Virus stories du jour
Various virus stories du jour: a centenarian in Lasalle has died of the virus; CTV says half of Canadians polled said their mental health is in decline; a salon owner who opted to work in a CHSLD for the time being has caught corona herself; cyclists are having difficulty maintaining distance.
Chris 11:08 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
Projet is so disappointing. Weren’t they supposed to be anti-car pro-cyclist zealots? Here they have the perfect excuse to reallocate some roadways away from automobiles to active transport, and they aren’t doing it.
We’re queuing for food, people are advocating for invasive tracking, jobs are lost, mental heath is down, savings are wiped out, but our god forbid we give an inch against car culture. We should be following Milan’s example here.
DeWolf 13:15 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
Val Plante keeps hinting on Twitter that big things are in the works. I think they’re being very cautious not to be seen as too eager, given we’re still in lockdown, but as soon as the official de-confinement process begins, expect them to use it as an opportunity to ramp up things like the REV.
Ian 18:12 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
WTF are you guys on about? PM has put up temporary barriers along a bunch of corridors, taking away entire lanes of traffic throughout the Plateau. Not like nearly as many people are driving anyhow…
PM has been going on and on about this great achievement since they are apparently incapable of doing anything but change street furniture and close parks…
The thing is, people are getting really resentful of bicyclists doing whatever they feel like (as usual) despite the fact that there are a lot more people out walking around. Those reclaimed spaces are supposed to be for pedestrians, not the usual “I should be allowed to bicycle wherever I feel like” crowd. I’ve seen a lot of people in my neighbourhood, especially older people, that have taken to walking around with 6 foot long sticks to force joggers and bicyclists to stay away from them.
If you guys really want there to be more sympathy for biking after all this, maybe encourage your bicyclist pals not to be treating the entire world like a bike path for a bit.
Chris 19:13 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
Ian: keyword there: “temporary”. I’m advocating using this opportunity to *permanently* reallocate space away from cars to active transport, tree planting, benches, etc. Now is precisely the time to reduce the size of the road network, while road usage by motorists is currently way down. As usage ramps up, a new equilibrium will be reached. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.
The climate emergency is even worse than the covid emergency, yet people are willing to transform society for the latter but not the former.
Ian 20:13 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
…you do realize the reduced road use is because so many people are at home, and only because of the pandemic, right? They haven’t given up going to work, they are being told to stay home. They will be back out there the second work starts again. Stop being so doctrinaire and consider for a moment what is actually happening to the city.
For that mattervwe should all be staying home as much as possible. Most bicyclists I see these days are recreational.
Chris 22:56 on 2020-04-28 Permalink
>you do realize the reduced road use is because so many people are at home…
Of course; what did I say that makes you think otherwise (perhaps I can clarify it)? My point is that reducing the size of the road network would commensurately prevent motorists from returning to their old ways. We have seen for a century now that building roads just results in those roads being filled. Constraining space for cars will force some to switch to public transit, active transit, to move home/work, to work from home, etc.
>Stop being so doctrinaire
Consider that it is you being doctrinaire, in your devotion to continued automobile dominance even in the face of all the evidence that they are a major cause of the climate catastrophe.
>For that mattervwe should all be staying home as much as possible
Why? To save lives. Reducing cars will save lives too.
Ian 07:47 on 2020-04-29 Permalink
You misunderstand, I am advocating for that space to be reserved for pedestrians, especially as the point right now is physical distancing for people travelling for essential reasons like grocery and pharmacy runs. That is in fact how PM themselves positioned putting up these “safety corridors”.
It’s rather telling that any time anyone criticizes bicyclists you think it’s pro-car. …to a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Michael Black 07:55 on 2020-04-29 Permalink
If cyclists are using that space, then it’s like when they ride on the sidewalk, or along space made on the street when construction is blocking the sidewalk.
Right now it is doubly silly, since there us so much less traffic.