Friday, November 11, 2011

local cycling feedback

http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/622769--cyclists-want-drivers-to-share-the-road

Verlegh and Shehata were among more than 80 people attending the public input session for Walk Cycle Waterloo Region. Planners want feedback on how the region can better support pedestrians and cyclists as they prepared a new master plan that combines separate ones.

The next public meeting is scheduled for Nov. 17 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 54 Queen St. North in Kitchener.

Regional planners use the input and other research to produce preliminary action plans.

Another round of public meetings will be held in the spring for feedback on those proposed plans covering roadway design, a cycling/walking network, infilling gaps, local projects of regional importance, a winter network, strategic signage and education programs.

Julia Canning, who rides a bicycle every day from her home in Kitchener to university classes in Waterloo, has scars on her body from when she was hit by a vehicle.

Canning was walking her bicycle in a crosswalk. She had the green light. The driver was turning right on a red and didn’t see her. The driver fled the scene.

“It is terrifying,” Canning said of the collision. “It is an incredibly frightening experience.”

Right turns on red lights should be banned, as they are in many American jurisdictions and in Quebec, she said.

“Drivers will look for other cars, but they don’t look for pedestrians,” Canning said.

George Roth said the off-road trails need better connections and better signs.

“It’s fine to have trails, but if you don’t have them connected they don’t work very well,” Roth said.

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