Info sessions on the West Vancouver bus-only lane on Marine Drive, Thu Sept 2 and Sat Sept 4
Info sessions on the West Vancouver bus-only lane on Marine Drive, Thu Sept 2 and Sat Sept 4
I’m still on holiday! This is a scheduled post.
You’re invited to learn more about the bus-only lane on Marine Drive in West Vancouver!
As you may know, an eastbound bus-only lane is being built on Marine Drive, starting just west of the Village at Park Royal to Taylor Way. The reason: no more traffic lanes can be added to the bridge, and taking transit is the only way to move more people over the bridge. (Buses make up two per cent of bridge traffic, but move 28 per cent of travellers, and increasing transit’s share of the road will help increase capacity.)
Info sessions about the lane are planned at Park Royal Shopping Centre from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the following dates:
Thursday Sept. 2 @ North Mall centre court near Aveda
Saturday Sept. 4 @ South Mall in front of Latitude
The West Vancouver Bus Lane is part of the $40 million Marine Drive Transit Priority Improvement Project, which also includes replacing the old Capilano River Bridge with a new three-lane bridge, adding a bus lane in North Vancouver and improving Marine Drive.
For more information, contact Vincent Gonsalves, Community Relations Coordinator at TransLink, at vincent.gonsalves@translink.ca or 604-453-3043. You can also check out the info session page on the main website for more.
There was an opportunity to add traffic lanes for the recent upgrade. However, the thought of tolls killed the idea.
Motorcycles and Vanpools are currently allowed on the current bus queue jumpers going going onto the bridge.
Is this same courtesy planned to be extended?
We need more dedicated bus lanes in Vancouver.
I agree with Chris, however, if right turns are allowed, they become useless. When I am driving along Burrard during rush hour, most of the driving is done in the regular lane due to a long que of cars turning right.
Right turns are a problem, but can be mitigated through the use of dedicated right turn lanes with advance right arrows that activate when the lane fills up.
There’s plenty of room for this on Burrard southbound at Davie, for example.
For turning onto a street with HOV lanes, turning into the nearest available lane should be encouraged. I’ve noticed that many people jump out into the middle lane because they think they can’t turn into the first lane available because it’s an HOV lane, when in fact, it’s required by law.
Are you sure that that’s the law Cliff? I know the section of the MVA that specifies that you must turn into the right lane, but Burnaby posts signs telling you not to do that.
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&q=burnaby+bc&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia&gl=ca&ei=Fut_TMiLH5CasAPcxey1Cw&ved=0CB0Q8gEwAA&ll=49.24298,-123.002983&spn=0.002515,0.006663&z=17&layer=c&cbll=49.242977,-123.002811&panoid=qchl9ugb4adDTS5rmmwIPg&cbp=12,330.2,,3,-1.92
(also, a lot of the right turning vehicles off of Burrard are turning into hotels, such as the Hyatt.
Where a sign says otherwise, then you must follow the sign. (As it is a traffic control device).
But the default for where no sign exists is ALWAYS the first lane available. Even if there is a parked car 100 metres away. People are supposed to take the first lane available then change lanes if they need to.
This is much safer for cyclists assuming everyone follows the rules to the letter. At Nelson at Burrard for example, you turn right into the nearest available lane, then speed up and shoulder check the bike lane and the next available vehicle lane and merge in. If one simply turned into the second lane, they may only be paying attention to the first and second lanes and may not see cyclists using the cycle lane.
The reason for this is because left turning traffic must also do the same thing and turn into the nearest lane. Done correctly, two vehicles can complete their turns onto a road with two lanes in one direction at the same time. (Like people turning left from 10th onto Kingsway at the same time people are turning right).
And don’t laugh when I say this, but the place I see people turn correctly almost 100% of the time is Richmond.
In one case, in Richmond, I got lazy thinking nobody but me actually obeyed this rule and was about to complete my right turn in the left lane and to my surprise, when I shoulder checked, saw that a driver turning left had helped himself to the lane next to mine at the same time I had turned. Now that’s efficient!
Getting back on subject a little bit here…
I’m going to take a moment to point out that the lanes on Willingdon are designed quite badly if people use them to the letter of the law.
First, only buses are exempted from turning right northbound on Willingdon at Moscrop. This means that vanpools, taxis, cyclists, and motorcyclists must change lanes after the intersection to get into the HOV lane. This is senseless.
Secondly, the HOV lanes on Willingdon between Canada Way and Moscrop end in right turns that only allow buses to proceed straight. This means that vanpools, taxis, motorcyclists, and cyclists, must change into the general purpose lanes when the solid line becomes broken before Canada Way or Moscrop. And because there’s often a great deal of traffic, that must mean, to obey the law, these three types of vehicles must STOP in the fast moving HOV lane, blocking buses and other people wishing to turn into it to make a right turn and wait for an opening where the line is broken.
Thirdly, signage is inconsistent. At the start of the HOV lane in the northbound direction there exists a single sign that says Motorcycles OK. This is the only sign that exists to alert riders of this. Also, the markings on the street state that this is a BUS lane where the signs say it is an HOV lane. There is a distinction between the two and because of the signage it becomes unclear at what point law enforcement will hand out tickets here. This obscurity is probably why I was pulled over once and then let go when I proceeded to give the officer the most delicately delivered tongue lashing of my life. The distinction between HOW and BUS is important. Just take a look at Granville Street in Marpole. Signage is clear and consistent. Buses and cycles may use the right lane in the northbound direction. In the southbound direction, 3+ Carpools, Buses, Motorcycles, Bicycles, and Taxis may use the lane. Also, the right turn signs along Willingdon say either “Except Buses”, “Excepet HOV”, or “Except Buses and Bikes”. For that third one do they mean motorcycles and bicycles? Just Bicycles? There is no mention of vanpools and taxis, does that mean they have to change lanes to go straight? What a mess.
On all this I’ve pointed out, I hope much can be learned and these lanes are designed and implemented properly.
Indeed, a bus lane will lead to a B-Line type service. Then, thereafter a proposal for a blue-line train going to West Vancouver and North Vancouver. Ofcourse, residents will try to halt it and they will be successful for the early part in time, however, a ALRT coming from under the ground and onto an elevated guideway through the Stanley Park causeway and to the left parallel to the Lions Gate Bridge (the Guinness FlightWay) and onto Park Royal Station will provide connections to the mall.
Hi Cliff, there are other signs that say Motorcycles OK
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=4547+Brentlawn+Dr,+Burnaby,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V5C+3V1&ll=49.262627,-123.003182&spn=0,0.002411&z=19&layer=c&cbll=49.262771,-123.003173&panoid=XKPpmGStqmgMTGxrcby9nw&cbp=12,2.83,,1,-10.57
that shot is between Alaska and Juneau, but in general, I hear what you’re saying… Just last week, we were heading west on Georgia with 4 people in the van, so we used the HOV 3+ lane until Denman, where the signs say that the lane is no longer HOV 3+, but is now bus only, so we diligently merged back in, only to see several non buses sail up th now bus-only lane past us… grr
Yep, but those signs, while plentiful, exist only north of the Trans Canada. Between Moscrop and Canada Way, just a single sign at the beginning.
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