Protected Cycle Lanes, Wider Roads
Addressing the challenging path towards cycling safety in Langley
On an early Friday morning in May 2023, a cyclist was killed in a hit and run in Langley. At 2am the driver of a grey Mercedes struck the cyclist between 66 Avenue and 72 Avenue on 200 Street.
200 Street is the primary north-south corridor in Langley, and until recently it was the most "complete", with sidewalks and cycle lanes. However, these cycle lanes are just painted lines on the road, leaving cyclists vulnerable to being struck by motorists, as that tragic morning just over two years ago made devastatingly clear.
Since then, Langley has been moving beyond painted lines toward the kind of protected cycling infrastructure that could have prevented such tragedies. Across the township, new protected bike lanes are being installed as part of major road reconstruction projects.
One of the most visible examples of this transformation can be seen on 208 Street south of 72 Ave. This stretch includes the same area where the tragedy occurred just a few blocks over, offering cyclists a genuinely safe alternative to corridors like 200 Street, where painted lines proved tragically inadequate. The plan is to continue the protected lanes north on 208 Street all the way to around 77 Ave, and likely the entire stretch eventually, north to south.
But there's a catch: this safer cycling infrastructure came at the cost of doubling the road's width from three lanes to six. The very project that could protect cyclists also represents exactly the kind of road expansion that decades of urban planning research tells us will ultimately make our communities less walkable, less affordable to maintain, and more car-dependent.
This represents one of the most difficult tensions walkable and bikable urbanism advocates in Langley have had to navigate in recent years: celebrating the introduction of protected cycle lanes that could save cyclists' lives, while grappling with the reality that most of these improvements (with the exception of the planned 216 Street Road Diet) are being added as part of extensive (and expensive) road widening projects.
At Strong Towns Langley, our position is clear - we oppose road widening projects. Decades upon decades of research have shown us that adding additional travel lanes do nothing to improve congestion, as they simultaneously encourage more driving while decimating neighbourhood vitality and walkability, making being outside of a car less desirable.
What’s more, maintaining these humongous roads, these millions of square feet of asphalt, is a huge burden on the taxpayer. Resurfacing all that pavement costs money that could be spent on other things. We’d rather see those millions of dollars spent on quality of life improvements like civic facilities, parks, and other reforms, instead of shaving a few minutes off someone’s car journey. And that’s before we begin to talk about how much of these improvements are being funded with debt.
However, we are faced with the reality that these road widening projects are moving forward with or without our support. We are confronted with a stark choice: reject potentially life-saving cycling infrastructure because of how it's being delivered, or work within these flawed projects to secure the best possible outcomes for cyclists' safety.
Well, as they always say, when life gives you lemons, turn them into urbanist infrastructure.
Smart Cycling Signals for Intersections
While the protected lanes address vehicles drifting into cycle lanes, most collisions and accidents occur at intersections, not along straight stretches of road. This makes sense - people are turning, trying to judge other vehicle speeds, and also have to be paying attention not to enter the intersection on a red light which they might fail to do if distracted.
While protected bike lanes keep you safe along the roadway, once you enter that intersection, all that is keeping you safe is green paint.
Combined with the multitude of road widening projects going on, this kind of undoes the benefits of the protected infrastructure. It certainly won’t be enough to encourage parents to let their kids cycle in these lanes, unprotected at vulnerable moments.
My proposal is that some smart, yet easily available infrastructure could help improve this, at least a little bit.
Similarly to how detection loops are used to detect cars waiting for a light, in the Netherlands, detection loops are also used to detect bicycles approaching a crossing, and usually there is enough time to switch the light to green for the cyclist. This was demonstrated in Nic Laporte’s most recent cycling trip around the Netherlands:
It’s important to note, however, that unlike in the Netherlands, drivers in BC are allowed to turn right on a red light, which as Vision Zero Vancouver have outlined here, presents significant safety concerns.
To address this, a similar setup could be modified to show green for cyclists, with a lit up no-right-turn sign for motorists, similar to those used at train crossings.
As a cyclist approached an intersection, motorists would see a clear lit signal which remains on for a certain amount of time advising them not to turn right on red while a cyclist was approaching, reducing the chance of a collision. While this could likely be improved and enhanced further using cameras to detect when cyclists have passed through the intersection, something as basic as this is all available using off-the-shelf parts.
And I want to stress this benefits drivers too. Drivers don’t want to hit cyclists either, and this system means they don’t have to worry about being honked at for holding up traffic behind them, or whether or not they should turn right. It provides certainty and predictability.
If we want these protected cycle lanes to actually be used by more than the most avid and confident cyclists, we need to address the “intersection problem”, one way or another.
