Following The Chaos of A Detour – Part 2

by | Sep 18, 2022 | News

Gorski Consulting has been following the repercussions of a decision by the City of London Ontario to create a detour route around some construction that was being done on the Thames Valley Parkway (TVP) in an area just north-west of the downtown of the City. The TVP is a popular, multi-use, pathway that generally follows the three-pronged Thames River in London.

In an earlier article we described how the detour contained three area of concern (See map below): 1.) a left turn at Talbot and Ann streets, 2.) a passage through the narrow underpass of the CPR railway crossing on Talbot south of Oxford Street, and 3.) the passage of cyclists down a steep downslope of Grosvenor Street at Gibbons Park. Cyclists who attempted to follow the designated detour met up with obstacles that could have caused collisions, injuries and/or worse. Each of these dangers is highlighted in individual articles.

This map shows the three areas of concern along the detour route designated by the City of London

In an article entitled “Following The Chaos of A Detour – Part 1” we focused on the first danger: The left turn of cyclists from Ann Street onto Talbot. The actions of 21 cyclists who were eastbound on Ann Street and made a left turn onto northbound Talbot Street were described.

The current article will focus on the second danger encountered when cyclists attempted to pass through the narrow opening of the CPR underpass on Talbot Street just south of Oxford Street.

Passage of Cyclists Through The Narrow CPR Rail Underpass

In analysis of video from August 24, 2022, 21 cyclists were observed eastbound on Ann Street and making a left turn onto northbound Talbot Street. Of those 21, 10 cyclists never crossed Talbot Street in the expected manner. Instead these ten cyclists opted to turn northbound onto the west sidewalk of Talbot, presumably because they determined it was either unsafe or too difficult to cross Talbot Street. This decision might have been reasonable if the west sidewalk of Talbot continued underneath and past the CPR underpass. But that was not the case. The west sidewalk ended at the underpass. And this caused a dilemma that these cyclists had not expected. The video provided a clear indication of the difficulty they experienced during this revelation.

Rather than describing the actions of all 10 cyclists, we have chosen only two examples. If the actions of all 10 cyclists were displayed in this article it would make for a long description with a large number of figures. Yet the two examples provide a reasonable summary of the actions of all ten.

Example #1

In the first example we focus on an adult male accompanied by a young female, likely of pre-teen age. The male led the child eastbound along Ann Street and then northbound on Talbot Street. Reconsiderations had to be made and the riders backtracked as shown in the map below. The details of their actions are also summarized in the following text:

Come to stop at timecode 00;08;15;00 at Talbot Street on south sidewalk of Ann Street next to pedestrian crossing button. Does not press button. Waits for couple of minutes. Begin crossing Ann St NB at 00;09;55;00 toward CPR underpass. Begins riding NB along W sidewalk of Talbot. Stops at Piccadilly St. Then continues NB past Piccadilly toward CPR underpass. Stop before reaching underpass. Discussion between male and female. Both riders dismount get back on bikes and return southbound crossing Piccadilly at 00;11;33;40. Return to Ann St at 00;11;57;00. Wait again on Ann St then cross Talbot at @00;12;15;00 via pedestrian crossing. Begin riding northbound along east sidewalk of Talbot and continue through CPR underpass.

The general path of the two cyclists is denoted in the red arrows in this map. Their actions are also shown in the following figures taken from video cameras at the site.
Here we see the two cyclists riding northward on the west sidewalk of Talbot Street after they decided not to cross Talbot when the stopped in Ann Street.
The two riders stop at the intersection with Piccadilly Street as the male rider appeared to be puzzled about which way to go.
Here the male rider crosses Piccadilly Street and leads the child toward the CPR underpass.
Here both riders come to a stop past Piccadilly as they discover that the west sidewalk does not continue through the underpass.
Here the riders stop on the west sidewalk and consider what they should do next. It would appear that they considered crossing Talbot Street where they could see that there was a sidewalk on the east side of the road. However traffic was too dense.
Here the riders have come back to Piccadilly Street where they have stopped, again, considering their options.
Here the cycliists are seen riding back toward the intersection of Ann Street.
In this view we can see both riders travelling southbound and crossing Ann Street.
Here the riders have stopped at the pedestrian crossing at Ann Street where they cross Talbot onto the east side of the road.
After crossing Talbot Street the cyclists were observed travelling northbound again toward the CPR underpass.
Here the cyclists are seen riding northbound on the east sidewalk of Talbot Street and they are progressing toward the CPR underpass.
In this last frame the cyclists can be seen just to the left of the utility pole as they pass through the CPR underpass, continuing to travel on the east sidewalk.

In total it has taken the two cyclists over 4 and 1/2 minutes delay to pass through the CPR underpass from their first approach to the intersection of Ann and Talbot Streets. There could have been instances where they might have attempted to cross Talbot Street where crossing could have been precarious and this is a result of the City of London guiding them to take this detour.

Next we have a second example of another cyclist who chose not to cross Talbot Street when he first arrived from eastbound Ann Street. Again, the cyclist chose to travel northbound along the west sidewalk of Talbot and he also encountered the problem that the sidewalk ended at the CPR underpass. His decision to deal with this problem was unexpected, as will be shown in the video frames shown below.

Example #2

First we can see the male cyclist travelling eastbound on Ann Street and approaching the stop sign at Talbot Street, as shown in the first frame below.

Here the male cyclist is seen eastbound on Ann Street and approaching Talbot Street.
Here the cyclist is seen on Ann Street making his left turn onto the west sidewalk of Talbot Street
Here we see the cyclist riding northbound on the west sidewalk of Talbot as he approaches Piccadilly Street with the CPR underpass visible in the background.
Here the cyclist is seen making a left turn to travel westbound on Piccadilly Street. It would appear that he had already observed that the sidewalk on which he is riding ends at the CPR underpass. Piccadilly is a dead-end street although there is a way to travel onto Oxford Street by travelling onto private property.
Here the cyclist is seen returning to Talbot Street as he appears to have not found the access to Oxford Street via the route through private property or he simply chose not to take that route. He surveys the traffic on Talbot and decides not to cross Talbot at this location.
Here we see the cyclist travelling on the west sidewalk of Talbot toward the CPR underpass.
Here the cyclist reaches the CPR underpass and begins to make a left turn into the dark shades of the brush growing on the embankment of the underpass.
We lose sight of the cyclist for about 1 minute and then we see him appear on top of the railway trussell as he begins to walk his cycle eastward along the railway tracks.
Here the cyclist is seen in the centre of the railway bridge walking his cycle eastbound thus successfully crossing Talbot Street using this dangerous procedure.

Discussion

The male cyclist in the second example shows how cyclists will invent ways of achieving their goals through unorthodox ways. But this dangerous action was influenced by the advice given by the City of London to use the detour that created the cyclist’s difficulties. In the vast majority of instances there are no serious consequences in these actions. Just like in many instances of alcohol impairment, speeding, many drivers avoid detection, collisions, injuries, etc. Poorly maintained roadways or defective vehicles also escape detection for many occasions before a tragic event occurs and the problem is uncovered.

Through video observations of cyclists passing through this detour we can uncover deficiencies that could be corrected before a tragedy occurs. But this requires serious attention to these dangers by those officials whose responsibility it is to keep our roadways safe.