Dallas Road bike lane

[gab]

Just wondering if TSC plans to provide input on the proposed bike lane along Dallas Road:

https://www.vicnews.com/tag/dallas-road-bike-lanes/

I think a club / group riding perspective could be useful.

[Claire]

The first I heard of this was from a radio DJ on a pop music station last week. Her angle was, "Have you heard they're going to add bike lanes to Dallas Rd? [stifled groan]. But... hey, they promise the number of parking spaces will barely go down!"

... as though no radio listeners would actually receive this information optimistically. So annoying.

[norman marcy]

What happens if they build separate lanes and you want to ride with your group on the road in the morning. Don't you think there will be drivers who are prepared t one hostile. some club input on behalf of the club not just individuals chiming in would be a good idea. I could help if you would like though Mr Farnham and exec crew will have the final say on any correspondence input provided

cheers

[mfarnham]

I'm not up to speed and a bit swamped with other stuff at the moment. But if someone wants to put together a set of club concerns (assuming the city is still in a position to take input on this) I'd be happy to bring it to the Exec for discussion. I often avoid Pandora because I'd rather ride in traffic but don't want to be yelled out for not using the bike lane (don't get me wrong...I'm happy to have the bike lanes for commuters and more timid riders). I could imagine something similar happening on Dallas, depending on how much space is left in the traffic lanes after the bike lanes are installed.

Martin

[EricS]

Don't forget, we are not obliged to ride in the bike lanes just because they are there. Sometimes it is better to ride with the cars. I often ride the bike lanes, and love most of them, but we are still allowed to ride on the road I believe. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Eric

[mfarnham]

I know, but the lane by the park is so nice and wide now that we can turn safely into traffic coming onto Dallas from the park. If it gets narrowed significantly by a bike lane, that loop could become less safe. Also, even the law lets us on the road, that doesn't mean drivers will respect that choice.

Again though, I haven't read up on the details.

Martin

[leftcoaster]

The difficulty with Tripleshot taking a position on bike lanes is that while we are 100% in favour of more/better cycling infrastructure in Victoria, that unanimity ends when it comes to the decisions like the bike lanes on Pandora.

Many of us really, really don't like the bike lanes on Pandora, and soon to be on Fort, then Cook and.... We avoid them whenever possible. It began with Council's initial deception about the cost and went from there.

[barton bourassa]

I am one of the few of us that likes the Pandora bike lanes with the exception that they end at Cook!

I think they work well if we just go slow, smell the bacon, be aware, and take your time! I find this kind of experimentation necessary to see what works and does not. I am not at all to concerned about the cost. We spend an insane amount of money on roads trying to keep gas guzzling, bike smacking, exhaust spewing vehicles idling I mean moving on our roads. So let's stop the insanity and build lots and lots more cycle infrastructure until we have it right!

This is general banter, right? Ok, good!

Barton.

[John D]

Many of us really, really don't like the bike lanes on Pandora, and soon to be on Fort, then Cook and.... We avoid them whenever possible.

Um...data please? Can you at least quantify "Many of us..."? Otherwise all you're offering here is merely hearsay.

J.

[Alan]

I'm in the category of people who absolutely love the bike lanes. In the last few days, for example, even though they aren't finished, I've been sneaking onto the Fort Street bike lanes to get to my office, and it's faster, more efficient, and kinda cool to be zipping against the traffic on Fort street. (I hear you all now saying: "Alan has an office?" yes, above Murchies. Come for a visit.)
I have changed my mind in the last two years, and I am totally looking forward to our city stealing back even more asphalt from cars.
I don't know about Dallas Road, because it's hard to see how that asphalt would be improved with bike lanes, but the lanes proposed for Cook Street? I say ignore the troglodytes who feel that they need to park their SUVs right in front of their favourite coffee shops. Livable cities in the future are all about facilitating even more people riding their bikes for transportation. If I was running for Mayor, I'd attack Lisa Helps for being too timid. My platform would include proposing closing most of Cook Street, Dallas, Government, Belleville, and probably Wharf Street to cars. My campaign slogan is a zinger:
"Want to see Victoria's waterfront? Tough shit, better leave your car at home buddy...!"
Try spending some time in civilized cities like Copenhagen or Amsterdam and you'll see how healthy, clean and quiet it can be to move millions of people everyday in a way that, as a lucky side effect, advances population health.

