go with best practices, but instead the exact opposite occured, and the intersections became the one part of an otherwise world-class piece of infrastructure that did not meet or exceed expected standards.

When we had our meetings with City Staff when the designs were being put into place, I told staff that the intersection markings were ABSOLUTELY VITAL to this project. Those intersections where Cannon meets a grossly overbuilt 4-lane one way southbound road were the ones that gave me nightmares - just so much opportunity for conflict, and the pavement markings were a simple way to remind drivers to look before they make their left-hand turn. In the original design, the markings through the intersections basically looked like closer together sharrows - chevrons going through the intersection. It was a compromise, but one that we, as Yes We Cannon representatives, accepted in order to see the project come to fruition. At no time did we ever agree that the pavement marking should be removed from the design, nor would we have ever suggested that. We weren't consulted when they were removed from the design, and we've been asking about them since the lanes were installed because we feel that they're a vital piece to keep cyclists visible in the places where they are the most vulnerable. Staff and the consultants have been great during this entire process, but this is a sore spot, and one that needs to be rectified and brought up to a standard that is higher than the absolute bare minimum. We owe cyclists, and drivers, better than that on Cannon.

It feels as if the bike lanes by the stadium are placed there only for a photoshoot.. "Look at our ambitious city, look at our amazing new stadium with bike lanes near it"

Just sad.

Thats literally what I was thinking when I first saw them, since they serve absolutely no sensible purpose. I am beyond sick and tired of these half-ass jobs from the city. It affects bike lanes, transit improvements, new signalized crossings. Virtually everything that doesn't have to do with constructing new roads. If you're not even going to do it right the first time, don't bother. This is a colossal waste of manpower and tax dollars.

We need to do a serious audit at whatever department is responsible for the design and implementation of these bike lanes because clearly, they have no clue what they're doing.

Comment edited by MattM on 2014-11-12 20:20:19

clearly not the same person who won awards for the flying squirrel poles and elevated viaduct in the Red Hill Expressway. Apparently we know how to design car infrastructure like geniuses....not much else.

Gage south of Cannon to Lawrence would be a perfect candidate to connect more cycling routes. Lawrence has bike lanes (albeit ones in very poor shape), but I wouldn't take very much to connect Lawrence and Gage to Cannon with minimal loss of driving lanes. They would have to re-do the lousy pedestrian crossing at Gage park, but that is its own disaster.

Similarly, a route along Cumberland would provide an alternative to the escarpment rail trail since it's impossible to legally get onto it between Kenilworth and Wentworth. These could also hook around on Wentworth and connect to the Stinson bike lanes.

Cumberland would be a great Greenway. Low speed limit, bike sharrows and speed humps. Dynamite connection.

I use Cumberland all the time and it's a great route for riding. So great that after riding the Cannon Street cycle lanes 3 times, I gave up on them and have gone back to Cumberland.

In this area, Cannon Street has four car lanes with no car parking. Here is a look at how more civilized places use the exact same amount of space.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAL4yr92...

I recommend taking a look at the same street and moving the point of view up and down the street. This could be Cannon...

They did it. We can too!

Comment edited by KevinLove on 2014-11-12 21:54:11

great stuff.

Considering all the access points, driveways and cross streets on Cannon, I see it more like this:

http://urbancommuter.files.wordpress.com...

Bike lanes at sidewalk level on both sides of Cannon - basically this is achieved simply by extending the sidewalk 5 feet on both sides. Parking at street level on one-side, and 1 car lane each direction. Viola.

This should be the way of the future when rebuilding roads, such as the butcher job we just did on West 5th by Mohawk College. They expropriated land, widened the road and simply created massive, luxury lanes for cars to encourage speeding. No bike lanes. They could have poured sidewalks 5 feet wider on both sides and added 'raised bike lanes' when rebuilding the street.

Let's tell staff to pretend that bikes are cars. Then we'd get somewhere.

Good point! Yes, the driveways are an issue on Cannon and elsewhere.

The Cannon protected cycle path actually does a fairly good job of following the three basic rules of:

1. Driveways may not interrupt the cycle path.
2. Driveways may not change the level of the cycle path.
3. Driveways may not have right of way over the cycle path.

The big problem is places, such as east of Ferguson, where accommodating driveways has resulted in too large a gap in the protective barriers.

Here is a video showing the proper way of dealing with driveways:

http://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2011/0...

I would think making a bike path continuing around the stadium would relieve the chaotic game day traffic and leave more safe room for the hords of fans walking around!

Never ride your bike on Cannon on game day. I can guarantee the bike lane will be completely blocked by vehicles - cars & buses.

How about this for Cannon Street. http://www.boredpanda.com/van-gogh-starr... (Would have to turn the lights off though)

Turning the lighst off on Cannon isn't really an option, but the city has many unlit paths that could use this treatment - various rail-trails and parks that carry substantial foot and cycle traffic in the these early November evenings.

Actually this is pretty cool I wonder how loud a road like this would be and how it would handle a heavy dumping of snow in freezing conditions. Would plows rip the panels out?