12th Ave Cycle Track Lane Insanity

[suntan]

Originally posted by speedog

It's overkill, I lived in West Dalhousie in the 80's and have been in and around Northland Mall for decades now and I have never once seen traffic volumes on Northland Drive that would necessitate a 7 lane roadway. Feeder to Crowchild - yeah but 53rd Street and Shag also do that quite well and it's not like Northland has a huge population base spilling directly on to it that can justify a 7 lane roadway. It's overkill but no more so than 4th Street NE north of 64th Ave being a 6-7 lane divided roadway for some of it's portion - I guess they were designed and built that way because of some imagined build-out that they'd be servicing that never really came to be.

It's just how the city designed roads back then. Who the fuck knows what the hell they were smoking. Take a look at Falconridge - what the fuck? Hell Rocky Ridge has a 4 lane road with a median - again WTF?

[Black Gts]

Originally posted by killramos
Just drove it from the Safeway to macleod. Grand total of 11 cyclists I saw in that distance. 4:30 pm

In addition to 3 full gridlocked lanes of car traffic. Conservatively 50 times as many cars as bikes. But only 75% of the lanes.

Oh and a couple of proper jackass purolator drivers who think their hazard lights excuse them from the no stopping signs in the right lane.

Resounding success, this pilot...

Gave a thumbs up and a honk to the fine gentlemen protesting the creation of the lanes!

It's been mentioned I'm sure, but most of the core of no stopping between 330 and 6 anyways, but your business will be ok without package p/u at the end of the day? Side note I was in new York and the lack of alleys and narrow roads didn't stop delivery trucks, everybody just drove nearly rubbing mirrors, used the sidewalk if they had to. I strongly disagree with the cycle track in theory but I they don't affect me in the slightest because I don't a) drive truck downtown b) live in suburbia. But if people all disregard the lines (away from the track) I'm sure another lane could be squeezed in

[Maxt]

The cycle traffic will dwindle downward on 12th.I saw the rallying cry going out yesterday on social media to make sure to ride down 12th as much as possible for the next week, whether it was on your route or not. The cycle lobby knows the public eye will be trained on 12th ave for the next little bit, so they will go out of their way to hit it just to create the illusion of buy in. When they think the idea is sold, they will revert to their old routes.

[clem24]

Originally posted by suntan
It's just how the city designed roads back then. Who the fuck knows what the hell they were smoking. Take a look at Falconridge - what the fuck? Hell Rocky Ridge has a 4 lane road with a median - again WTF?

Hindsight is 20/20. You do what was planned at the time, and you build a road based on a costs and a guess.

[88CRX]

Drove the entire length this morning around 7:45-8:00.... saw 1 bike at the far east end by Cowboys Casino, that was it.

If bikers are going to bike in the winter surely they'll bike in the rain?

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by 88CRX
Drove the entire length this morning around 7:45-8:00.... saw 1 bike at the far east end by Cowboys Casino, that was it.

If bikers are going to bike in the winter surely they'll bike in the rain?

I was thinking the same thing. Today I walked most of the way along the track from 13th street to 1st street and I literally did not see one single bike, and this was before 8AM.

Coming home yesterday I saw 2 bikes on the same route at approximately 4:30.

The same people who don't want to ride in light rain sure as hell won't be riding in -30 and snow.

[benyl]

I'll ride in -30. I but I won't ride in rain. My commute is downhill all the way into work. I don't sweat and therefore don't shower. I pay for it on the way home.

Rain makes me muddy. Fuck that. -30 doesn't make me muddy.

[mazdavirgin]

Maybe bikers are like witches and they melt in the rain?

[suntan]

Originally posted by clem24


Hindsight is 20/20. You do what was planned at the time, and you build a road based on a costs and a guess.

I can't forsee how anybody could think that a road that size needs to be built in a community.

[killramos]

Yea honestly who gets up in the morning, looks outside or at their weather app and then decides how they are getting to work?

Nope no matter the weather ( winter/summer aside ) some people drive, some people take buses, and some people take their bikes 95% of the time.

I bet 50%+ of the people who were using that cycle lane this week weren't even commuting. Or cycle lanes in general for that matter.

[sexualbanana]

A lot of people were using the bike lanes on the weekend even before it was open. But that's not rush hour, so it has very little relevance to the topic. Just thought I'd point it out.

[rage2]

Originally posted by suntan
I can't forsee how anybody could think that a road that size needs to be built in a community.

If we're still talking about Rocky Ridge, that road used to be a feeder off Crowchild Trail, until they closed it. Now it's just 4 lanes with very little traffic.

Here's another hilarious one, it's a 4 lane split by a median bike path that dead ends and has zero traffic.

https://goo.gl/maps/Va88e

This was supposed to actually connect back to Sarcee Trail SW at one point in the design.

