Bike Lanes and Bike Commuting

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Try riding Gordon from Bernard to Sutherland..

[Jo]

Try riding Gordon from Bernard to Sutherland..

Sure, no worries. I can ride in any traffic that isn't highway traffic. I could ride the highway as well, I guess, but it is too noisy, too busy and too full of big trucks that create too much of a 'breeze' as they pass by.

[Woodenhead]

I've ridden the highway many times. ( McCurdy to downtown) No problems. I switched to the sidewalk for stretches eventually, not because of fear, but because of risk vs. reward. haha Accidents aren't planned, and I can't control what other drivers may do. After you've had a certain number of vehicles pass you by mere inches, you start to wonder if abiding the law is worth the potential (no matter how small) for severe injury/death.

Curb-separated bike lanes are the best way to get more people riding (and doing it safely) but it's too late for that here, for the most part. There isn't room without buying back a crazy number of pieces of private property (among other costs).

I'd ride to home from work, if the city would flatten out these darned hills... (I'm in Joe Rich lol)

[Piecemaker]

Biking to work wouldn't be too difficult at all Woodenhead. Returning home however...

[36Drew]

Well, let's be honest, Central Valley Greenway is somewhat unique because it was designed as service road for Skytrain and that's why it follows Skytrain route for the most part. It was rather ingenious, I give them that.

Not even close. It was purpose-built as a cyclist and pedestrian route.

But this is what I meant to say. Here's a route that I used to cycle every day from my house to school:

West 10th Ave. - Heather St. - Langara College

Way to cherry-pick and actually avoid speaking to what I was actually getting at. You've pointed to some streets that are, in comparison, quiet residential streets. Yeah, there's driveways. on-street parking. idiot drivers. There's also traffic-calming, neighborhood traffic circles (the little ones, not the big traffic circles that are actually roundabouts).

Where are the corridors meant to actually bring people from them thar hills to the downtown core where they work?

Why am I saying this? I get tired of people whining about the city. "- Oh, this city is so stupid, they don't do anything for cyclists! We don't even have separate lanes to protect us from cars! How backwards is this city? ". Well, newsflash. Cycling routes in cities with way crazier drivers and way more traffic don't have separate lanes either. There's no magical land where you're completely cut off from traffic and it's puppies and rainbows for cycling individuals. This is what you get - a quiet street , and you get to share it with cars. Shut up about this stupid City of Kelowna not building tunnels and bridges specifically for you. And get used to sharing the road with others.

I would challenge anybody to look at, for example, the master cycling and trail plans for the two tri-cities areas down here (Vancouver, Burnaby, New West, Coquitlam, Poco, Port Moody) and compare them to Kelowna's. Y'all have had the rails with trails things on the books for how long? How's that coming along? Trails down here have not only been planned, but have been built. Kelowna's is still pretty much a non-starter.

All I'm saying is Kelowna is busy trying to sell it self as something it's not. Just stop with the lousy sales pitch and either put your money where your mouth is or shut up and move on to something else and do it right.

[tamarrash]

I don't feel that there is any issues with comparing our cycling infrastructure with that of a larger city. Obviously to compare it mile for mile is silly, but the general concepts and practices is fine.

I think our lanes are decent, I would like many others love more paved pathways off the road, but I make due with what I'm given. Most drivers are good with cyclists, giving space and courtesy, etc. A very few drivers are *bleep*, but the same goes for cyclists and both seem to make all others look bad.

As with others here I'll freely admit there are certain areas I do ride sidewalk, and I really wish the cities talk of sweepers doing bike lanes and more frequently was happening. Especially in main riding areas, I ride Glenmore and Enterprise daily and at the moment the only sweeping action they've seen was clearing intersections and driveways. This actually just made the bike lanes worse as the debris wasn't swept up, but just pushed into little ridges on either side, so I'd love for that to be prioritized a bit more.

Also, it appears the Rails with Trails thing is starting to go ahead again, seems to be trail construction of some form beside the rail bed on the east side of Spall, fingers crossed! Depending on how many and frequent the entrances and exits off that trail are, it could go a very long ways to promoting cycle commuting in Kelowna. To further extend off-road trails, I wonder if City could work deals with any private land? My first thought would be something like a dedicated trail from the new Rail trail, north along the base of Dilworth Mountain skirting along the cemetary and golf course until it meets up to say Valley Rd, or something along that idea. I'm not so sure about land ownership, etc but I think it would be great to get off Glenmore, to many people speeding there, and big trucks riding the white line. Its one of my least comfortable areas to ride, and is really the only choice.

[Woodenhead]

it appears the Rails with Trails thing is starting to go ahead again, seems to be trail construction of some form beside the rail bed on the east side of Spall, fingers crossed!

They've been working on the section at the end of Leckie (@ Dilworth) for a couple of months now. Take a peek if you're going by that area. (go down the dead-end part of Leckie)

[Grandan]

Kelowna has the most bike lanes in Canada, but the lowest ridership by virtue of the fact that bike lanes that aren't separated from traffic do not increase bike commuting in any statistical way. The only reason the Netherlands has more bike commuters than Kelowna is that they decided one day (when they also had a car culture) that they were going to build the bike paths before the demand was there. Sure enough, once they did, people rode to work. The same thing would happen in Kelowna if they did the same thing.

I don't think The Netherlands ever was a car culture. They were a mass transit and cycling culture. Few people could afford cars in the Netherlands after WW II nor could they afford to put gas in them. If you drove your car into downtown Amsterdam there was no place to park because of all those lovely canals that criss cross the city. They had a mass transit system which served the people. They had separate bike paths before we even knew about them here. It amazed me to see directional signs on the bike paths with distances and all paved.

[Bsuds]

It's also flat in the Netherlands and much easier to get around by bike. They also have lots of cars but know how to share the road with a bit of courtesy.

[Grandan]

Here is a typical street scene, Canal on one side, buildings on the other, a few cars and lots and lots of bikes, get it?
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Amsterda ... d=0CAkQ_AU

[Grandan]

It's also flat in the Netherlands and much easier to get around by bike. They also have lots of cars but know how to share the road with a bit of courtesy.

It also rains a lot and is not all that pleasant to ride but people dress for it and the city accomodates bike riders.
When I was a young father I biked to work in Victoria as did some others. The accountant gave me the gears for parking my bike too close to the back entrance to the office. There was nothing else to lock my bike to so I refused to move it and the issue passed. As an alternative I could had used the bus but enjoyed the ride more. I did not own a car and family outings with mom and 2 kids were on the bus.

[Grandan]

Google maps did not zero in on my Amsterdam post and I cannot copy a picture so look up Google Street View for:
Bike City,
Bloemgracht, Amsterdam, Netherlands

[Bsuds]

a few cars and lots and lots of bikes, get it?

If that's directed at me I have been there twice as my wife has relatives there and have seen it first hand.
I know exactly what it's like there and yes they are way more bike friendly than we are. They also have much less distances to travel than we do.

[Bsuds]

Lots of cars



And Trucks



And bikes, they definitely like their bikes and are set up for it much better than us here.

[Grandan]

Thanks for those images. Note the numbers of people walking as well, something people do only to get from their cars to mall and back when they live here.
My point was that in the Netherlands it is not the car centred culture that it is here and it never was and never will. It cannot be because the cost of land is too high to devote it for the parking of cars.