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  #61  
Old Posted Aug 7, 2010, 2:45 PM
JustinMacD JustinMacD is offline
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Originally Posted by Dmajackson View Post
Well its official motoroists are not only idiots but also indifferent to the well-being of cyclists.

I won't go into detail (or a rant) about the incident right now since I am still very shoken up about it so I just experienced an almost fatal hit-and-run collision in the form of a right-hook at the corner of the Bedford Highway and Dartmouth Road.

If I had reacted even one second later (or travelled one foot further) I would currently be in the morgue.
Jesus...

This narrow minded attitude drives me crazy. I was looking at a thread on a guy's adventures in Copenhagen and the first thing that stuck out was the amount of bikes.

It's a cultural difference. Too many narrow minded people who are unwilling to change over here. I think that this will change over the next 20-25 years as more immigrants come here.
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  #62  
Old Posted Aug 7, 2010, 5:14 PM
fenwick16 fenwick16 is offline
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Over 20 years ago I started various ways to stay fit. One was riding a bike from the west end of Hamilton to the east end of Burlington, Ontario (about a 1 hour ride for me). I stayed on city streets, but even so I had one car that I only narrowly avoided by making a sharp 90° turn and there were numerous large trucks that drove past me with just a couple feet to spare. After a few months, I gave it up because my nerves were so frayed by having constant narrow misses (or what I perceived to be narrow misses). So I can sympathize with people on bikes. Prior to riding a bike from Hamilton to Burlington, I had also been in Japan for a couple years and I rode a bike there daily; in Japan it was a completely different experience - it was actually relaxing instead of nerve racking.
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  #63  
Old Posted Aug 7, 2010, 5:18 PM
worldlyhaligonian worldlyhaligonian is offline
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Its not completely cultural... our street layout isn't suited to biking. Plain and simple. Amsterdam has biking lanes INSIDE of the sidewalks... it goes cars, trams, sidewalks, bikepaths... so there is no bikers screwing with pedestrians and both are more safe from trams and cars.

All these lines they put in are a joke... I'm not getting killed by some guy in an SUV going way to fast.
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  #64  
Old Posted Aug 7, 2010, 5:35 PM
fenwick16 fenwick16 is offline
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Another problem with riding on the street are people opening car doors. Although it hasn't happened to me, I have heard of first hand experiences and accidents in the Toronto area newspapers involving bicycles hitting car doors that open in their way.
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  #65  
Old Posted Aug 7, 2010, 8:07 PM
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Originally Posted by fenwick16 View Post
Over 20 years ago I started various ways to stay fit. One was riding a bike from the west end of Hamilton to the east end of Burlington, Ontario (about a 1 hour ride for me). I stayed on city streets, but even so I had one car that I only narrowly avoided by making a sharp 90° turn and there were numerous large trucks that drove past me with just a couple feet to spare. After a few months, I gave it up because my nerves were so frayed by having constant narrow misses (or what I perceived to be narrow misses). So I can sympathize with people on bikes. Prior to riding a bike from Hamilton to Burlington, I had also been in Japan for a couple years and I rode a bike there daily; in Japan it was a completely different experience - it was actually relaxing instead of nerve racking.
Here my side mirror gets clipped every so often from people unwilling to give me more than a few centimetres of personal space.

Of course I may make it seem like every motorist is bad but unfortunately in reality the bad drivers tend to out number the safe (and generous) drivers.

I usually avoid the Bedford Highway where Shore Drive runs parallel to it (Meadowbrook-Fish Hatchery) but last night I was heading to the grocery store which has few if any safer options than driving down the highway.

Quote:
Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian View Post
Its not completely cultural... our street layout isn't suited to biking. Plain and simple. Amsterdam has biking lanes INSIDE of the sidewalks... it goes cars, trams, sidewalks, bikepaths... so there is no bikers screwing with pedestrians and both are more safe from trams and cars.

All these lines they put in are a joke... I'm not getting killed by some guy in an SUV going way to fast.
I'm not a big fan of our so-called bicycle lanes either but it should be noted that most of my close calls are outside of the areas with bike lanes.

