Why spend money on bike lanes?

[southy]

Have you seen the stats on childhood obesity lately? Maybe it would be better for them to let them walk home.

It's not so much about the situation in the here and now, but being prepared for what is to come. People are learning to put health and environment ahead of convenience, and simple finance will encourage people to limit fuel consumption. Having the infrastructure in place will encourage this sort of progress.

Fluffy ... I too disagree with you. And really the above in my opinion is a pretty big jump. The issue and I was the OP is the lack of respect that cyclists (some not all) though this past summer I'm almost ready to paint the entire group with the same brush or should I say lack of respect for the law. Again today ... at approximately 9am driving south on Government, traffic very heavy, actually heavier than when school is in. I get near the IGA and what do I encounter .. two cyclists riding side by side and no not in the damn bike lane .. but on the main road. Yup, they had their official cyclist attire on that screams out ... hey I'm a cyclist I got rights. I tell you if one more cyclist flips me the finger for honking to get them out of my way I will do more than report them. Enough is enough. And the reality is it is only going to get worse up to Challenge. With that said .. I challenge cyclists to please use some common sense when riding.

As far as Government Street goes ... get rid of those bike lanes. They might be used a little more in the summer but come fall and winter ... you don't see any cyclists on them. Deal with the traffic issue which is only going to get worse not better. I've been hearing the "wait till gas prices go up" everyone will be riding bikes .. hogwash. Penticton continues to grow so will the vehicle traffic plain and simple.

[Glacier]

I can't believe how redneck the Okanagan is. I was in Alaska recently where the government policy mandates there to be separated bike lanes along any new roads. If city wants to expand or expropriate land to widen a road, they must fork over the extra money to put in a bike path. I asked my redneck ATV loving FIL about this policy fully expecting the typical Okanagan response about how it is a big waste of money, and yet he expressed full support for the policy. Actually went beyond that by saying they should build even more money putting in bike paths. This is not an attitude you'd find from non-cyclists in the Okanagan.

[fluffy]

I wish I had been a fly on the wall when the decision to abandon four lane traffic on Government St. in favour of bike lanes was made. It would be interesting to hear what the reasoning was at that point. In reality, the bike lanes are really no more than paint on the ground and could be changed to four lane vehicular without much effort if the need were shown to be sufficient.

I've encountered ignorant cyclists too, but they are definitely a slim minority when compared to cyclists as a whole, and that is a whole other discussion. Suffice to say that by sheer weight of numbers there are way more ignorant drivers on the road than ignorant cyclists.

Just out of curiosity, are bike lanes open for use by e-bikes? There's another group that is on the rise.

[XT225]

I thought that we had beat this topic to death last year. Here are the official City proposed routes.
http://www.penticton.ca/assets/City~Hal ... MAR-05.pdf
I agree that Government Street is no place for bike lanes. The proposed "separated" bike lanes are interesting, though if parking spaces are lost because of those, I'm quite sure the public will have something to say about that.

[fluffy]

I thought that we had beat this topic to death last year. Here are the official City proposed routes.
http://www.penticton.ca/assets/City~Hal ... MAR-05.pdf
I agree that Government Street is no place for bike lanes. The proposed "separated" bike lanes are interesting, though if parking spaces are lost because of those, I'm quite sure the public will have something to say about that.

"The Public" always has something to say. Heck, there are still people out there crying for smokers' rights even though it's common knowledge that smoking is a filthy, deadly habit. Still, with steady pressure and constantly increasing restrictions the habit has been reduced from over 50% of the adult population to somewhere in the neighbourhood of 15% to 20% and still dropping. I see the same approach to our consumption of fossil fuels and the convenience of private vehicular transportation as a necessary hardship if we're ever going to get a handle on pollution and the general decline in health among the population. There is a bigger picture here than a few parking spots along Government or Ellis.

[coolworx]

Why anyone healthy enough to ride a bicycle, wouldn't ride a bicycle in this town, is beyond me.
Have you seen the price of gasoline? Have you reached a point in your metabolism where keeping the spare tire at bay is a constant struggle?

Well how 'bout whacking two quail with one stone?
Dust off that huffy, or CCM, and get your sexy *bleep* back.

[southy]

Why anyone healthy enough to ride a bicycle, wouldn't ride a bicycle in this town, is beyond me.
Have you seen the price of gasoline? Have you reached a point in your metabolism where keeping the spare tire at bay is a constant struggle?

Well how 'bout whacking two quail with one stone?
Dust off that huffy, or CCM, and get your sexy *bleep* back.

