Comment 118042

By Sara (registered) | Posted April 29, 2016 at 08:09:12

A regular bike box there would certainly be useful for cyclists, but a bike box like you describe is a two stage crossing just like the current one is (article seems to suggest just the current one is a two stage crossing): with a bike box on Cannon at Hess, if you arrive at Hess and the light is green you have to stop, wait for the light to turn red, then proceed to through the bike box to the north side of Hess, then wait for a green light to proceed again.

Having both types of bike boxes would be ideal - that way arriving at the Hess at a red light, one can use the Cannon St bike box to get to north side and wait for green there. If one arrives at Cannon and light is green, one can proceed through the intersection to the Hess St bike box to wait for second green light there.

I do wonder though about the are safety considerations that aren't mentioned in this article. It is dangerous if cyclists proceed into a bike box when light is red but then turns green before they have gotten to other side as the cyclist is then directly in the path of cars. With all the trucks using Cannon, the side to side views for cars can be obstructed and they might not see that a cyclist misjudged the timing for the bike box manoeuvre and this could lead to collisions. Cannon is also more lanes than other bike boxes in Hamilton and it maybe too many lanes and high volume to meet existing safety standards for bike boxes.

For these safety risks, many cycling advocates don't think cities should be using bike boxes at all (very new in the Netherlands, and none in Montreal last time I checked). Instead, they prefer keeping cyclists safe by having a period in the intersection light cycle dedicated to cyclists (and pedestrians). Here's an interesting blog post arguing against bike boxes: https://aseasyasridingabike.wordpress.co...

Permalink | Context

Events Calendar

There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?

Recent Articles

Article Archives

Blog Archives

Site Tools

Feeds