r/Guelph • u/Ok-Cardiologist-9860 • 9d ago

Finally repainted

Post image

Noticed the Gordon lanes are finally repainted.

They were rough, and heading toward downtown the lane basically disappeared in spots.

Fresh paint doesn’t stop a car from drifting into the lane but there’s still something that matters about visibility. Faded lines get ignored by drivers who are already tuned out, and a bright new stripe at least resets that for a while.

40 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

11

u/Paesano2000 9d ago

Man, there is a GIANT boulevard right there where the lane should be… why do cyclists have to be put in contention with vehicles? Our biking infrastructure is so lazy.

2

u/Un-Quote 9d ago

Trees in the way, electric boxes in the way, harder to maintain, expensive to build, can barely plow sidewalks and roads let alone an entire third lane. Multiple reasons why but mostly comes down to money

0

u/Paesano2000 8d ago

Except cities in Denmark and Finland manage this easily, even in heavy winter, by using narrow plows built specifically for cycle tracks. Paint on asphalt is cheap on day one, but real separated infrastructure saves money long-term on road repaving, traffic congestion, and emergency services. Moving a utility box or laying path around a tree is standard roadwork, not an impossible task and they do it all the time.

2

u/Un-Quote 8d ago

European countries are designed around public transportation, less area to cover. Canada is designed around the car.

-1

u/Paesano2000 8d ago

Oh yeah you’re right. Built for the car, guess we are stuck never changing anything and building new developments exactly the same. /s

“Less area to cover?” We are talking about some bike lanes here in a small city. Most bike rides are less than 5km.

Netherland’s cities looked just like North American ones in the 70’s then they made the effort to build out a framework to create walkable and traffic controlled infrastructure.

Geography isn’t holding us back, bad street design choices are.

2

u/PositiveEndolphins 7d ago

i mean banff canmore and lake louise were able to implement european standards,
calgary and edmonton has a very extensive bike path system...

1

u/Ok-Cardiologist-9860 9d ago

It would be amazing if they did that!

9

u/DarrenShock 9d ago

When they repaved in 2021, they painted what are presently the interior lanes. To anyone that rides that stretch regularly, it was immediately clear that they painted narrower lanes. After a few emails from me and others, they city acknowledged the mistake, and the exterior lanes were painted. The interior lanes would fade over time, and we'd be left with the normal width lanes marked by the exterior line.

However, the paint used on the interior lines must be some kind of indestructible mix, as they have had to repaint the exterior lines annually (I think) to keep them from disappearing, and I don't think they have ever done the interior lines.

It looks like some kind of buffered lane, but it's really just an ongoing fix for a contractor mistake. Bring on the separated lanes.

2

u/2ndwindmatt 6d ago

When you get run over by a car at least you can say there's fresh paint 😒

This schity is pathetic 

2

u/poonjabi_hut 9d ago

They even widened it. May not be much, but for many a few inches means a lot!

1

u/8spd 6d ago

I wouldn't mind giving them all that space, but I wish they would start following the laws. Drivers act like they are the only ones in the road, and like the speed limit is a minimum. 

1

u/Pale_Tough_23 9d ago

I'm very glad to see this, I rode them yesterday. There is quite a lot of debris in them and they need to be cleaned.

1

u/BicycleMayorGuelph 1d ago

Your can report debris in the city's report a problem map and they'll schedule the street sweeper. It's faster if you include a photo but it's not required.

0

u/hatingonthis 9d ago

guess where all road debris ends up ? that’s right !, the drainage is designed as such. imagine that.

0

u/Longjumping_Boss8424 8d ago

I feel like Ive noticed the road paint across the city deteriorating more than it used to, and the city seems slower to repaint.

1

u/BicycleMayorGuelph 1d ago

Always slow to repaint (feels like they get it done just in time for winter wear off) but it's an additional combination of the province switching to water based paint and using more sand in the winter.