Advocacy & Safety - Vancouver vs. Portland

Saw this (http://thetyee.ca/News/2009/08/04/PortlandsBicycle/) linked on an advocacy groups list.

Thought it was interesting because there's a fundamental difference in the way both cities have encouraged cycling.

"As opposed to making un-bike-able streets bike-able, Vancouver took their semi-bike-able streets and made them more bike-able."

Personally, I love what Vancouver did. Before these side streets were made more bike friendly, I was quite skeptical of their success, but once I rode them after they were made more bike-able, I was impressed.

I live in a suburb of Vancouver where a new bike lane has been installed on the main street. I'm told it is a first for an arterial road in Metro Vancouver. It is part of a redevelopment of the street that is having an elevated bike lane installed and it's good to see this space set aside for cycling. I very much doubt that this space would have been set aside for bicycles had it not been for this development.

It seems to be more like what they did in Portland.

http://www.richmond.ca/__shared/assets/2007-10-3RdVisionShortTermVision18666.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3545/3799664294_b9a14f480d_o.jpg

check out how much room they give peds (tons)_______________________and how much room they give cyclists (4 1/2 feet)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2437/3800647846_b0bd1d34e6.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2510/3800647828_349c69402c.jpg

It will be interesting to see the impact will be.

I found a youtube video where a cyclist filmed riding down the lane and then goes back up the other side of the (very narrow) road that doesn't have a bike lane

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOm573pDaJU

there's a related video going over the Canada Line bridge (close to the end of #3 road)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmK7ffqRpw4&feature=related

That gutter thing separating the lanes looks like could cause a wreck - certainly is already collecting debris. Yuck. Do cyclists give input into such designs? They should.

Note 0:00, ~0:15. 0:24, etc. into the first video. There are intersections hidden behind the elevated road columns. No cyclist with any sense should be in the bike lane with line of sight blocked.

Note 0:00, ~0:15. 0:24, etc. into the first video. There are intersections hidden behind the elevated road columns. No cyclist with any sense should be in the bike lane with line of sight blocked.

Also lots of places for peds, dogs, and other cyclists to jump out into the bike lane from behind the columns.

It isn't completely finished yet but of some note in the video is the lack of cars on the road.

This was filmed in the morning on a weekend. Normally it's very busy on this stretch. The rider would never make headway on the side of the road that has no bike lane because it's almost always bumper to bumper at a standstill.

I've been told Portland has a raised bike lane in the city center area that is similar to this one.

Can any Portlanders vouch for that?

Albeit I have only ridden in both cities once, I found both Vancouver and Portland to be pretty good for cyclists, at least compared with what I have here in San Diego. Seattle was pretty good as well. I was able to go from Everett, WA to Tacoma, WA, along either bike path, bike lane, or a rather quirky HOV/bus lane. My experiences were good in all the cities. Better signage along some of the paths in ALL the cities would be helpful though. The Interurban Trail needed better signage in the gaps, the Springwater Corridor had some crossings that were tough to deal with (some cars stopping for me as though I was a pedestrian, others not stopping). I did appreciate the buttons at signals in Vancouver and Portland to cross major roads.

Just an example, here in San Diego on Fairmount Ave, a major roadway, there is a bike lane, but at a point where there is a free-right turn, there is a sign telling BICYCLES to watch for turning cars, yet in Portland at a similar location, there is a sign telling CARS to YIELD to bicycles.

I've been told Portland has a raised bike lane in the city center area that is similar to this one.

Can any Portlanders vouch for that?

negative, it may be on its way, but it ain't here yet...

Hmmm. I'm going to have to find out who led me astray.

I found out.

It wasn't Portland, it was Eugene

http://www.bclocalnews.com/richmond_southdelta/richmondreview/news/52104992.html

Richmond isn't used to being compared to Europe. But Lulu Island now has something in common with cities a world away: raised bike lanes....

City planners attempted to mirror an experiment by the City of Eugene, Ore., which built raised bike lanes on a single road in 2002...

A southbound bike lane will only be built on No. 3 Road north if redevelopment triggers it. And the northbound lane has slight slope imperfections—due to crews spreading the asphalt by hand because the contractor's machines wouldn't fit on the narrow lane...

The raised lanes also require new maintenance techniques... city crews have conducted maintenance trials and discovered city street sweepers can travel on the bike lane, but two passes will be needed to sweep up the debris...

Cyclist and city centre resident Gary Cross isn't fond of the design. Not only is it a rough surface, he said, but drivers making right turns might be unaware they'll be crossing through a bike lane—and potentially into the path of a cyclist...

Pamer acknowledges he's seen a Coast Mountain bus drive onto the bike lane and the addition of bus shelters and more Canada Line traffic might pose a problem. But he's waiting for the road to be complete before passing judgment: "That will reveal whether the design is as good as I think it is."

As for the irregularities in the paving, the city recently reviewed the lanes and is satisfied with the work...

since Eugene's experiment seven years ago, the Oregon city hasn't built any new more of them...

"The finished product did not fully meet city specifications and the surface smoothness for ride-ability was less than desired,"

"The experience with all the controversy during and after, I would say most engineers and planners would shy away from trying it again anytime soon."