Garland Bike Lane

West Wellington, like Preston, has been reconstructed to be two lanes of traffic, plus parking bays. There is no marked bike path but the traffic lane is supposed to be so wide it can accomodate cyclists and motorists compatibly. The lane width is rather cosy for cyclists and the No 2 OC Transpo bus or the many trucks in the area. And there are door prizes to be won.

Cyclists are also being directed to marked bike routes parallel to West Wellington along two-way Armstrong street. It remains to be seen what amenities cyclists will get along Armstrong (other than big signs) in return for being directed off the main shopping and destination street. (Safety is presumably the big payoff as Armstrong has much less traffic or on-street parking).

To get to the eastern part of Armstrong, the most logical route utilizes Garland Street, which joins the multi-pronged dog-legged intersection of West Wellington/Somerset/Garland near Somerset Square (a triangular park in the intersection) where the old Nieghborhood Services store used to be. Garland is two way north of Armstrong, but it appears it will be one way from the intersection to Armstrong. This means a counter-flow cycling lane is required for the short block. The south end (near the big intersection) is shown above. The parked truck belongs to active construction crews on the site -- the lane is not yet open.

The second two pictures show the intersection at Armstrong, the other end of the short bike lane. Note the cyclist going the "wrong way" down a one-way street, he also rode right through the red light without pause. In this very short half block there is a driveway entrance to the parking lot on the right, which might pose a danger to cyclists if motorists are not expecting a counter-flow lane. However, there a large law office on the other side of the street to file injury claims.

 In any case, the bizarre intersection at Wellington/Somerset which is being converted to a signalized dog-leg turn in the road, plus the orphaned section of West Wellington [is Wellington forever doomed to be cut up into smaller and smaller segments?] plus the two-way meeting one-way sections of Garland at Armstrong should keep motorists on the edge and alert.