Plattsville’s infamous traffic calming island. Good for vehicles. Not so for cyclists.
This is not a roundabout but as a cyclist you are forced to take the lane here. Therefore you better know exactly what’s behind you before you own the lane. Mirrors are a must.
Defensive driving always wins.
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I think separation is the way to go. It is clearly the most expensive but it is the only way you are going to get novice cyclists to actually try biking as a legitimate mode of transportation.
I will never convince Janet to share the road with any car no matter how slow they are supposed to be driving. I can understand her hesitation to do this given the attitude you described of that BMW driver.
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I haven’t been down there yet, but there was talk about building a Dutch-style roundabout at Huron and Strasbourg a little over a year ago. Has anything come of that?
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Jeremy, It has been implemented but I have only gone through it in the dark. The problem is you have no legal right to use it and are supposed to dismount and walk in other-words engineers are trying to kill you and make it your fault. Apparently the MTO isn’t interested in addressing it with changes in traffic laws.
Yeah, that is another bit that really pisses me off. Lets start building these things all over Ontario but the MTO does not bother to actually make laws regarding Pedestrians and Bikes on roundabouts. Kinda tells you where the government priority lies. Doesn’t it make sense to actually pass the laws first BEFORE you start building the things everywhere?
I think they eventually changes the law a little bit regarding pedestrians, and they have some rights at roundabouts now, but the crossing are not actual crosswalks as far as MTO is concerned. It is all very unclear though.
So glad to see and read this thread - even two years later Ira Needles is a huge problem for me to cycle North. I wish drivers would stick to a 30 kph or lower speed when entering and moving through the roundabout. It seems many drivers get freaked out and gun it which just makes things more dangerous for everyone. I like roundabout overall because they keep the traffic moving but going north on Ira Needles from Highland to Erb is a real pain in the ass and gets my heart rate up just thinking about it.
There was a discussion about this on the old forum, and iI seem to recall that a club member who was also a transportation planner mentioned that it’s related to Provincial design standards that the Region MUST follow based on the category of road that Ira Needles is. Not sure I got that entirely correct so I’m happy for someone else to wade in, but I came away from that discussion thinking that the Region’s hands were tied when they designed the road and roundabouts. Having said that, if this is true, then I think those Provincial design standards need revision…
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Lets look at a place where best practices have been created - What makes Copenhagen the world’s most bicycle friendly capital? Good read and supporting video…
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Sadly I just avoid Ira Needles and that area on my bike as much as possible. It’s a gong show.
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