Each year, the Ontario Bike Summit (OBS) welcomes industry leaders, policy makers and advocates from communities across the province to share their expertise and best practices, in an effort to make Ontario more bicycle friendly. This in order to showcase its approach to cycling and active transportation design and implementation sharing lessons learned from the point of view of citizens as well as city staff and municipal leaders. In 2024, the OBS will gather in Waterloo to explore the theme of Sustainability and Innovation through Cycling as we celebrate 15 years of progress since Waterloo hosted the first Ontario Bike Summit in 2009. This year, Integrated Mobility Consultant Narayan Donaldson will be presenting his work on the Canada’s largest cycling and active transportation conference.
Protecting vulnerable road users at roundabouts
Author: Narayan Donaldson
In recent decades, roundabouts have gained traction across Ontario and Canada, recognized for their potential to enhance intersection safety. While these installations have effectively reduced the severity of car crashes by altering collision angles, certain design aspects have posed challenges for pedestrian and cyclist safety. In Ontario, tangential designs have been predominant and which feature wide angles and expansive sightlines which do not reduce speeds of approaching and exiting vehicles as some other roundabout geometries such as the radial design. In practice, these designs do not consistently provide a safer or more comfortable experience for vulnerable road users compared to traditional signalized and uncontrolled intersections.
Alternatively, radial designs for roundabouts feature sharper entry and exit angles which are proven to be more effective at slowing vehicles. Supplementing radial geometry with features such as dedicated cycling facilities, buffers, landscaping and pavement textures can produce a roundabout that is safer and more comfortable for vulnerable road users than a tangential design. These “protected roundabouts” have been proven effective in urban environments across the Netherlands to prioritize walking and cycling while maintaining traffic flow.
This paradigm shift represents a progressive approach to roundabout design in North America, particularly in urban settings. This presentation from Narayan Donaldson will explore how protected roundabout features can be integrated into existing urban roundabouts in Ontario, aiming to elevate safety for all road users while enhancing safety and convenience for pedestrians and cyclists.
The conference will be hosted on Thursday, April 4, 20243:20 PM – 3:40 PM. For more information, see the website : https://site.pheedloop.com/event/OBS2024/schedule/SES50DOXADVH4KUR5
