For most of its length along Scott, BikeWest is pretty simple. The two-way paved surface would be set back from Scott Street whenever possible. At major signalized intersections, the bike route might snuggle up to Scott. Signalized intersections at Holland, Island Park, and Lanark would operate as described previously: through east-west traffic on both the road and BikeWest would proceed on green; all left and right turning traffic that might cross BikeWest would go only on green arrows when through traffic movements are prohibited. This would not unduly delay car traffic, and would minimize the conflicts between cyclists and motorists.
For the minor, unsignalized intersections, the bike route might be pulled close to the transitway cut, and would cross the streets on a raised surface. This sharply raised surface will be self-enforcing to vehicles, which will slow down before going over the hump. With a hump, motorists would be reminded of the cycle route whether cyclists are present or not. There would be at least one car length transition zone between the bike crossing and the Scott roadway, so cars would not get hung up in the intersections. There should be yield signs located at each car crossing of the bike surface, to remind vehicles that they are crossing the bike way and that cyclists have priority.
If the raised bike route crossing intersections arrangement fails to get past City hall bureaucrats and naysayers, it will be back to level crossings similar to the picture below, but with better alignment and hopefully a coloured asphalt path crossing the road to reinforce the presence of the bike route.
The preferred set-back / raised crossing is not perfect. Nothing short of a fully-grade-separated route can be. But most of these unsignalized streets are low volume local traffic roads. Signage would be required reminding motorists not to queue up blocking the bike route.
Exactly how the BikeWest route would bypass the bus transfer stations at Tunney’s and Westboro can only be determined when design criteria for these stations has been decided on. The bypass need not be difficult or expensive or dangerous. But it needs to be designed into the stations right from the beginning. For example, the current arrangement at Westboro Station locates the bus bay well off Scott Street, letting cyclists continue along a painted shoulder. This is better than the Tunney’s arrangement that forces cyclists to mix with pedestrians and waiting bus users in the same area. Recall that both these stations will be redesigned as part of the LRT project and modifications/provisions for WestBike could be incorporated in the rebuilding.
Once BikeWest approaches Churchill and Dominion, a number of options open up. Many cyclists will percolate south on the side streets that penetrate the residential neighborhoods between the River and Carling. For more dedicated longer-haul cyclists, two options will be explored in the next segment.
