FAQ - Salisbury & Shediac roads
1. Why can't cyclists use sidewalks instead of roads?2. Why take away some lanes of traffic on busy streets like Salisbury and Shediac roads?
3. The City is making it more dangerous to drive on city streets. Isn’t the City endangering cyclists by putting them on a high speed road with a lot of cars?
4. As a motorist, you are forcing me to slow down on both these streets. Weren’t these streets were built for cars to travel at fairly high speeds?
5. Won’t creating a centre turning lane cause more accidents, and increase the likelihood of accidents with cyclists?
6. Why was a multipurpose trail on Shediac Rd. and Salisbury Rd. not considered?
7. You are sending cyclists from Shediac Road on Lewisville Road. Lewisville Road is currently unsafe for cyclists.
8. The causeway traffic circle is problematic for both cyclists and pedestrians. What is being done to rectify this?
1. Why can’t cyclists use sidewalks instead of roads?
Cycling on roads is safer than on sidewalks. It poses an increased safety risk for both walkers and cyclists. Studies have shown that more collisions occur when cyclists use sidewalks compared to when they travel on the street. In fact, studies have shown that sidewalk cycling is almost twice as dangerous as cycling on streets; cycling against traffic on sidewalks is more than four times as dangerous as cycling on streets.
2. Why take away some lanes of traffic on busy streets like Salisbury and Shediac roads?
The Transportation Association of Canada considers a four-lane roadway when traffic counts reach 20,000 vehicles per day. Both Salisbury and Shediac road traffic counts are below the 10,000 mark. In fact, many other main thoroughfares in the City only have two lanes (without the advantage of the two-way left turning lane), and vehicles flow smoothly. For example:
Connaught Ave 19,000 vehicles/day
Killam Dr. 14,700 vehicles/day
Mill Rd. 14,500 vehicles/day
St. George St. 13,500 vehicles/day
Botsford St. 13,000 vehicles/day
Main St. 12,000 vehicles/day
Mapleton Rd. 12,000 vehicles/day
McLaughlin Dr. 12,000 vehicles/day
Collishaw St. 11,000 vehicles/day
Purdy Ave. 11,000 vehicles/day
3. The City is making it more dangerous to drive on city streets. Isn’t the City endangering cyclists by putting them on a high speed road with a lot of cars?
Cyclists already have the right to ride on the street and, in fact, should be. By providing designated bike lanes on major arterials, the City is making these roads safer for cyclists, while also providing a safer buffer for pedestrians. Bikes have their designated space and cars have theirs. Mutual respect in sharing the road is important to making it work.
The Transportation Association of Canada recommends a four-lane roadway when traffic counts reach 20,000 vehicles per day. Current data shows traffic counts on both Shediac and Salisbury roads to be around 6,000 to 10,000 per day. Both of these streets are not intended to be main thoroughfares with cars travelling at high speeds through residential areas. The changes to Shediac and Salisbury roads will better position them as primary residential streets to be shared by all users (pedestrians, cyclists and cars).
4. As a motorist, you are forcing me to slow down on both these streets. Weren’t these streets were built for cars to travel at fairly high speeds?
Shediac Road and Salisbury Road are located in significant residential areas. The posted speed limit is either 50 or 60 km/h, but because of low traffic volumes and the way these streets are currently configured, they encourage motorists to drive well over the posted speed limits. Slowing traffic down on these roads will make is safer for all users.
Slowing down vehicular traffic, adding dedicated bike lanes and creating a safer buffer for pedestrians will encourage more pedestrians and cyclists to use the road and feel safer doing so.
5. Won’t creating a centre turning lane cause more accidents, and increase the likelihood of accidents with cyclists?
A common centre left turn lane is safer than the existing four-lane configurations on both Shediac and Salisbury roads. Transportation Association of Canada studies show that going from a four-lane road to a three-lane road, with a common centre-left turning lane, will reduce collisions by 25 per cent.
On a four lane road, cars have to stop suddenly in the inside lane to make a left turn, increasing the possibility of a collision from the rear, and they have to cross two lanes of traffic to turn. With a dedicated common centre left-turn lane, cars can move into the lane at slower speeds, and wait safely until it’s clear for them to make a left turn.
Common centre left-turn lanes are used in many Canadian cities including Saint John, Rothesay, Halifax, Toronto and Vancouver.
6. Why was a multipurpose trail on Shediac Rd. and Salisbury Rd. not considered?
The cost of expropriation, relocating hydro poles and removing trees would be significant. In addition, the amount of driveways on both streets would not make it conducive to a multi-purpose trail. Cyclists travel at higher speeds than pedestrians, and a motorist exiting a driveway does not expect these faster users from opposite directions.
In order to provide safe separate cycling trails along streets, driveways cannot exist. Providing access to driveways and having a separate cycling path will create unsafe travel and conflicts for cyclists. When you see these trails on streets, driveways do not exist along the cycling path. Having bicycle lanes within the street configuration is much safer when there are many driveways on the street.
7. You are sending cyclists from Shediac Road on Lewisville Road. Lewisville Road is currently unsafe for cyclists.
Construction to upgrade the intersection and Lewisville and Shediac roads will begin this summer. The upgrades to this intersection will make it safer for all users. There are challenges between cyclists and motorists at intersections. This is why the concept of sharing the road is so important. Through mutual respect and increased awareness on the part of both cyclists and motorists, intersections will become safer.
Ultimately there will be connectivity between Lewisville and Shediac Road, but, Lewisville Rd. has been identified as a challenging street in our AT Plan. We are working hard to find a solution. However, in the meantime, cyclists have as much right to use Lewisville Rd. as motorists do. The ‘share the road’ concept still applies.
8. The causeway traffic circle is problematic for both cyclists and pedestrians. What is being done to rectify this?
The City is working towards providing a better way for cyclists and pedestrians to cross the traffic circle. Cyclists can continue to use the circle (share the road), but the challenge has always been to get walkers across. As such, the City is proposing to build a pedestrian and cycling bridge next to the current CN Bridge. In order to accomplish this project we are working now with both CN and New Brunswick’s Department of Transportation (NBDOT). Next steps include a presentation on this to the Sustainable Transportation Planning Committee in July 2011, to get approval to hire a consultant for design.
In the meantime, the City will be asking NBDOT to add bike symbols and sharrows within the traffic circle.
Salisbury Rd. will have over 5 km of reserved bikes lanes. As such, the bike lanes are not only servicing cyclists wanting to commute towards downtown, but also for those wanting to travel between neighborhoods or even to the industrial park where there are designated bike lanes and connectivity to St George Blvd – cyclists may want to consider these routes for their commute.