degnaw

It's open? I didn't notice a thread on it?

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ0i-At1zws

B. Carfree

OMG, what a disaster. The bollards won't stop cars since they are the plastic bendables, but they will crash bikes. The path is far too narrow, especially considering the constant grade changes, gutters, drains and those damned planter boxes. Cyclists regularly have about six inches of track in which to keep their tires which is particularly problematic at the intersections. I want to see the video of two bikes with full-sized trailers crossing paths. I loved that several cars did just what one would predict: they pulled into/across the path and stopped. It also looks like the engineers put unnecessary and narrow curves in the path to slow everyone down to the speed of grandma. The only way to ride that infernal abomination is to use 50 mm tires and go at a jogging speed or less, like the person with the helmet cam did. I think I would just give up and get a car if I had to ride that slowly. I guess to make left turns you have to behave like a pedestrian, since there is no effective way in/out of these things.

They actually could have made this thing workable. It needs to be at least two feet wider (preferably much more) with a continuous grade and no rigid obstacles along the edges. If that was the case, then I could accept the other defects.

closetbiker

The same guy posted a video of the Dunsmuir bike lane


here's a video of the lane on the Burrard St Bridge


and the Georgia St. Viaduct


and a map of the downtown area

ro-monster

It is kind of narrow but I'd happily use it in preference to wrangling with cars. But the thing that most amazed me was how little car traffic there was downtown at 9:15 on a Friday morning.

Forknroad

That's because everyone's already busy at work.

closetbiker

Hornby isn't a major N/S street downtown. The 2 streets on either side of it are. That's one of the reasons Hornby was chosen for the lane.

detroitjim

Clearly its not perfect but , it appears to be an improvement comparing it to a before video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE0Az3gkjbw&feature=fvwk

So now, if someone has decided not to use the separated lane while cycling does that mean that their liability increases ? (ie a pedestrian walking in the street v. using the sidewalk)

Also, are there ordinances that cyclists must use the separated lane if one is provided?

Bekologist

likely a boon to ridership and rider safety in Vancouver.

closetbiker

The expectations are for more people cycling.

Routes along the BSB, GV, and Dunsmuir have seen dramatic rises in cyclists but some of those riders may have simply changed their routes from other streets. An overall count of the entire area that will be coming will give a more accurate picture.

I'd imagine the Hornby lane is just going to increase the riders on these routes to an even greater degree because of the greater access to the whole downtown core within protected lanes.

As for reducing the amount of collisions between MVs and bikes, we'll see about that too. As it is, the downtown core has only seen about 80 of these a year. There could be a reduction, but it'll be interesting to see just how many there will be, or if there will be any.

The thing I like most about these lanes is that it shows cyclists are being considered by city hall. It's not just about the car. In this instance, road space has been taken away from the car.

mikeybikes

My only real problem is the lane should've been a couple feet wider. Apart from that, not bad.

Forknroad

While that would be nice, you can see from the video that it wouldn't be possible as there's no more room (bear in mind that this is an experimental route -- so permanent changes cannot really be implemented currently). I'm really happy that the Hornby Street route is now there -- it's WAY better than it was previously. I ride in Vancouver quite frequently and can attest that it's much much better than it was 20 years ago. Not saying that there's still not room for improvement, only that we should be grateful for the huge steps that have been taken to date. It's all moving in the right direction and people are using it. I'm sure that as the usage of these facilities increases, so will the rebuilding of existing infrastructures. Makes me proud to live here.

unterhausen

it seems to me that there is a lot of wasted space on that street. The planters in particular look scary, since they are on the downhill side. Not all cyclists climb in a straight line, it could be a real problem coming down that hill

conspiratemus1

I don't get it. Why not just ride in the street? The videographer seemed to be making better time in the "before" video, and he didn't have to deal with clutter from arbitrary barriers and erratic counter-flow cyclists coming toward him. His "smoothness" (integration with the rest of the traffic flow) in the "after" video actually improved when he detoured onto the street to get around last-minute construction in the bike lane. At 3:50 the pickup truck comes up from behind while he is stopped and makes a nice smooth right turn from the right lane while the cyclist goes straight in the centre lane. Neither of them fouls the other and there's no need for special signals.

Is the real appeal of the bike lane that cyclists (only, not cars) can now ride in both directions on Hornby and that pavement is being "taken away from cars" regardless of whether it is good for cyclists?

closetbiker

The appeal is that cyclists can ride in lanes that are "protected" from cars.

Whether or not this is translated into fewer collisions between cars and bikes remains to be seen

conspiratemus1

^Ah, OK, then. So it is just political. Fair enough. Nice to know.

randya

not nearly wide enough for serious two way bike traffic.

why didn't they remove auto parking from one side and make the bike lane 3' wider in each direction?

two lanes of parking = 14' plus of motor vehicle storage space.

lol on the utility repairs blocking the whole damn thing, typical bike lane problem everywhere, then he can't get back on the bike lane because of the barrier, double lol

they did include some bike-specific signals, that's a slight improvement over the existing NYC and PDX examples

IMO it would work a lot better if it was one way only, or 6' wider

closetbiker

That would have been good.

I agree, a wider lane would be better, but you wouldn't have believed the opposition the lane had because of the parking that had to be removed from one side of the street (even when an equal amount of parking was provided on the next street over)

randya

I don't see a whole lot of parking removal, I see a lot more parking preservation