Comments on: What to do about Harewood/Gardiners/Breens intersection? https://cyclingchristchurch.co.nz/2019/06/02/what-to-do-about-harewood-gardiners-breens-intersection/ Regular people riding bicycles Wed, 12 Jun 2019 04:27:51 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.1 By: Jan Jakob https://cyclingchristchurch.co.nz/2019/06/02/what-to-do-about-harewood-gardiners-breens-intersection/#comment-25332 Wed, 12 Jun 2019 04:27:51 +0000 http://cyclingchristchurch.co.nz/?p=19414#comment-25332 In reply to Simon Britten.

Love it. It’s a pity I already submitted. I would have still submitted all the technical details in case the turning restrictions are implemented, but you are right. One-laning, and giving over the created room to alternative modes of transport, would have been by far the best option.

]]> By: Simon Britten https://cyclingchristchurch.co.nz/2019/06/02/what-to-do-about-harewood-gardiners-breens-intersection/#comment-25294 Tue, 11 Jun 2019 07:19:32 +0000 http://cyclingchristchurch.co.nz/?p=19414#comment-25294 My thinking is that it’s important to look at the wider network and not just focus on the one intersection. A good first step would be to drop to a single lane in each direction along the length of Harewood Road, then re-evaluate the situation at the Harewood/Gardiners/Breens intersection. My submission to Council can be found at https://simonbritten.com/2019/06/09/submission-on-harewood-gardiners-breens-intersection/.
Simon Britten
Think Papanui founder/curator

]]> By: Jan Jakob https://cyclingchristchurch.co.nz/2019/06/02/what-to-do-about-harewood-gardiners-breens-intersection/#comment-24975 Sun, 02 Jun 2019 04:06:39 +0000 http://cyclingchristchurch.co.nz/?p=19414#comment-24975 I should add (and I haven’t actually made my submission yet): I only thought about option 1 or option 2 in terms of somebody who crosses Harewood Rd on a bicycle. Thinking about it more now, option 1 is probably preferable, not only for the reasons mentioned here, but also for the reason mentioned in the Spokes text, i.e. option 1 will calm down motorized traffic on Breens Rd and Gardiners Rd.
I would also note that the difference between the Mackenzie Ave crossing and the Hinau St crossing is that the former gives priority to the main roadway, the latter priority to bicycles on the cycle crossing. I am not sure which one is preferable. The idea behind these crossings is to make right turns easier. I would assume that in a normal scenario, if I am riding on the main roadway and I start signalling right with my hand and no car next to me, from that moment onward, no car is legally allowed to pass me on the right, at least if doing so would involve a crossing of the center line (which it probably does if keeping safe distances).
The reason these special crossings are needed because a sufficiently large number, if not the majority, of people driving cars will pass people on bicycles on the right despite the latters’ hand signals, making right turns generally unsafe for cyclists in areas of sufficient motorized traffic.
The problem with the Mackenzie Ave-style crossings is that a person on a bicycle using the crossing is worse of, priority-wise, than if they simply signaled right.
The problem with the Hinau St-style crossings presumably is the same problem that already applies to right turns: people in cars will simply ignore the cycle lane priority. A cyclist relying on their priority will thus risk being run over. The Hinau St crossing tries mitigating that by having a warning “Watch for traffic” (translation: watch for people in cars ignoring the clear cycle priority signage – imagine having a sign “Watch for traffic” at every traffic light).
I tend to prefer the Hinau St-style crossings with cycle priority, because t̶h̶e̶y̶ ̶g̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶o̶p̶p̶o̶r̶t̶u̶n̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶f̶e̶e̶l̶ ̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶e̶o̶u̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶r̶a̶g̶e̶, they work most of the time and I always watch for cars actually according me priority.

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