West End Bicycle-Friendly Streets
Existing bike policies must also continue to be pursued. Specifically,
where no bike lanes are proposed, existing arterial streets that are
reconstructed or re-striped should provide wider curb lanes. Along local
streets in the West End, Coal Harbour and Downtown South, potential
barriers to cycling should be eliminated and bicycle friendly street
designs utilized wherever possible. The recommended bicycle friendly
streets are shown on Figure 4.4-C and they include the creation of bikeways
along Chilco and Cardero.
[DTP p. 100]
Comments
In a meeting of the Bicycle Advisory Commitee in April 2005, staff
presented a diagram showing the areas in the West End requiring changes to
improve accessibility for cyclists. They also presented proposed changes to
standard designs:
- openings in diagonal diverters to allow cyclists through. The "through"
bicycle manouevre would legally be a left or right turn, and a centre line
would be painted on the roadway to make it more obvious that a left turn is
required.
- allowing cyclists through miniparks, and making improvements to the
entries and exits (better curbcuts, improved interaction with laneway
traffic)
- allowing access through cul-de-sacs
- improving right in/right out diverters
- giving cyclists access to partially-closed (one-way) street
sections
After a visit to all of the above sites, the issues look fairly
straightforward. The only issues are:
- a potentially dangerous case is the intersection of
Broughton and Harwood, which is a steep downhill approaching a diagonal
diverter. Cyclists who try to ride straight through that diverter might be
going too quickly for their own safety. So, it'd be good to see some
bicycle traffic calming there.
- the minipark on Jervis between Burnaby and Harwood is quite steep. The
south exit is at a laneway. It would also be useful to see some bicycle
calming here, but it would also be good to make drivers in the laneway
particularly aware of southbound bicycles, since they could be moving quite
quickly.
