Q&A - Cycle Lane Confusion in Kelowna

The use of a diamond and cycle symbol is the preferred method of marking a cycle lane. This should remove any doubt about who it is intended for and that drivers should not stop in it.

What difference does it make then, if the bicycle lane itself is painted green? 

They will use the green paint to help people recognize the "conflict zones" where road users need to be a bit more careful with regards to other modes of traffic. 

If you hear "on your left" or "on your right" the best way to handle it is to hold your position, not move either direction. Unless you are centred and there isn't enough room to pass safely then the message should change. The worst thing for everyone is choosing the wrong direction and getting tangled up.

Yes, some of the roundabouts in Kelowna do seem to direct the cyclist onto the sidewalk and I disagree with this, but for most people they'll opt to mix with pedestrians before they merge with 2-ton metal behemoths. I'd hope that people on bikes would remember that people on foot take precedence so they'd slow down to a good speed on the sidewalk, but I know that's not always the case.

Whatever the law is immaterial, where or when re sidewalks or pathways- It is important that cyclists acvise pedestrians of the fact they re coming, and if on your right or left is heard as advised, STAY, and if just a bell or other warning, keep to the right. WhAt is really bad is when a cyclist gives NO warning and scares teh $^*( out of you, and in some cases a swing of a walking sticxk from the szurprized person could be a disaster for all- We need to be courteous.

 In the West Kootenay we have several Ferries, some ropeway Ferries. The Ropeway at Harrop this a.m. was a departure from the norm.  A Cyclist is not allowed to pedal from concrete roadway apron(downramp), up and on to the barge, but must dismount and walk. 

 This is incongruous as it has never been the like before. I reckon a bad example, (a group ride?) prompted the contractor to broadly paint a new rule. By the way, these Ferries are operated by a contractor group, which makes me ponder the automonous change to boarding.

Cyclists will attest to the difficulty of walking anywhere in their specialized hard plastic soles, much less up a polished steel ramp. Add water or oil to that and somebody goes down. The cycling shoe isn't meant to be walked in. An experienced cyclist will feel a lot more comfortable in the saddle with rubber on the road, than walking. Not only that, once we have boarded, have a slotted space we park in, out of the way of the heavy wheelers; and wait there until the traffic has cleared before disembarking. 

So here's the rub: cyclists play by the same rules as any vehicular traffic. One doesn't see a motorcycle walking on, nor laughably a car. Boarding traffic slows down (morally correct). With a walking cyclist and a vehicle approaching from behind, being directed to a lane, there is a double consideration here. That is, it is nerve wracking to have a vehicle approaching from behind when footing for the cyclist is dodgey; plus how much attention of the vehicle operator is directed at the potential hazard, while watching waving-directing arms of the Deckhand, particularly when the vehicle is towing? Operators tend to be watching their trailer hitch and attenuate behind-left to steel scraping on concrete, the sound of trailer or motorhome bottoming out and not ahead or side-right.

 It would be best, as I see it from a safety point, to board after the car/truck traffic has done so; roll on. What we do. When we ride, we have Gyroscopic precession going for us. Not so keeping us upright when we walk; at least not this old athlete. On the other side, roll off, after the traffic. What we do. Pedalling up the ramp is safer than starting off uphill. 

The roundabout at W 16th Ave and Wesbrook Mall in the University Endowment Lands

has a better design in my opinion (wider sidewalks and better bike lanes and ramps).  I don't like the one at Main Mall as much.

The following brochure about these says cyclists are allowed to stay on the road or dismount to use the sidewalk and crosswalk, What is a Roundabout?

ICBC suggests cyclists can ride (slowly) on "pathways" with pedestrians, but must dismount for the crosswalk at How to Use a Roundabout and Roundabout Information Guide.

This website shows a shared path sign and a crosswalk sign (that suggests cyclists allowed to ride on the crosswalk), but the text says cyclists should walk in the crosswalk,  https://www.tranbc.ca/2020/07/02/how-to-safely-use-roundabouts-in-bc/

When I am cycling on a shared path and I have room to pass (a pedestrian or another cyclist) I will warn them that I am passing by telling them which side I will do so, if there is not enough room I will say "excuse me" and wait until there is enough room. 

Stephen C not only spells his name correctly but he also conducts thorough and accurate research. In this example I do not see signage advising cyclists to use the sidewalk therefore I see no reason to exit the roadway. I would shoulder check then merge into the que and proceed through the roundabout as a vehicle. My alternative is to use the crosswalk as a pedestrian by dismounting. No different than other types of intersections. 

Clearly the issue is that the restricted use bike lane "disappears" and morphs into a sidewalk. Bad bit of engineering but not uncommon. It would help to have signage posted to "share the lane" or "alternate" between road users or at least a "sharrow" as a road marking.

Paul Stephen Janzen

Here's an odd thing - my name is Paul, but my brother's name is Stephen. We also excel in speling.

Meanwhile: 

In this example I do not see signage advising cyclists to use the sidewalk therefore I see no reason to exit the roadway.

Yes but seriously, why do you think they spent thousands of dollars constructing that carefully sloped extra piece of concrete (along with the long solid white line marking the outer edge of the cycle lane) that guides cyclists onto the sidewalk? I mean, seriously? I'm quite sure it wasn't designed to allow wheelchair users to leave the sidewalk and enter the cycle lane, eh?

But it does create an obvious potential conflict between pedestrians and cyclists, especially older folks pushing a walker along the path and younger folks rocketing by on two wheels.

The easiest, and cheapest way that the city could correct this would be to erect clear signs that direct cyclists to dismount in that section, thus becoming pedestrians on the sidewalk. It works in sections of the Stanley Park seawall (a park which strongly favours cyclists for the most part) so there's no reason why it couldn't work in this situation.

It gave me a laugh!

The odd thing with that there roundabout, is the inconsistency of the rampage, and signage, and like that. Perhaps because one of the roads is a dead end (what the realtors call a cul-de-sac), so nobody ever rides a bicycle out of there? 

As an old guy, I just keep wondering about the wisdom of imposing cycle lanes onto an existing road structure, often along major arteries. It's quite different from places like Amsterdam, Beijing, or Copenhagen, where the massive use of bicycles has been part of the the city structure, the movement of people, for decades.

Paul & Stephen: to be fair the municipalities are struggling with cycling infrastructure as standards are still emerging. As our moderator pointed out green paint is used as a cautionary warning but is not mentioned in our MVA. In fact one municipality near me used blue paint for the same purpose. When questioned it was learned that engineering had extra blue so...

I cannot wait to visit these places you mentioned but without first hand knowledge I suspect there is a core difference and it's a culture that respects cyclists. Until we have masses of COMPOTENT cyclists and COOPERATIVE motorists like they do; however, all the infrastructure spending in the world won't help. Cycling education is the answer.