We’re going to need a list of descriptors for the different kind of lanes that are being improvised to respond to pandemic conditions.
PT has been reporting on the changes to Beach Avenue (right), where half the avenue is for bikes of various kinds and the other half for west-bound motor vehicles. The former gives room for three different lanes, allowing cyclists to sort themselves by speed, with each having room to flow. Hence the coinage: ‘flow street.’
Some residents have simply used their narrow residential rights-of-way for a variety of users in what would otherwise space devoted to motor vehicles. Often, they’re designated as a ‘bikeway’ or ‘greenway’.
And now we have ‘queue lanes.’ Here’s the one spotted on the north side of the 1200-block Davie:
When I first saw it, I thought perhaps it was designed as a drive-through lane for grocery-story pick-ups. And in a way it is, only for West Enders queuing as they wait their turns to enter the store. Before. there just wasn’t room on the sidewalk even under normal conditions, much less a requirement for distancing. This solves the problem. Price: about a dozen on-street parking spaces. (Imagine if proposed for West Van.)
I probably wasn’t the only one confused about its purpose when I first saw it without a queue. Indeed, it was empty while the sidewalk remained crowded, even though space for walkers was available on the other side of the curb. But a century of conditioning has ingrained in us that the space beyond the curb is only for vehicles to park or drive. Pedestrians are initially reluctant to use it unless given permission and instructions.
That’s social engineering in action. That’s Motordom.
