Liveable communities take away my rights

[zoom-zoom]

On the other hand I will probably last longer than most of them at least from a healthy life style point of view.

I always want to point out to them that I am helping keep med. ins. premiums lower...then I want to ask what their blood-work, BP, and resting pulse looks like and if they smoke.

[badger]

I'm probably not going to win any popularity contests by saying this, but I don't support the recent development of bike lanes in Vancouver. I believe it was poorly planned, and does not benefit many people. It may encourage some people to commute by bike, but only for those who work in that particular area. None of the funding went into bettering or expanding beyond that downtown core.

And might I also say that it does not make commuting downtown any better, as it only goes N/S E/W in two respective lanes, it won't help if you need to go to another street. Getting back onto the bike lanes are sometimes dangerous, if not impossible. Because a lot of downtown traffic is still one-way, unless you want to go the wrong way risking a ticket, you have to go on streets that doesn't even have a bike lane. You're still not any safer than you were before.

They spent over $25million to build just TWO bike lanes. They could have easily spent that money to build better infrastructures that benefits everyone in the city, not just a tiny fraction.

I'm in support of bettering infrastructure that everyone can benefit (not just a few people); this one was poorly planned and ill-spent.

I think I went off a tangent a bit, but I wanted to hi-light that not all bike lanes are created equal.

[shootingstar]

No, not bike lanes are created equal. The 2 Vancouver separated bike lanes, of which parts are show in this 2011 Vancouver video clip below, run through the thickest part of Vancouver downtown traffic. Not the entire length of the 2 routes, but parts. As one can see, in the video, the city actually used some low cost methods.

Cost of construction for roads, usually is manpower, redirect traffic, etc.....a blend of unionized and probably contract folks. I guess, I'm saying this now after having worked closely with documents on detailed contracts, cost modelling, etc. on a major road and bridge construction project @ $800 million out in the suburbs for 3-yr. long project.

It's just a start, badger. Cycling infrastructure isn't built after there is a whole pileup of cyclists overcrowded for several years. It's before. Just like the Golden Ears Bridge which is Vancouver's first toll bridge road, it is seriously undertutilized, by thousands of dollars annually. Part of it is car drivers take time to change their driving routes and suburbs will get built up with more local residents.

Similarily for cycling, if there is both public education, promotion and reasonable cycling infrastructure, people will use it. Like bike rack use on buses, they will get used once people know how to use the racks. That's why Vancovuer is so far ahead compared to Toronto where the latter just got their first set of racks only in past few years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvBJGBxvuW0

[badger]

I'm not saying people don't use them, it's not applicable to many people other than those who work downtown. And even within downtown, unless your office is along one of those bike lanes, you still struggle with safe commuting.

[shootingstar]

Maybe useful to know that in the neighbourhoods of Kitslano which borders downtown there is already 10% of folks commuting by bike. In that area there are some on road bike lanes and Shaugnessy, etc. Anyway many of the roads aren't as heavy with traffic. I rode those areas nearly daily when I was unemployed, so I can say safely what it was like at different times of the working day/week/weekend. They are beautiful areas to ride through at any time...except for the crowded times of parents dropping off kids at school.

30 km. long Central Valley Greenway, which was heavily funded by TransLink and some border municipalities of Burnaby and New Westminister, take folks to and from downtown to those outlying areas quite safely ..and they can use the separated bike lane on Dunsmuir St. (or go down Ontario St. etc.). Lots of options that are safer outside of downtown area.

The $$ was from City of Vancouver budget, not intended for the border municipalities . Hence whatever infrastructure was to be within City of Vancouver boundaries. It's taxpayers' money.

Other suburban municipalities, have to pony up money, which they slowly are in their own way each year for past 5 years for infrastructure in their own jurisdictions. In my humble opinion, it's very much those outlying municipalities we need to continously link up Vancouver's cycling infrastructure to theirs..but theirs is "thinner" and not as well-developed.

City of Surrey struggles immensely since it has awful roads in terms of higher speed, wider roads (which contributes to speeding), is more spread out, and lack of many regular cyclists. I've cycled through that area only a few times with last time on our own self-guided touring ride from Washington after we crossed the U.S. border to return home. It's never an uplifting experience cycling-wise through Surrey, but then I haven't explored routes enough yet.

By the way, the hotel that protested publicly huge and loud against the Hornby bike lane...one of their managers is an avid bike commuter and radonneur. He parks his bike in the hotel parking area somewhere. He went on the Grand Fondo ride from Vancouver to Whistler last fall which received enormous publicity. I mean talk about hypocrisy..

[oz rider]

Got into an argument with another person in a different internet forum.

Does he have a sense of humour?

[Trek420]

Just listened to a short interview with this guy:

http://www.governing.com/poy/mick-cornett.html

The mayor's crusade against obesity became the cornerstone of a whole new vision for the city's future. "We had an automobile-centric culture, a drive-through restaurant mentality," he says. "We hadn't built a pedestrian-friendly community." ....

"It's all part of this culture shift where we're creating a healthier community. This is a renaissance time for Oklahoma City. We're in a golden age."

Oklahoma City sounds like they're doing it right