Bus Lanes, Street Parking and Traffic Flow
Even with a protected lane, cycling next to busy traffic is unpleasant, noisy, and just generally uninviting.
A solution to this, which also partly undoes the negative impacts of road widening, is to use one of those lanes for parking or bus lanes.
The Township of Langley is currently working on a parking strategy, which may allow parking on the road during off-peak times, such as between 7pm and 7am.
These parked cars act as a great buffer between the noise of traffic, and the width of the concrete cycling barrier was designed to be wide enough to prevent “dooring” cyclists.
Bus stops also represent another point of vulnerability for cyclists, as the protected cycle lanes run in front of the bus stops, instead of behind them.
This actually goes against TransLink’s own Design Guide for Bus Stops Adjacent to Cycling infrastructure, which recommends placing cycle paths behind the bus stop.
However, should the right lane ever be converted to a bus lane, this mitigates this problem somewhat, by again limiting how often cyclists will run close to cars. And there is a possibility of this, with 208 Street at one point being considered as part of the Major Transit Network in the Transport 2050 draft plan.
At the very least, I hope for future continuations of the protected lanes up 208, the “floating bus stop” concept will be used instead as the standard.
Solving 208 Street Congestion
Of course, to talk about effectively dieting 208 brings us back to why there was public support for widening 208 Street to begin with. In my experience, the “pinch point” was the traffic light at 208 Street and 72 Avenue itself. During peak times, cars heading in either direction on 208 frequently backed up at this traffic light for many blocks.
This presents a problem when discussing parking and bus lanes, as the public will, understandably, likely be fearful of that congestion returning. Of course, the less obvious part of that for many people is that having dedicated bus lanes takes cars off the road as buses will be faster than driving and thus a more viable alternative to driving, but we could also fundamentally change the 208 and 72 intersection design.
How? Make 208 and 72 a roundabout (shocking coming from me, I know.) I’ll let civil engineer Rob Sanders, better known as Road Guy Rob, explain how this works in Carmel, Indiana (full video here):
Because roundabouts keep traffic flowing, instead of bunching cars together at red lights, fewer lanes are required to move the same amount of cars. Simple stuff.
Fix what we have
Finally, if we are sincere about improving things for cyclists, one of the first things we should be doing, is eliminating these:
Maze gates (also called baffle gates or bicycle stop baffles) are scattered across Langley's trail network, creating significant accessibility barriers despite being designed with good intentions. While these restrictive barriers were installed to slow cyclists and prevent motor vehicle access to trails, they create a narrow chokepoint that actively excludes families with children using bike trailers, cargo bike users, and also create problems for people in wheelchairs and parents pushing strollers.
There is some good news here that change is coming. In April, Councillor Pratt successfully brought forward a motion recognizing that bicycle stop baffles "limit the ability for various users, such as those with cargo bikes and bikes with passenger trailers." Council has now directed staff to identify potential changes to eliminate these barriers "in favour of other, more accessible trail barriers" and provide cost estimates for replacement.
Since township staff are currently working on a report about replacing maze gates with more accessible alternatives, you can learn more about the campaign and contact Township staff to share your support.
So what now?
The road widening argument is one that has been fought between ordinary citizens and bureaucrats for generations. The most famous example being the American Robert Moses, a New York City bureaucrat intent on pushing a wide highway through Manhattan, who was opposed by Canadian urbanist Jane Jacobs.
Jacobs understood that successful communities are built around people, not cars. Her vision of vibrant, walkable neighbourhoods where families could thrive remains as relevant today as it was sixty years ago. The challenge is making that vision a reality within today's political and infrastructure constraints. At Strong Towns Langley, we're committed to that community-focused approach, even when it means working within less-than-ideal circumstances.
When life gives you six-lane road projects, you still try to make them as safe, accessible, and sustainable as possible. We advocate for better approaches while simultaneously working within existing projects to secure the best outcomes for people's safety.
To be clear: our suggestions for improving these projects should not be mistaken for support of road widening itself. We remain committed to advocating for an end to unnecessary road expansion in Langley.
But we can still make a difference. If we want more families to choose cycling, we need to make it genuinely safe and appealing at every intersection, trail entrance, and bus stop along the way. That means smart signals that prioritize cyclists, accessible trails that welcome everyone, and infrastructure that actually encourages people to get out of their cars. Because at the end of the day, we're building the kind of place where families want to live, work, and get around safely, however they choose to travel.
Strong Towns Langley is a community group dedicated to making Langley, British Columbia a better place. We advocate for incremental development, sustainable transportation solutions, housing accessibility, public spaces, and responsible growth strategies. Our group is part of the larger Strong Towns movement, focusing on creating financially resilient and people-oriented communities.
To learn more visit https://strongtownslangley.org