What I have been pushing for the southern section of the Bedford Highway in Bedford (Southgate and south) is two-traffic lanes (three if theres space in the ROW), then a narrow median for streetlights and signs, then a bike lane (wide enough for two bicycles ride side-by-side) on each side with a sidewalk and if possible space for street trees. So it'd be something like this;

sidewalk | trees | bicycle | median | traffic | traffic | traffic | median | bicycle | trees | sidewalk

Even just adding a turning lane would eliminate one of the biggest safety issues. When a car is making a left-turn traffic behind it will commonly go around it on the righthand side in the bicycle lane. A lot of motorists don't look behind them prior to doing this and close calls can result as cyclists can't predict when a car is going to drift into their lane. The only two possible solutions are installing a turning lane or put a median between the cyclist and vehicular traffic.

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Originally Posted by fenwick16 View Post
Another problem with riding on the street are people opening car doors. Although it hasn't happened to me, I have heard of first hand experiences and accidents in the Toronto area newspapers involving bicycles hitting car doors that open in their way.
I haven't experienced that problem either however I have heard of it happening before. The Bedford Highway has few legal parking spaces so the chances of a being "doored" are low most of the time.
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  #66  
Old Posted Aug 14, 2010, 12:19 AM
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As a result of increased numbers of close-calls, general lack of determination on HRM's part and some stories I've heard I am writing a petition advocating for improved cycling infastructure in Bedford. I have support from at least one councillor and I am working on local cycling-related businesses/organizations. I am still working on the wording however it is asking for active, ongoing bicycle lane installation, equal treatment funding and support-wise as vehicular and pedestrian improvements, consultations with the public and associations regarding safety issues and general concerns, and promotion of cycling rights and responsibilities to all road users.

I'll be collecting singatures on the street and hopefully through organiztions and businesses over the next two/three weeks. If any forum readers or posters have questions about the petition or if you live in in the area and wish to sign it you can private message me here at SSP or you can email me at dmajackson@hotmail.com
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  #67  
Old Posted Aug 14, 2010, 12:28 AM
worldlyhaligonian worldlyhaligonian is offline
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Sounds pretty good... I think the bike lanes should always be inside the sidewalk or have the median like in montreal.





I think Halifax should start doing this whenever new sidewalks are put in.
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  #68  
Old Posted Aug 14, 2010, 2:16 AM
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The Montreal system is a good indication that climate shouldn't be a big problem in Halifax - in reality the climate there is similar to many places in Northern Europe and elsewhere where bikes are really popular. People aren't going to bike when there are giant snowstorms but it's also hard driving around in those conditions.

I bike year-round in Vancouver and in the winter here it's single digits. Really only Jan and Feb are significantly colder and in Halifax there are more sunny days.

I agree that there should be dedicated, separated paths. There don't have to be a huge number of these but they have to form a coherent system. The cost of implementing this in terms of money spent and space taken away from other modes of transportation is very small.
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  #69  
Old Posted Aug 15, 2010, 1:59 AM
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^I like the Motreal system for bicycles as well.

Just an update on the petition;

I've been emailing government and organization members non-stop for a while now and the reaction appears to be very supportive of the petition. I'm still awaiting response from some others before hitting the streets.
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  #70  
Old Posted Aug 17, 2010, 4:27 PM
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So the petition idea I had seems to be a no go since businesses and organizations that are supposed to be advocating for cyclists prefer to ignore people trying to help out the community.

Its now a fact one person cannot make a change in HRM because everyone here are just stubborn dumbasses.

All I can do now is finish my bike count and wait for the next bike fatality before having any hope of receiving help. I hate to say it but there's a good chance the next fatality will be me.
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  #71  
Old Posted Aug 22, 2010, 11:01 PM
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In addition to the petition and count I've begun a map of what I think the cycling layout should be like in Bedford. I'm still working on it but I have some of it completed;

Bedford Cycling Map
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  #72  
Old Posted Sep 3, 2010, 1:10 AM
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200 signatures and counting.

There isn't an online edition right now but theres also an article on my work in the Bedford-Sackville Community News.
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  #73  
Old Posted Sep 3, 2010, 3:39 AM
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Found the article

Bedford streets unsafe for cyclists: resident

David Jackson had several close calls and one minor run-in with a vehicle while on his bike this summer.

According to his research, he’s not the only one.

The Bedford resident has spent the last few weeks surveying the busiest bike routes in his community and speaking to pedestrians, fellow cyclists, and motorists. He’s also encouraging people to sign a petition calling for cycling-related improvements in Bedford.

