Does Uptown Waterloo need protected bike lanes?

Last night, the Region of Waterloo and the City of Waterloo held their firstpublic consultation on changes coming to the Uptown Waterloo streetscape.

King Street North will be redesigned between Erb and University streets, with the hope of making it more pedestrian friendly.

The Tri-Cities Transport Action Group says the plan is on the right track but itsmajor weakness is the lack of protected bike lanes, which wouldseparate cyclists from motorized vehicles by a row of parked cars.

"Every year we see that there are tons of people who are coming there by bike anyway."

"There's a lot of cities in North America that are trying protected bike laneswhere parked cars are actually the thing protecting cyclists."

Proposed changesinclude:

• From where theLRTtracks cross King, south ofErbStreet to Bridgeport Road: reduce car traffic to one lane in either direction, include a1-metre painted centre median, on-street parking and dedicated bike lanes.
• From Bridgeport Road to Central Street, a continuous left turn lane in the centre of King as well as on-street parking and dedicated bike lanes.
• From Central Street to University Avenue, limit King Street to one lane of traffic in either direction with a continuous left turn lane anddedicated bike lanes.
• Replace pedestrian signals on King atWilfridLaurierUniversity and Marshall Street with a pedestrian crossing refuge andlandscape islands.

Would you use separated bicycle lanes in Uptown Waterloo? Are they needed in addition to existing cycling routes, like the Iron Horse Trail network? Do you think the plans would make a more pedestrian-friendly Waterloo?

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