Pt 2 - LSB/LDRT Intersection Hazards - Driver Sightlines

Conflicts between Drivers and Lower Don Recreation Trail users at Lake Shore Boulevard and the neighbourhood streets running north-south out of South Riverdale - Morse St, Logan St and Booth St - are the usual coarse of events when motor vehicle drivers try to make the dangerous and heart pounding merge onto the fast Lake Shore Boulevard.

The specific behaviour that is causing the perception amoungst cyclists that these are really dangerous places, is the vast majority of driver's habit of nosing into the Lower Don Recreation Trail (or completely blocking it) almost every time drivers make turns onto the LSB at these three intersections.

I watched for an hour and a half as drivers - confronted with so many vectors (and different qualities of vectors - cyclists at one set of speeds, joggers and at another speed) actually make mistakes - and force cyclists to brakes or steer evasively to avoid being hit as the driver slams on their brakes also - just in time to avoid collisions.

In these two videos I use the camera to imitate how a driver in a car sees the intersection, by standing where a driver would be seated with their car stopped at various places - behind the stop line; halfway into the Trail; and right across the trail - in order to understand what's going on:

PART I

LDRT/Logan - Driver Sight Lines I 2014/08/27 6 39pm


A multitude of sign posts to the east of the Logan/LDRT intersection blocks driver's sightlines to the east - obscuring high speed motor vehicle traffic speeding off the light at Carlaw. This seems to be the reason drivers are moving forward such that they block the entire width of the Lower Don Recreation Trail here as they try to make their turns westbound onto the Lake Shore Boulevard.

PART II

In the second of these videos I talk about a great conversation I had with a driver, a resident nearby, who noted a West sight lines issue that I hadn't seen. From a driver's point of view, a fence blocks their view of cyclists coming eastbound towards the intersection:

LDRT/Logan - Driver Sight Lines II 2014/08/27 7:21pm


A fence to the west of the Logan/LDRT intersection blocks driver's sightlines to the west - obscuring cyclists coming eastbound on the LDRT. This seems to be one of the reasons drivers are nosing halfway across the Lower Don Recreation Trail here as they try to make their turns westbound onto the Lake Shore Boulevard.



mh

Eastern Ave Bike Lanes: 'They Don't Go Anywhere!'

2014/08/27 7:26pm

A politician who is running for Councillor in Ward 30 has made a video¹ (shot about right here) about how the Eastern Avenue Bike Lanes 'Don't go Anywhere'

Eastern Ave Bike Lanes: 'They Don't Go Anywhere!'


As the video says, "Well, actually they go to the Contraflow Lane on Logan Ave which gets you further westbound via the Lower Don Recreation Trail which gets you to Queen's Quay"
.. and access to the East Downtown, the Financial District and the Fashion District and Queen West and Parkdale.

(Beware the crossing at Cherry St/LSB, which is a high speed chicane and then wait for a spot and RUN! Then beware the ongoing construction on Queen's Quay all the way to Bathurst.)

But point taken. Eastern Avenue past Logan leads to the Eastern Avenue Bridge just past Broadview - which is partly an off-ramp for the DVP southbound - and is also constructed just like a 400 series highway ramp - so wide lanes and a very high speed traffic. Plus it has an off-ramp for north bound DVP off the eastbound lanes of the bridge at the eastern end of it; plus it has merging lanes at it's apex which connect it to Adelaide eastbound, and to Richmond westbound.

I don't see a way that it can be fixed (made a Complete Street).

So, candidates that want to be Councillor of Ward 30 need to be asked the question:

Should we extend the Bike Lanes on Eastern over to Broadview? Do we build a cyclist's pedestrian bridge off the end of Sunlight Park Road over to Corktown Common (that would connect to the planned Richmond/Adelaide cycling corridor)?

And because the approaches to that route are private property owned by First Gulf, part of the Leaver site - do we then therefore have to go with a short-term fix until that development package is sorted out, and put Bike Lanes on Broadview?

At a minimum, to create a sort-of-OK bike-commute-route network - we need Bike Lanes on Broadview up to the Dundas Bike Lanes.

Or do we face the facts and tear down the Eastern Avenue Bridge, and start over?

Hard Choices. Will these realities help move the conversation forward that often doesn't go anywhere around real cycling infrastructure - transportation issues in general - in the GTA?

I hope so.


¹Youtube Channel - Liz West - A Better Network of Bike Lanes - http://youtu.be/r14kfe-mZsw




NOTE:
The Eastern Avenue Bike Lanes go from Leslie to Logan - that's twelve neighbourhood blocks (not four); and - if we separated the Eastern Avenue Bike Lanes form the traffic lanes - it would connect Bruce Junior Public School and Morse Street Jr Public School to the neighbourhoods.



mh

LSB/LDRT Intersection Hazards

LSB/LDRT Intersection Hazards



.. I end with "..it's a big problem ... at Morse..." - and I go on to say (as my battery over-heats) - 'at Logan and Booth.'

That is - Conflicts between Drivers and Trail Users - where the motor vehicle drivers are nosing into the Lower Don Recreation Trail (or completely blocking it) as they try to make a dangerous and heart pounding merge onto the fast Lake Shore Boulevard from these small side streets.

In some cases I watched as the driver, confronted with so many vectors - and different qualities of vectors (cyclists at one set of speeds, joggers and at another speed...) - that they actually make mistakes and force cyclists to slam on their brakes of steer evasively to avoid being hit as the driver slams on their brakes just in time.

More videos on this are coming right up.

I spent 2 hours at Logan/LSB/LDRT tonight (Wednesday, August 27, 2014) between when this video was shot( at 5:24 pm) til about 7:30pm.

I saw the switch from commute cyclists dominating the traffic pulses along the LDRT, to recreation cyclists dominating the flows. The numbers never decreased. And all the while, motor vehicle traffic maintained a steady volume - both on the Lake Shore Boulevard and motor vehicle drivers using Logan southbound to get onto the LSB.

Very interesting.

Thinking that making Logan a through-street down to Commissioners with a signaled intersection at LSB, might be the best way to solve all this.

'Almosts' (bikes getting almost hit by cars) happen every few minutes at Logan. At the signaled intersections - like Carlaw - 'almosts' happen *just* once an hour. :\



mh