Quote:
Originally Posted by BCPhil
I agree, but I agree with wrenegade: there are better locations for the bike lanes.
There haven't been any new car lanes added to the city, while there has been countless new underground parking spots added in the city. Yet the city seems intent on taking away lanes from the major arterial streets in favor of keeping redundant parking stalls on other side streets. If I had the choice, I would much rather cycle on Helmken or Robson than Smithe or Nelson.
Robson is a good choice as without the through road at Howe, it will decrease traffic, yet still provide a through route for bikes. Robson is also also where I imagine a lot of cyclists want to go. Nelson and Smithe have long been designated arterial, so there isn't a lot of interesting businesses located on them. Without the bike lanes, there is actually no reason you would WANT to cycle on Nelson or Smithe.
It's not pleasant walking around downtown now, and crossing Nelson at any street east of Granville with cars stopped constantly in the intersection and blocking crosswalks is horrible. It is even slowing down buses on Granville.
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I drove in this morning with my wife and discussed what would be the best route for her to ride to work (she works at the Royal Centre). She asked if she should use the new Smithe bike lane up to Hornby and then go down to Dunsmuir and then in. I told her no, it's probably a lot nicer of a route to turn at Beatty and then go directly to Dunsmuir and over. While Beatty isn't fully separated, you'd have a hard time saying Smithe is either. There is a break at each lane to provide access in and out in addition to right turn lanes at Beatty, Cambie, Hamilton, Homer and Seymour. It only
doesn't mix with traffic at Richards (obviously as it's a one way street in the other direction). I showed her as we drove up the street with cars darting over there and she agreed it didn't look like a great experience (she is not that comfortable in traffic). In addition to that, we got to Seymour street and then the bike lane ends. "Are you supposed to turn on Seymour and go in with all that traffic?" Good question! I certainly wouldn't want to ride on Seymour. Or, do you continue up Smithe until Hornby, mixing with traffic the whole way? I don't know. But doesn't it seem like a pretty stupid idea to build a so-called "AAA" bike lane and then abruptly end it at a major cross street? Just one more reason why this bike lane should be on Robson, via the recently upgraded Beatty bike lane.
At least the Nelson one makes a little more sense with the Bike lane beginning at Richards where it comes off of a street with a recently upgraded bike lane, and connects at the south end to the Beatty bike lane. Of course it's much more dangerous with the entrances/exits to Yaletown, but at least it isn't a road to nowhere like Smithe.
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