By Staff
October 15th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
Clive Thomas was riding northbound on King Road today for his swim class at Angela Coughlin and said he was “ almost clipped by a passing SUV while crossing the bridge on the 403 overpass.
“Those bridges are under Ontario rule. There is NO room to pass if there is oncoming traffic. Will a body have to be scraped off the road before safety measures are put in? I ride everywhere in Burlington and am livid with Ford.
There is a marker on the right side of the photograph showing a bike lane – pretty small. Let’s see what MPP Natalie Pierre can do for Clive.
“This is a life and death matter, and for a guy like Ford who never misses a meal and never rides a bike, this borders on madness.
“I want to call you on this matter. I almost bit the pavement today , and want clarity on this matter. I’ve cc’d the Gazette here for your information. Please let me know when you will able to take my call.”
I am with Graham, although I cycle probably 40 to 50 km a week mostly on trails, I value my life ahead of travelling on roads with distracted roads. Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in our climate for a few makes no sense. It explains in part our unsustainable annual property tax increases.
Just this minute, I learnt that there was an apparent hit-and-run involving an electric bicycle and an elderly woman at the beach strip on the Hamilton side of the lift bridge, the woman was taken away in an ambulance, and the police was in attendance, according to the resident the police stated that even if they caught the person there is nothing they can charge them with, it’s a civil matter.
Well it looks like the call was answered.
The provincial government is now looking at Bike Lanes.
Not just where they are located on the roadway – but are they installed to be safe for cyclists and all the scooter riders.
From CBC…
The Ontario government says it will introduce legislation that would require municipalities to get provincial approval before building any new bike lanes that reduce lanes of vehicle traffic.
Municipalities would need to demonstrate any proposed bike lanes will not have a “negative impact on vehicle traffic,” according to the province.
The government will also request data from municipalities on bike lane projects initiated in the last five years, Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said Tuesday in Toronto.
“Across our province, we’re seeing an explosion of bike lanes, including many that were installed during the pandemic when fewer vehicles were on the road and their impacts on traffic were unclear,” he said.
“Strategically placed bike lanes are a vital part of every city, offering residents a safe and a reliable way to move around. What cities should not be doing, however, is taking away lanes of traffic on our most congested roads,” Sarkaria continued, adding that bike lanes should be installed on side streets instead.
Oh boy, City of Burlington – what say you? We have the bike lanes going in on Plains Road right now and the huge Prospect Street bike lane project about to begin. Please confirm *before* you build them whether the province will approve them – especially considering their request for data on lanes built in the last five years. How one determines whether individual bike lanes have a “negative impact on vehicle traffic” will be something to behold.
The proposed legislation that will require municipalities to get Provincial approval for new bike lanes has not even been introduced at the legislature for consideration. It likely will not be retroactive. So if the City begins installation prior to it becoming law, I guess no approval will be necessary.
LW
I hesitate to call myself a cyclist these days as many who now opt to use this means of conveyance have zero respect for rules of the road or respect for motorists or pedestrians or cyclist who follow the rules of the road. This is also one of the reasons i installed a dashcam.
I see a bike lane going both ways so if he was in his own lane what is the complaint here. In the photo there is more than enough room for ALL vehicles , plus how is a car coming close and NOT clipping you Fords fault? He wasnt even in Burlington this week
Bike riders are as guilty of ignoring the highway traffic act as anyone else, if not more so. Walk along the lakeshore path and tell me how many bike riders give warning they are approaching? Meanwhile Lakeshore Road had bike lanes installed in both directions but the riders would rather run over senior citizens walking. I defy anyone to sit at a downtown intersection for an hour and not find a cyclist run the red light. I’m not saying car drivers don’t do rolling stops at Stop signs but blatantly running red lights and then asking for respect from the rest of the population is rich.
I’m with you mate, I live in a downtown home with an enviable walkability score and yet I drive everywhere, even driving to the beach for a bash up and down the shoreline, where, even their cyclists who have fitted off-road tires to their contraptions and will sound their piezo buzzers for you to get out of the way; also the ironically named Promenade at Spencer Smith Park the definition of which is (A path for walking on, especially one built next to the sea,) informal-(We strolled along the promenade eating ice-creams.) Good luck with that, cyclists see this as an opportunity to practice their slalom skills using us as the markers, and it’s not just cyclists, today’s technologies have enabled electric motors and wheels to be attached to every conceivable form of antisocial conveyance; I purchased a treadmill with an attached screen where I can virtually have pleasant walks anywhere in the world, after all, seniors and young toddlers have a tendency to be rather unpredictable while walking in supposedly safe zones an impact of five hundred pounds could be fatal to both, in industry, near-misses are counted as actual events to prevent actual accidents.
Graham, what trails are you talking about? Please enlighten us.
Whenever I see a cyclist trying to navigate our busy roads I wonder why on earth would they risk life and limb.
It is going to get worse sooner than later. Use the trails .