[Moncton] Active Transportation

[josh_cat_eyes]

I don’t find all of Mountain road to be bad for traffic. From High street to the McDonalds is generally always busy. But I find from there to Mapleton road, there is less traffic, and it is therefore travelling at a higher speed. From Mapleton to Hildegard is pretty bad, and from Hildegard to Gorge road it is busy, but north of Gorge road I just find the traffic speeding. As much as myself and I’m sure many other would hate it, Mountain road could use a road diet.

That being said, St. George Blvd is a road in the city that could very easily use a road diet. There could be separated bike lanes on both sides of the road. I believe you could eliminate 2 lanes entirely in St George.

[josh_cat_eyes]

They have recently paved the lower end of Mapleton road, and there is now bike lanes on both sides of the road!

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by josh_cat_eyes

They have recently paved the lower end of Mapleton road, and there is now bike lanes on both sides of the road!

That portion of Mapleton Road is wide enough that bike lanes can be added with relative impunity. Good luck getting closer to the Plaza Blvd area though.......

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

That portion of Mapleton Road is wide enough that bike lanes can be added with relative impunity. Good luck getting closer to the Plaza Blvd area though.......

So it basically still dead-ends at Mountain at one end then at the other you have your choice of Rabbit Brook trail (which dead-ends at Connaught) or the little-back-alley trail that follows Plaza (to dead-end at Mountain) or wing-it up over Wheeler to get into Mapleton Park (where you can only really get out onto Gorge, which in turn dead-ends at Mountain again...)

Ah well, more lanes are still progress in the right direction!

[josh_cat_eyes]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

That portion of Mapleton Road is wide enough that bike lanes can be added with relative impunity. Good luck getting closer to the Plaza Blvd area though.......

Yes I agree. At least they are there now, and the road lanes are not just unnecessarily wide. They could probably add a connection to the trail. Another thing that is needed, especially in this area, is more local businesses with bike racks. For example the entire retail plaza in front of the recently finished section, has nowhere for you to store you bike. Another thing I’d love to see is a pedestrian crossing from the traffic light on Trinity Blvd, across wheeler and a path behind the Walmart connecting it to Plaza Blvd. As it stands now, you can see a worn path in the grass where pedestrians are crossing wheeler, which is incredibly dangerous.

[MonctonRad]

Moncton plans to install first on-street separated bike lanes this summer
Cyclists would be separated from traffic by movable concrete curbs or bollards
Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Feb 08, 2023 6:30 AM AST | Last Updated: 2 hours ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...llam-1.6739854

If approved by council, bollards or movable concrete curbs would separate cyclists from traffic along Vaughan Harvey Boulevard between St. George and Main streets, and on Killam Drive between Ayer Avenue and the roundabout.

the plan is to bundle the work in with street paving. Contracts for that work have yet to go to market and will require council approval.

[Nashe]

Work has begun on the segregated cycle lane on Vaughan Harvey (from St. George to Main). A small stretch, but a start. As an avid on-street commuter/recreational cyclist, I have mixed feelings. It will make a lot of people feel safer while cycling, and annoy the purists.

[MonctonRad]

Photo of the new bike lane being painted on the recently resurfaced portion of Vaughan Harvey Blvd:


T&T photo

[Nashe]

Rode UP it yesterday on my commute... It isn't what I thought it'd be. I was thinking they were going to have some sort of physical barrier, but they've just moved the bike lane closer to the curb and segregated it from traffic by a wider hast-mark section. I actually kinda prefer it this way, as there are no hard limits on passing ability in the bike lane. The green bits are where the bike lane crosses car lanes, making them more visible. I'm pleasantly surprised, overall. A lot better than I was expecting. Will be tougher to pull off on streets that are narrower, but I'm interested to see where they plan future rollouts.

