Don’t get impaled at Prince of Wales

Be careful on Prince of Wales at the new Hospital construction site.

Yesterday I cycled down the temporary bidirectional bike lane that runs east of Prince of Wales from the roundabout down to Dow’s Lake.

Naturally you gain some speed going downhill, which is enjoyable. However, the path at the foot of the slope closer to Navy Private, where the traffic signal used to be, becomes very dangerous. If you know that, you’ll slow down in time and navigate the posts in the centre of the lane.

For those who never travel there, this lane has been built because the southbound bike lane has not only been closed but recently also demolished to create a new entrance to the hospital. There is also a lot of truck traffic from the site, which currently looks more like a Northern Territories diamond quarry than a hospital site. It was the right decision to move that southbound lane to the other side. While temporary, I noticed two weeks ago new soil was spread along the path which the weeds are now happily taking over. Eventually, new bike infrastructure will be built along the west side, southbound.

No more traffic signal

Recently, the traffic signal at the bottom of the hill, as seen in the screen grab below, was removed. That is great, because it always turns red just when you roll downhill when you bike with car traffic. It used to be the entrance and exit to the Sir John Carling government building that was blown up (not by terrorists) in mere seconds in July 2014, but its only function now was to allow walkers to cross the road towards the Arboretum.

Unfortunately, the bolts that hold the traffic signal have been left in place in the centre of the bike lane. That is a very big safety concern for me.

I can only imagine what happens when that traffic barrel blows over, a work truck hits it or someone removes it. If someone cycles into it, they’ll be catapulted of their bike, fly meters into the air and end up dead or permanently paralysed from the neck down. How do you explain that as a city?

The former headquarters of Agriculture Canada was vacated several years ago over asbestos and other concerns. A $4.8-million demolition project began last year (2013 – Hans) after Public Works officials balked at the estimated $57- million cost to renovate. – CTV

This is a major red flag and I trust the city will either cut the bolts off or come up with something a lot safer than a loosely placed road barrel you can lift with one hand. I can’t even imagine someone riding right into it at night and getting impaled by the bolts. It is yet another example of carelessness in road safety that pedestrians and cyclists encounter all to often. Stuff like this should not happen.

I informed Riley Brockington as the councillor of the area of my concerns Friday afternoon. I received an answer from Riley within ten minutes that he will alert city staff asap.

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