I've been known to express my distaste for cycling facilities. I view them as an attempt by the ill-informed to tell us where we should ride. Having created a monster on the east of the Portage Bridge, the NCC has now made a mess of the long awaited Champlain Bridge. Although this time the mess can be fixed.
I don't have much to say about the white painted lines on the bridge other than that they appear to be the demarcation for gravel to accumulate. The lane will rapidly get tagged as puncture alley. Facilities specifically for cyclists are bound to confuse not only drivers and cyclists, who they are supposed to aid, but also the traffic engineers who design them. The south end of the bridge is a case in point. Travelling north towards Quebec, cyclists enter the bike lane after crossing the Parkway. It starts at the northern perimeter of the Ottawa River Parkway to the left of the triangular island which separates traffic from south from the traffic merging from the east. The bike lane continues for the length of the island - 10 to 15 metres - and ends at a box of painted hash lines. A "right turn" arrow on the pavement directs cyclists to make a right turn across the merging traffic from the east. That we should be so stupid! Travelling south is even more bizarre. The bike lane crosses the westbound exit to the Parkway and leads head on into a yellow and black chevron warning sign stuck on the island which divides the west bound traffic from the southbound traffic. Apparently cyclists are supposed to navigate around the warning sign and ride the 10 metres or so on the island to where a crosswalk would be (but isn't) at the Parkway. God knows where the inexperienced will go from there. BTW, the back up of traffic on Island Park Drive at 3.30pm today suggests that the new configuration has done nothing to alleviate congestion. When I crossed the bridge southbound I did not pass one vehicle in the HOV lane. Effectively it means millions of taxpayers dollars have been spent to provide an HOV lane that is hardly used. Watch for the HOV lane to be opened up to all vehicles soon as the failure becomes apparent. Meanwhile, sensible cyclists would be well advised to ignore the paint and follow the same lines of travel a car driver takes. Avery Burdett ------------------------------------------------- For list help, please send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Club Office: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (613) 230-1064 Website: [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cyberus.ca/~obcweb Newsletter: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------- ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aVxiDo.a2i8p1 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