“I’ve had a few close calls over the past four years cycling in Bedford, but over the past summer I’ve had more close calls than usual,” Jackson said. “I actually had one accident in front of the Chickenburger. A lady behind me in a car floored it and tried to make a right turn in front of me when I was in the ramp and I hit the back bumper of her car.”

The motorist didn’t stop, and Jackson was shaken up but otherwise uninjured. But he has spoken to local cyclists who’ve had more serious accidents. Stories of broken shoulders, arms, legs and ankles were all shared with him by fellow cyclists. One woman told him she’s actually moving away from Bedford to Montreal because she enjoys biking to work and finds it almost impossible.

Although there are bike lanes on parts of the Bedford Highway, Jackson said many cyclists find it inadequate.

Jackson has spent many hours and days surveying 12 different roadways in his community.

“Only one location had no cyclists at all in one hour, and that was on the Hammonds Plains Road at the RIM entrance,” he said.

“There are bike lanes there, but they don’t go anywhere.”

He estimates about 300 to 500 cyclists regularly travel in and around Bedford. He spent hours surveying the Bedford Highway-Hammonds Plains intersection in the early evening and has counted about 21 cyclists an hour on average.

In addition to keeping track of cyclist and vehicle behaviour, he’s been speaking with passersby. He identified several areas that seem most dangerous for cyclists.

Where the Bedford Highway meets Hammonds Plains Road, Jackson watched cars go in and out of the bike lane as though it didn’t exist. He said he has yet to see any enforcement.

The Bedford Highway-Glenmont section has frequent left-turn problems, and the bike lanes around Clearwater aren’t painted through the parking lot. He said the Chickenburger and Dartmouth Road intersection is also quite dangerous and is the site of many near misses.

“I’d like the six major roads in Bedford to have bike lanes all the way through, not stopping anywhere, and to have off road routes connecting to each other,” he said. “People are also telling me they’d like to see a trail going along the water from Halifax into the waterfront area in Bedford to the Bedford-Sackville connector.”

He also thinks “share the road” signs could be helpful.

To sign the petition, visit Sportswheels on Sackville Drive or Bicycles Plus on the Bedford Highway by the end of this weekend. Jackson can also be reached at dmajackson@hotmail.com.


ydentremont@hfxnews.ca
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  #74  
Old Posted Sep 3, 2010, 3:57 AM
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Good exposure. great work!! I need to drive my aunt to the airport Sunday so I'll pop by Sportswheels on the way to sign the petition.
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  #75  
Old Posted Sep 3, 2010, 4:15 AM
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Good exposure. great work!! I need to drive my aunt to the airport Sunday so I'll pop by Sportswheels on the way to sign the petition.
Thanks, Alps.

Just to correct something in the story the petition will now be available to sign at the above locations until the end of next week (Friday or Saturday probably).
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  #76  
Old Posted Sep 3, 2010, 5:22 AM
halifaxboyns halifaxboyns is offline
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Excellent work!
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  #77  
Old Posted Sep 5, 2010, 11:32 PM
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I popped by Sportswheels earlier, but they had misplaced the petition. I told them I'd try again later (sometime before the end of the week) since they were closing up and I didn't want to keep them.
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  #78  
Old Posted Sep 5, 2010, 11:42 PM
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Dmajackson Dmajackson is offline
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I popped by Sportswheels earlier, but they had misplaced the petition. I told them I'd try again later (sometime before the end of the week) since they were closing up and I didn't want to keep them.
Bicycles Plus did the same thing so I don't think I'll be getting to many signatures out of the stores.

If they're open tomorrow I'll pop in before I leave for the Valley and see if they need more sheets.

Thanks for trying to sign it though.
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  #79  
Old Posted Sep 15, 2010, 4:03 AM
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Final update:

The petition has now been handed over to the municipality. I'm unsure of the exact number but 220 would be a safe guess.

Thanks to anyone who signed (or tried) to sign the petition. And also to anyone who expressed support but because of geographical problems couldn't sign it.
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  #80  
Old Posted Sep 15, 2010, 5:06 AM
worldlyhaligonian worldlyhaligonian is offline
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Final update:

The petition has now been handed over to the municipality. I'm unsure of the exact number but 220 would be a safe guess.

Thanks to anyone who signed (or tried) to sign the petition. And also to anyone who expressed support but because of geographical problems couldn't sign it.
Sorry I couldn't be there to sign it... congrats on the good work!

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