By Staff
May 24th, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
Stephen Warner has one final comment about the New Street “bike lane debacle”.
“The city did not return it to the way it was before the botched experiment. Somehow they have eliminated a turning lane for Dynes, which has resulted in one horrific accident already, and a close call for me.
The old lane design is on the left. The Road Diet design is on the right. That got scrapped but when the lane designed was re-worked they seem o have left out the left hand turn lane at Dynes Street.
“As people sit in the left thru lane on New waiting to turn north on Dynes, cars speed eastbound, seemingly oblivious to cars signaling to turn.
“I’m pretty sure there used to be a turning lane before the bike lane was added at Dynes.
It was there with the bike lanes. It looks like they increased the boulevard on each side of New Street and widened the lanes slightly during the reconstruction losing the turning lane when the road was returned to two lanes each way.”
Some news items just go on and on.
Blame the drivers, not the road . Yes some roads are dangerous ,however drivers need to be cautious and obey the laws .
Not sure we have our facts right here. I’m quite sure there was no turning lane at Dynes before the bike lane/road diet pilot project. The same issue always arose on the westbound lanes at Pinecove (as well as at many other streets off New St). A car would be waiting in the inner lane to turn left while impatient drivers behind that car would swerve around it, into the outer lane causing the next car travelling along at 60 km hour to suddenly approach a fully stopped car. Incredibly dangerous. So, if residents insist on reverting back to a 4-lane New Street, there simply isn’t room for a turning lane (without widening the street).
How was it safer during the pilot when the left turn lane was used as the passing lane inviting a head on collision. It is not the road configuration but the aggressive behavior of the drivers at fault. Was it better having the short merge lane. The aggressive drivers using this short segment just to get ahead of the cars waiting patiently in the through lane. It was a nightmare trying to get out of the RBC bank, onto this short merge lane. Aggressive driving is what has to be addressed not just here but throughout the city. I have attempted to get a report on the number of collisions before and after the pilot but cannot get an answer. James do you have one or is it assumed there were less collisions throughout the pilot. Incidentally there is less than two months worth of data on the number of bikes during the pilot project. Another interesting fact that has not been reported but the claim is there was an increase in cyclists during the pilot project. Complete transparent reports would be very welcome.
There was no turning lane before the pilot project.
One of the benefits of the three-lane configuration was the expected reduction in collisions and improved safety for all road users.
With the end of the pilot, we’ve now reverted to a configuration that favours speed over safety.
There was no dedicated turning lane for Dynes Road before the Road Diet. The road has returned to what it was. Check it out on historic street view on Google Maps.
(From a Dynes Road resident).