Naa .. Sorry Coolwork. My *bleep* is still sexy (according to my wife) and it really enjoys the cool setting on my vehicles leather seats. Plus .. I feel safer in my esplanade than on my ccm. By the way .. My health is good and that spare tire you speak of was earned :)

[coolworx]

Naa .. Sorry Coolwork. My *bleep* is still sexy (according to my wife) and it really enjoys the cool setting on my vehicles leather seats. Plus .. I feel safer in my esplanade than on my ccm. By the way .. My health is good and that spare tire you speak of was earned :)

Ya, you just keep that pampered caboose planted on that Corinthian leather and watch how soft and wide it becomes.
;-)

[andrewdrouin]

I'm up for helping to do a count of bicycle traffic on the Gov' St. bike lanes. If we could get, say 7 people to agree to volunteer on a mild day this fall, or in the spring when bikes get rolling again, each individual taking a two-hour turn at logging cyclists, we could cover the 7am to 9pm time-frame and come up with some solid numbers.

I'm up for volunteering to organize permission from the city to setup chairs, a sun-tent, clipboards, munchies and refreshments to make this happen.

I've approached the city; they don't have staff / time / interest (?). Perhaps six of you here would like to commit to this and we'll "get er' done"?

BTW: I support bike lanes. I drive and bike (a lot) in this city, and have done so for 25 years.

Andrew

[southy]

I'm up for helping to do a count of bicycle traffic on the Gov' St. bike lanes. If we could get, say 7 people to agree to volunteer on a mild day this fall, or in the spring when bikes get rolling again, each individual taking a two-hour turn at logging cyclists, we could cover the 7am to 9pm time-frame and come up with some solid numbers.

I'm up for volunteering to organize permission from the city to setup chairs, a sun-tent, clipboards, munchies and refreshments to make this happen.

I've approached the city; they don't have staff / time / interest (?). Perhaps six of you here would like to commit to this and we'll "get er' done"?

BTW: I support bike lanes. I drive and bike (a lot) in this city, and have done so for 25 years.

Andrew

I'm curious as to what you plan on doing with this unbiased bike count?

[southy]

andrewdrouin - just had a second thought. After you and your friends are finished on Government Street perhaps you could set up over on Ellis. Actually, if you contact someone at City Hall they can probably give you plans for all the future bike routes. Of course these won't happen until they complete the Main Street Revite. But at least we know the city has them on their radar. And who knows - you cyclists might just luck out with a new mayor who supports bike lanes. I understand their is also a group looking for the city to install "texting only" lanes downtown :)

[XT225]

Well, there's the FIRST reason that I've seen for possibly voting for Vassalaki...he isnt a biker (not that we are aware of)...whereas Andrew J. definately IS. Still, not enough reason for me to change my vote at this time. Enough money has been spent on bike lanes that few people in this town use. Fix the ding danged roads that are full of pot holes and patches.

[twobits]

I understand their is also a group looking for the city to install "texting only" lanes downtown :)

Too funny! The irony however is that there are more people that text and drive than there are bikes in bike lanes.

XT.....if you have pot holes in your street that need fixing, just lobby to have a bike lane installed. They will be filled right away cuz we can't have the three cyclists that will use it hitting a pothole. Seems to be lots of coin in the bike lane budget too.

[XT225]

XT.....if you have pot holes in your street that need fixing, just lobby to have a bike lane installed. They will be filled right away cuz we can't have the three cyclists that will use it hitting a pothole. Seems to be lots of coin in the bike lane budget too.

Re the pot holes, twobits...yes its a serious issue. Not sure how the city could put bike lanes down the CENTRE lane of the streets but never underestimate their stupidity. I witnessed an out of town fancy/lowered Corvette this Summer bottom out in a pot hole at Industrial and Main; scraping the fiberglass front end. The shock on the face of the driver was plain to see. Not likely a tourist that will be coming back any time soon. The condition of other streets such as Government Street is deplorable; a patchwork nightmare. Maybe the cars should be driving in the bike lanes (they're in better shape) and let the bikes have the centre of the roads.

[coolworx]

Perhaps someone can enlighten me .. since there are two bike lanes on this street shouldn't the cyclists be using them and making their turn left on the crosswalk?!

In a word, NO.
Like it or not, bicycles are considered VEHICLES, and thus legally allowed to take the lane, in order to make a left turn.

What I'd like to know, is why nearly EVERY motorists believes it's their right to speed on Gov't and Main street.
It's 50kph on Gov't, folks.... and 30kph on the one way section of Main.