[benyl]

Originally posted by killramos
Yea honestly who gets up in the morning, looks outside or at their weather app and then decides how they are getting to work?

Nope no matter the weather ( winter/summer aside ) some people drive, some people take buses, and some people take their bikes 95% of the time.

I do. I know a lot of people who bike to work in my office that do the same. I know people on beyond who walk if it is nice or use car2go if it isn't. I think that people are more fluid than you think.

In fact, traffic was much heavier this morning and I think a lot people drove in instead of biking / transit because of the weather.

Originally posted by rage2

If we're still talking about Rocky Ridge, that road used to be a feeder off Crowchild Trail, until they closed it. Now it's just 4 lanes with very little traffic.

I was super pissed when they closed it when I lived in Royal Oak. Country Hills BLVD has to be the worst road in the city.

[Moonracer]

Originally posted by killramos
Yea honestly who gets up in the morning, looks outside or at their weather app and then decides how they are getting to work?

Nope no matter the weather ( winter/summer aside ) some people drive, some people take buses, and some people take their bikes 95% of the time.

I bet 50%+ of the people who were using that cycle lane this week weren't even commuting. Or cycle lanes in general for that matter.

Originally posted by benyl


I do. I know a lot of people who bike to work in my office that do the same. I know people on beyond who walk if it is nice or use car2go if it isn't. I think that people are more fluid than you think.

In fact, traffic was much heavier this morning and I think a lot people drove in instead of biking / transit because of the weather.

even when it comes to pedestrians. On nice weather days I see lots of people walking to work but on a day like today.....next to nobody. Guess we should take away the sidewalks because they don't get used when the weather isn't good.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by killramos
Yea honestly who gets up in the morning, looks outside or at their weather app and then decides how they are getting to work?

I look out the window and at a weather app every single morning, but it mostly determines what I wear, not how I get to work, since I will always just walk. If it's mind-blowingly bad outside, I will try to get a Car2Go or Cab, but that happens maybe 2 times a year. I also know that my dad does the same, and either decides to take his motorcycle, car, or the bus depending on weather any given day. In fact most people I know do this, and decide between walking, driving, or the bus/train each morning.

Originally posted by Moonracer


even when it comes to pedestrians. On nice weather days I see lots of people walking to work but on a day like today.....next to nobody. Guess we should take away the sidewalks because they don't get used when the weather isn't good.

That doesn't match my experience, but I can only speak for one time slot each day. I saw the usual amount of traffic on the sidewalks walking in today They might duck into a +15 a bit earlier when they reach the edge of the core, but that's about it. The only difference was more people had jackets and umbrellas. That never seems to change much. I've been walking into work every day for 6 years and I've never noticed a significant difference in foot traffic with weather. There is always a bunch of people walking toward the core at the same times as me, at least on my usual routes (down 12th and either up 11th, 8th, 5th, or 1st into the core)

[rage2]

Originally posted by killramos
Yea honestly who gets up in the morning, looks outside or at their weather app and then decides how they are getting to work?

Originally posted by benyl
I do. I know a lot of people who bike to work in my office that do the same. I know people on beyond who walk if it is nice or use car2go if it isn't. I think that people are more fluid than you think.

On the more extreme end, I look at the weather app then decide on what car I'm going to drive to work.

But yea, when I was biking regularly, I'd check the weather to make sure it's not raining in the afternoon before I'd take my bike.

[speedog]

Originally posted by benyl
I was super pissed when they closed it when I lived in Royal Oak. Country Hills BLVD has to be the worst road in the city.

Have to disagree on this as there's still some unpaved roads in this city including some residential roads.

[killramos]

To me it really ruins the cost-benefit of using transit or biking to change it up day to day.

Most parking is monthly, no way I'm going to keep paying that if I bike 20%+ a day. Transit is cheapest with a pass. But I'm not going to pay 100 bucks a month if I'm riding frequently anyways.

Thats just the way i see it i guess.

[blitz]

Originally posted by killramos
To me it really ruins the cost-benefit of using transit or biking to change it up day to day.

Most parking is monthly, no way I'm going to keep paying that if I bike 20%+ a day. Transit is cheapest with a pass. But I'm not going to pay 100 bucks a month if I'm riding frequently anyways.

Thats just the way i see it i guess.

I hate biking in the rain, but I'll bike in the snow.

I wake up, look out the window and decided if I'm going to bike or not. It's pretty simple really. If I drive, they have this thing called a 'day rate' meaning I can pay a certain 'rate' and only park for one 'day'

It's not a money thing for everyone, I do it for exercise.

[mazdavirgin]

A cabbie was making good use of the cycle path this morning. He was parked in the cycle path with his hazards on waiting to pick up his fare.