[MonctonRad]

Cycling trail connecting Greater Moncton to Parlee Beach expected to open in 2025
Construction of the Shore-Line Trail continues this summer
Maeve McFadden · CBC News · Posted: Aug 16, 2023 7:00 AM ADT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-b...cton-1.6936835


CBC photo

Construction crews are busy this summer clearing and resurfacing a section of a cycling trail that will eventually connect Mill Creek Park in Riverview to Parlee Beach Provincial Park.

The crews are working on a five-kilometre section of an abandoned railway corridor in the Scoudouc area, clearing vegetation and using aggregate materials to create a trail that is suitable for cyclists and walkers.

The work is part of a much larger project called the Shore-Line trail, which will be approximately 170 kilometres long stretching from Alma, N.B., to Shediac.

The goal of the Shore-Line trail is to eventually connect three major tourist attractions: Fundy National Park, Hopewell Rocks and Parlee Beach.

Work on the Moncton-Shediac portion of the Shoreline Trail should be complete in 2025.

[MonctonianSentinel01]

Excellent article and thanks for posting! I'll definitely be trying this out. I hope that more places are connected like this in The Greater Moncton Area, this is what I love to see as some of the cyclists say, some of the roads can be dangerous. I remember when bike lanes first came out, I thought they were kind of a nuance. Particularly because of the lane reduction on Shediac and Salisbury roads. I've since gotten over it. I will say though that Salisbury road is definitely ok with one lane in each direction, though Shediac road is kind of busy in the morning hours with just one lane in each direction but I think that we make out ok. The bike lanes are worth it. I only hope that when they make new roads in the future that they make them wide enough for bike lanes from the very beginning when they are constructed. This however is an entirely new level as it's not just safer but gives a much better and different experience, it's what we really need more of.

[MonctonRad]

Sounds like you and me are on the same page about active transportation. I am in favour of investing and supporting active transportation, but, as far as I'm concerned, the best place for cyclists is on a dedicated cycling/pedestrian trail completely removed from the roadways.

Happily, there is a pretty good network of such trails here in Moncton. Here in the northwest end, it is possible to travel nearly the entire 10 km distance to downtown on a dedicated trail. The only real choke point is where it crosses Berry Mills Road. I personally would support the idea of building a flyover across Berry Mills Road at Edinburgh to facilitate active transportation in this area, even if this cost a couple of million dollars. I think this would be a judicious investment and would make more people seriously consider using bicycles (at least some of the time) in travelling to and from the downtown core.

Cycling zealots have a very activist agenda regarding roadsharing with the car driving public. I am not a big fan of "road diets", but, there are certain roads in greater Moncton where this has been accomplished without too much harm. This includes Salisbury Road and Shediac Road. With Shediac Road however, it is possible that as traffic increases, the road might have to revert to four lanes. I also have no problem with the bicycle lanes on Vaughan Harvey Blvd. The street is wide enough to support this. As for roads like Mountain Road however, there is no way on God's Earth that a road diet is possible here. Mountain Road is a very difficult nut to crack for active transportation.

In other words, I support active transportation where accommodations can made with little harm to the commuting public, and I support judicious investments in a dedicated bicycle network in the city. I doubt my position would garner me much favour with the cycling zealots, but, I really do wish them well, and support a comprehensive cycling network wherever possible.

[OliverD]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I am not a big fan of "road diets", but, there are certain roads in greater Moncton where this has been accomplished without too much harm.

Harm is an interesting choice of words here since the intent of road diets is to reduce harm to all road users.

Cycling lanes reduce fatalities for all road users, study shows

[lirette]

"Can I bike from Moncton to Parlee Beach" is actually one of the most commonly asked questions on the Moncton subreddit page, so this will definitely be welcome. I believe the answer is usually that "you can" but its not ideal or enjoyable.

[MonctonianSentinel01]

Originally Posted by OliverD

Harm is an interesting choice of words here since the intent of road diets is to reduce harm to all road users.

Cycling lanes reduce fatalities for all road users, study shows

Last line of the study:

As this study focuses on larger cities, the results are not generalizable to smaller cities.