[EricS]

Sorry Alan. My doctor says I should not ride due to the medicine I am taking for pre-pre-diabetes, so I have to drive my SUV to the coffee shop. Sorry.

Eric

[SteelBuns]

Um...data please? Can you at least quantify "Many of us..."? Otherwise all you're offering here is merely hearsay.

I'm with you John D. Started a poll here.

[Bosie]

Whilst the Dallas bike path may or may not interfere with our regular rides, I feel like any biker should support any new biking infrastructure in the city.

The more people who get on bikes, the better for all of us. The more people on bikes, the more people in cars get used to driving with bikes. The more people advocating for cyclists, the more chance of getting reasonable legislation to protect us.

If we are going to change culture, we need more people in the movement.

So Im strongly in favor of the new bike lanes even if they marginally inconvenience my Friday and Tuesday rides.

[Lister Farrar]

It's definitely worth reading the plans and going to meetings. One i went to had folks with burning torches and pitchforks there about parking. One lone woman with a disability who uses a trike faced them down quite well. Staff and elected officials really really need to see there are other opinions.

I just can't see the argument for preserving parking for cars on such real estate at the expense of actual moving activity. Ogden point and clover point are already completely covered in non-road asphalt.

My vague sense of the plan was a bike track (seems to be the name for a separated facility; but sorry no bankings) is it's going over the new sewer pipe, to the south of Dallas, except where the pipe goes under Dallas because it's too close to the bluffs.

I think it's completely reasonable to have both a bike track to the south for slower and more timid users, and a bike lane on both sides for commuters and fitness. Dallas is already so wide in many places that drivers drift all over it. Defined lanes would also calm traffic.

And I think the Pandora bike track is a great thing, (after I didn't think it would work during the planning). It moves fine, it's faster than the road was before ( 5 minutes faster on my regular 2x /wk commute with kids from oak bay to the downtown.

It may have cost a whole .5 or 1% of the city car budget, but the value of riding through town with other people's kids to the velodrome without white knuckles or cold sweat; priceless.

[Lister Farrar]

A bike lane (a bit wider than the minimum) could go exactly where we ride now, and help drivers to see there's room for both. I think it's worth asking the city to dispense with parking along the west side of circle drive. But maybe after the torches have burned out.

I know, but the lane by the park is so nice and wide now that we can turn safely into traffic coming onto Dallas from the park. If it gets narrowed significantly by a bike lane, that loop could become less safe. Also, even the law lets us on the road, that doesn't mean drivers will respect that choice.

Again though, I haven't read up on the details.

Martin

[JTyre]

I really like Lister's take.

On a quite separate point, it may be worth noting that our vehicles spew about 20 pounds of carbon dioxide per gallon of gas. In pounds of beans that's about 600 cups of Joe. Swapping cars for bikes, where possible, makes sense to me; and bike lanes are a powerful message in that direction.

If you're wondering what emission reductions could mean for the Arctic (and I know you were, ) look here and here and then vote here.

[John D]

From today's TC: Bicycle traffic soars after new Johnson Street Bridge opens

[bikehart]

More details can be found here:
http://www.victoria.ca/EN/main/resident ... as-rd.html

Hugh

[Lister Farrar]

Thanks to Hugh for that.

Maybe a good idea to ask for bike lanes in addition to the track? With a couple of points of Dallas being narrowed to accommodate the track, it's worth thinking through what happens to faster on-street commuter and fitness cyclists. I'm sure it's more than the cost of paint, but it would be minor compared to the pipe and track.

Another point I wonder about: how do they justify any on-street parking in the narrow portion of Dallas between Ogden and Douglas? Or is this addressed by what appears to be parking bays in the former boulevard?