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Community Sunday
Sat May 15, 2010 Miss Vicky
There are a couple of interesting events happening tomorrow... Miss Vicky has family obligations so is unlikely to be able to attend, so is curious to hear about these from others.
The Community Association is sponsoring a Cycling Summit from 1 to 4pm at the Community Centre. The event promo is pretty vague - apparently it's to learn about "new transportation rules and procedures for cyclists and drivers on Wellington Street West". Not sure what that's supposed to mean. Share the frickin' road, perhaps?
[UPDATE: @HintonburgCA has been livetweeting a bit. Turns out the city wants to introduce some new types of signage/road lines and something called a "sharrow". Also they did clarify that the combo of wheels under 60 cm/age less than 16 = allowed on sidewalk - good to know, as WeeG is on two wheels (without pedals) now].
And from 10am to 4pm, the Wellington West Business Improvement Area hosts Wellington Blooms, a gardening-oriented trade show at the GCTC. Gardening guru Ed Lawrence will be giving a demo on container gardening and answering questions at 11am. It's a free event - might make a good excuse to head out to the market to get some flowers!
Some people were moved to reply
I'm curious if they cited a source for the rules about cyclists on the sidewalk. It seems like a reasonable rule to accommodate younger cyclists, but I've been looking for more information on the websites of the City of Ottawa, and the Ministry of Transportation, but I haven't been able to find anything.
Hi Jon. I'm with the HCA, and Cst. Milton in attendance noted that the rule is "60/16". Wheels must be smaller than 60 cm and the rider must be less than 16 in order to ride on the sidewalk.
Hi jleiper. Thanks for that info. Do you know if the height/age exemption is a municipal by-law? The Highway Traffic Act? Or something else? The reason I ask is because the issues of cycling safety and cyclists' responsibilities have been a hot topic following the recent tragedies on Carling and in Quebec. I've heard some people chastising parents who let their kids bike on sidewalks, claiming that it's illegal. If that's not the case, it would be nice to dispel this myth, but that would be easier to do if I could cite some legislation to back my argument. I expect it will take more than "I read it on a blog" to convince people. I still haven't been successful in finding any reference to this online, so any help would be appreciated.
I'm really sorry, but I didn't catch whether that was a guideline used by the OPS, or part of the HTA. You might try calling Cst. Milton at the Community Police Centre in the Hintonburg Community Centre - 613-236-1222 x.5871. He's our community cop.
Sorry, I should also note that we're developing a page to solicit feedback on safer cycling in Hintonburg. I'll have it up within a few days once I incorporate some feedback we got today from Robin Bennett - the city's coordinator for cycling facilities who was also in attendance at our Sunday meeting. Our feeling right now is that thanks to the reconstruction, traffic is moving slower, the roads are smoother, and it's been a net positive for 'Burg cyclists. But given the city's priority of turning residents within 5km of the core into cycling commuters - simply because they're the most likely candidates - there are opportunities to see new facilities introduced here and in the immediate area first as the City decides to implement them.
after witnessing a bunch of yahoos driving in cycling lanes on Prince of Wales today I am rethinking my plans to commute by bike to my new workplace.
Is that where the farm road meets the road at the lights - maybe 200 metres south of the roundabout? Drivers heading north at rush hour are in the habit of getting around left-turning cars there, and it's a disaster waiting to happen, despite the dashed line for 20 metres either side of the intersection indicating it's ok for them to do so. If you're a car behind a van, forget about seeing around it to notice a cyclist in the cycling lane. If you're in the habit of scooting around the left turning cars, it just takes a moment of inattention for that to become dangerous.
I was on my way to the HCC tonight and saw a DMTS driving school student approach from behind two cyclists. With about 7 metres to go before the intersection, he passed them on the left then turned right with about 5 feet to spare before they were in the intersection.
If that's how they're teaching the kids - well.
To my mind, this should be one of the ways these new sharrows are used: to ensure cyclists when approaching intersections are directed to take their lane. I can easily keep up with traffic, so you'll never find me hugging the curb anywhere near an intersection. But for less confident or strong cyclists, they might not feel comfortable doing so. Armstrong is being eyed as a calmer route, with a new "contra-flow" lane on (I think) Hilda to make the transition before/after crossing the O-Train bridge. But it looks like our best bet to make sure cycling Wellington is safe is to habituate drivers to the fact that it's not going to be their fast route. The City's strategy is clearly to get through traffic on to Scott, and I've found that drivers seem to accept bike traffic on Wellington as they get used to the new configuration. Just like people slow down to 115 when merging from the 401 to the 416 because they've learned since the highway opened that the cops won't tolerate speeding between the 401 and Ottawa boundary. We've got the same opportunity right now while drivers are still learning the new configuration to get them used to taking Scott if they want to get through Hintonburg more quickly.
Yep that is pretty much the spot. It was stunning. They were barely around the corner and traffic was moving, so the "getting around left turning drivers" excuse is pushing it a tad.
Yeah, once Wellington is two-way again I think encouraging folks to take their lane is important. Wondering whether some monthly critical mass rides down Wellington might be in order. Some riders may feel safer taking up more space on the road if they had company
Absolutely - something I/we would be happy to help out with.