Vancouver Super Wide Bike Lanes
Well, sort of… this blog post is less about super wide bike lanes, and more super wide photographs of them. But like usual, there are lots of bike lanes, and some other interesting things along the way…
The New Fujifilm XF 8mm f3.5
For a while i’ve had to default to my phone camera to take anything super wide, but the photos never match those on my real camera in terms of colour or quality so I finally decided to purchase a new lens for the job of better capturing intersections and providing a different perspective than is typical. All photos taken during daylight are with the Fujifilm 8mm f3.5, typically at about f5.6 on an X-T5 and cropped to square as I was just going to post them to Instagram, but I figured they could also fill a reasonably interesting blog post too. After dark I switch to the 35mm f2.
I don’t head downtown too much these days, so when I had an excuse to be there all day and into the evening it was an opportunity for some different photos, be that playing with the super wide, or exploring after dark… The super wide provides a lot of context not possible with a tighter shot.
First Shots Around False Creek
A quick stop at MEC is convenient for the 1st and Quebec protected intersection, capturing more of this intersection and those like it is a big reason for the wider lens. The shadows are obscuring things a little, but I prefer this visual than brightening just the shadows… The super wide lens let’s us see the intersection corner relatively close up, but also the signage on approach telling drivers to yield to people on bikes. I have another post about better bicycle signals worth checking out…
A little further along 1st Street is the continuous sidewalk and bike path at Pullman Porter Street. Vancouver has since changed the design to a concrete ramp you’ll see in a bit.
But first, a trip around the seawall is nothing new really, but I’ve never actually stopped to take a picture of the Granville Chandelier, so here it is. The City needs more abstract things like this, it provides interest…
Back to the continuous sidewalks and bike paths. This example is just a laneway so not an especially new idea, but continuous sidewalks and bike paths across municipal streets are new in Canada, check out my other posts on those… Here, relative to the previous one, you can see the design with refined concrete ramp, although interestingly in the spirit of keeping things tight and slow, the garbage truck that arrived just after I did, either had to, or chose to mount the curb to make the turn, it’s always a balance.
Hornby Intersecting Crossrides
Heading down Hornby and stopping at the intersection with Smythe, two bi-directional protected bike lanes intersect at the north east corner where i’m standing.
Convention Centre
Heading along the seawall under the convention centre looking for interesting angles…
Views from Stanley Park
I continued along the Stanley Park seawall, first time since they took the bike lane away… However, I was on the Brompton with only two gears and wouldn’t have fancied the road climb anyway. I was quite happy to kill time cruising around on the flat.
Always watch for bikes… because bikes are awesome…
Famous laughing sculptures and a Brompton…
Beach Avenue and Bike Counters
The City has these portable eco-counter bike counters on many of the bike lanes. We’ve had issues with tube counters across local streets not being sensitive enough to bikes, but I assume these are working pretty well for the City across shorter distances and maybe better calibrated for the narrow tires of the bicycles.
Could use a sweep…
Richards Street Protected Bike Lane
Another protected intersection at Richards and Smythe this time…
Still a few leaves on the trees further down Richards…
A little further down Richards, the sun hits differently…
Then where Richards turns back into a local street bikeway, this was of interest as we discuss a similar transition on another project… There’s a pretty small yield sign for people on bicycles. Is it obvious you’d have to yield? Could we give the people on bicycles priority?
Ontario Bikeway
This isn’t a protected bike lane transition, but rather a modal filter to stop cars entering the side street, but I like how it directs people on bicycles out into the lane, rather than into the parked cars. There’s a lot of interesting walls along the Ontario Street bikeway, something the city could use more of…
In fact, just opposite this wall is another painted wall with a bike on it… back to the 35mm f2 from here on if that interests you… i.e., not as wide a shot…
Ghost of a passing bicycle rider… the breweries look inviting on a cold dark night…
No bicycles in this one, just in the name…
I stopped for a bite back at Craft as it looked like these bicycle riders were about to do…
More False Creek After Dark
Then rode some more and took a few more photographs… Not so much rolling as floating in the city…
Someone walking across the bridge while three guys hang out rapping at one end. A little more lighting wouldn’t go amiss…
Permanent count site… Almost 1.3 million trips so far this year…
Aquabuses parked up for the evening by Granville Bridge…
Should I be worried? Not sure, but it’s a cool sign, catches your attention, and makes you think… I like random stuff like this, similar to the chandelier… again we need more of it. But back to the question… about what? The cost of all those apartments in the distance? The many different crises affecting the world? Or just the lack of pathway lighting? Whatever… cool sign… Brompton in bike stand mode too…
Guess it was all of those things… “This public artwork was produced by local artist Justin Langlois as part of the City’s first Artist-in-Residence program. Since mid-2016, Justin has been working with the Sustainability Group, learning about the various initiatives and themes that shape the Greenest City Action Plan and contributing to ideas and opportunities for greater engagement. The work produced aims to open up an ongoing dialogue about social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
This project is supported by the City of Vancouver through the Public Art Program and the Sustainability Group with assistance from Engineering Services, Utilities, Streets and Electrical Design and Operations.”