The study does show this is mostly in bigger cities and not in small ones. I get that too, bigger cities people are often racing around to try and make up for the long commute times that are insanely long with grid lock in some places. It also didn't show where these accidents are happening, I imagine they are mostly on highways or expressways where the speed limit is high. Perhaps not. It also said this:

They found that safer cities aren't due to the increase in cyclists, but the infrastructure built for them -- specifically, separated and protected bike lanes.

I'd be very interested in this and think that it would be a great fit for The Greater Moncton area. However that isn't what is being built in Moncton. Bike lanes are not protected by a barrier of any type and are not separated from the physical road.

If this was the case I would definitely be pushing for it myself. It's also not a good ideal to make a road like Vaughan Harvey bike friendly and then have it lead to many roads that aren't bike friendly, but I do understand that we have to start some where. We can't do them all at once.

I think it's best to keep using the trails until most of the roads are ready. I see some roads like Hennessey Road and Dieppe Boulevard have bike paths off the road safe out of harms way. I'd say the goal should be to go where ever you want to go by bike rather than having to absolutely have it on the road. I understand that nowhere did you or the study say this.

Another thought is I wonder if we were to make protected lanes how would they be cleaned in the wintertime when the road plows can't get to a separated bike lane? All things to figure out if this is going to be done.

[BlackYear]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

I am in favour of investing and supporting active transportation, but, as far as I'm concerned, the best place for cyclists is on a dedicated cycling/pedestrian trail completely removed from the roadways.

I 100% agree. I refuse to ride on streets unless absolutely no choice to get where I want to go. I just finished a 22km ride on the ebike along the riverfront trail. I only needed to use the street for a short 500m from my house to the trail.

As for a bike trail from Moncton to Parlee Beach? Hell yeah! My ebike can clock very close to 40km on a full charge. I'll just pack the charger in the backpack.

[Sunnybrae]

A bit of a rant here but I was driving down Dickson Blvd. in Moncton the other day and noticed something odd. A fair amount of people walking dogs and people jogging..... using the bike lanes. I get that the sidewalks can be uneven but..... really? So your not suppose to drive a bike on a sidewalk but its ok to walk your dog in the bike lane. Even children have more common sense than the adults because they were using the sidewalks. Its bad enough that cyclists have to compete with cars but now they have to compete with pedestrians. WOW

[MonctonRad]

I see that the new dedicated bike lanes on the recently repaved section of Killam are now open, complete with the fancy green paint and flexible pylons (delineators) separating the bike lanes from the driving lanes.

I am not a big fan of the delineators. They tend to make the driving lanes feel artificially narrow.

[adamuptownsj]

Originally Posted by Sunnybrae

A bit of a rant here but I was driving down Dickson Blvd. in Moncton the other day and noticed something odd. A fair amount of people walking dogs and people jogging..... using the bike lanes. I get that the sidewalks can be uneven but..... really? So your not suppose to drive a bike on a sidewalk but its ok to walk your dog in the bike lane. Even children have more common sense than the adults because they were using the sidewalks. Its bad enough that cyclists have to compete with cars but now they have to compete with pedestrians. WOW

Wait until you see the number of cyclists that use sidewalks and crosswalks like pedestrians and don't follow any rules of the road.

[SevenSquared]

Originally Posted by Sunnybrae

A bit of a rant here but I was driving down Dickson Blvd. in Moncton the other day and noticed something odd. A fair amount of people walking dogs and people jogging..... using the bike lanes. I get that the sidewalks can be uneven but..... really? So your not suppose to drive a bike on a sidewalk but its ok to walk your dog in the bike lane. Even children have more common sense than the adults because they were using the sidewalks. Its bad enough that cyclists have to compete with cars but now they have to compete with pedestrians. WOW

I encounter this more and more. Love seeing a lot more pedestrians than before, don't love when some of them needlessly take up the bike lanes.

The whole idea is to make commuting by bike/micromobility as viable of an alternative to driving as possible, and it kind of defeats the purpose when commute times are significantly increased by constantly having to slow to a crawl to safely get around pedestrians walking where they shouldn't be.