(08-18-2020, 12:01 PM)timc Wrote: [ -> ] (08-18-2020, 11:38 AM)ac3r Wrote: [ -> ]Good point and I somehow didn't think of that. I am not too sure how deep the average sewer lines or any other utility runs on that part of Victoria. In fact the only other pedestrian tunnel crossing I can think of is this one here on Westmount just north of Highland, and I guess it goes just deep enough to not impact the sewer lines (unless there are none there, and storm water drains right into Henry Strum Creek).
If we're including culverts, then there is also one that runs under Lexington where it crosses Laurel Creek.
Culverts are a particuarly easy example, since the bridge already exists....
The Westmount culvert also provides a good example of why they are problematic...between the grade, surface, and lighting, it is downright dangerous before you even take into account that many people including myself on foot, would not feel comfortable using it. It's worth noting that Westmount plans include a crossing island--which on a busy four lane highway has it's own extremely serious problems, but the very fact it is planned shows how inadequate the tunnel is considered.
(08-18-2020, 11:59 AM)timc Wrote: [ -> ]This crossing is particularly vexing because it seems like there is more traffic using this trail crossing than there is crossing Victoria from Strange/West. I don't know if that is true. Is there a traffic study comparing those numbers? It probably depends on time of day, so I just might not be at that intersection at the right times.
Interesting. Maybe there should just be a traffic light at the trail, and revert Strange/West to stop signs!
(08-18-2020, 11:59 AM)timc Wrote: [ -> ]My feeling about the bike and trail network is that the extent is actually not that bad, it's the gaps that are the most frustrating. You have a route that is 95% decent, but you need to cross the expressway in the middle, or there is a road that doesn't have sidewalks, or local residents oppose a pathway because reasons. The IHT crossing at Victoria is one of those gaps.
This crossing is particularly vexing because it seems like there is more traffic using this trail crossing than there is crossing Victoria from Strange/West. I don't know if that is true. Is there a traffic study comparing those numbers? It probably depends on time of day, so I just might not be at that intersection at the right times.
It depends very specifically on where you live and where you need to go. Some places have reasonably good infrastructure and few obstacles...some places require time consuming detours and deep local knowledge to access without a car, others are entirely inaccessible without a car.
(08-18-2020, 12:39 PM)ijmorlan Wrote: [ -> ] (08-18-2020, 11:59 AM)timc Wrote: [ -> ]This crossing is particularly vexing because it seems like there is more traffic using this trail crossing than there is crossing Victoria from Strange/West. I don't know if that is true. Is there a traffic study comparing those numbers? It probably depends on time of day, so I just might not be at that intersection at the right times.
Interesting. Maybe there should just be a traffic light at the trail, and revert Strange/West to stop signs!
I mean, Strange/West--an intersection I lived next too--would be it's own separate problem if it wasn't 80 meters from the most problematic trail crossing in the city. It's an utterly terrible intersection.
(08-18-2020, 09:26 AM)ac3r Wrote: [ -> ]I read a post on Reddit where someone suggested a better idea than an island would be a tunnel under the road. It would be safer and keep the flow of foot/bike traffic on the trail moving at a constant pace. They're pretty common in Europe, so I don't see why we couldn't build the same here, except for the fact the city would likely say it costs too much money.
A tunnel isn't really an option there. You could do it coming down to Victoria, but the bit between Victoria St. and West Ave. behind the café and dim sum restaurant doesn't really allow it. You have to drop the tunnel done far enough to so that the ceiling is underneath and water and other infrastructure underneath the road, and then the floor another 3m under that, so say 6-7m. Since AODA requires a slope no steeper than 1:10 that means the trench and ramp needs to be 60-70m long. The sidewalk-to-sidewalk distance through there is barely 60m. It might not be long enough to make a ramp and trench.
And if you can't make the ramp trench curve like the current asphalt MUT does because it would be too close to the building, then you lose the West Ave. entrance to that parking lot. Either way those parking spots at the back side of the dim sum restaurant are gone because cars can't drive over the trench.
https://goo.gl/maps/5947U2bF8eXzdg2w5
(08-18-2020, 11:59 AM)timc Wrote: [ -> ]My feeling about the bike and trail network is that the extent is actually not that bad, it's the gaps that are the most frustrating. You have a route that is 95% decent, but you need to cross the expressway in the middle, or there is a road that doesn't have sidewalks, or local residents oppose a pathway because reasons. The IHT crossing at Victoria is one of those gaps.
The corridor around Westmount Road is another gap as there few bike lane sor trails there. You can see all teh gaps in teh Kitchener network at
https://kitchenergis.maps.arcgis.com/app...8d1d796928
The cities have been supportive of building bike infrastructure (albeit mostly when and where it's convenient). As people have noted, though, there are gaps that effectively neutralize the benefits of this investment. Targeted and effective investment could produce something usable for a lot of people that would actually let us see a shift to greater bike usage, but without any work to identify what those key pieces, we'll continue to be plagued by these gaps.
It doesn't even always have to come at the expense of drivers. Speaking to investment that would affect me personally, separated lanes on River, Frederick (where it's four lanes now) and Krug could be had without affecting car traffic. This would provide an excellent N-S connector in east Kitchener and two good highway crossings.
(08-18-2020, 01:16 PM)Bytor Wrote: [ -> ]And if you can't make the ramp trench curve like the current asphalt MUT does because it would be too close to the building, then you lose the West Ave. entrance to that parking lot. Either way those parking spots at the back side of the dim sum restaurant are gone because cars can't drive over the trench.
https://goo.gl/maps/5947U2bF8eXzdg2w5
I say the trench could curve, although presumably pouring the concrete walls would be more expensive on a curve.
However, if we’re going to propose something this big, might as well extend the tunnel under West Ave. as well. Of course then it’s really quite long. Actually elevating it to fly over the streets might be less unrealistic, although still a major project.
(08-18-2020, 01:59 PM)jamincan Wrote: [ -> ]The cities have been supportive of building bike infrastructure (albeit mostly when and where it's convenient). As people have noted, though, there are gaps that effectively neutralize the benefits of this investment. Targeted and effective investment could produce something usable for a lot of people that would actually let us see a shift to greater bike usage, but without any work to identify what those key pieces, we'll continue to be plagued by these gaps.
It doesn't even always have to come at the expense of drivers. Speaking to investment that would affect me personally, separated lanes on River, Frederick (where it's four lanes now) and Krug could be had without affecting car traffic. This would provide an excellent N-S connector in east Kitchener and two good highway crossings.
Yes, because drivers have never been upset at the loss of unnecessary driving lanes before. /sarcasm
Sorry...I just thought that was funny...there's zero question there is a ton of space that could be redistributed, but I don't actually think that's any easier than taking away space from drivers that is being used (see King St. narrowing in Uptown).
The realization that I am coming too is that the most important thing--maybe the only important thing when selecting which cycling projects to push is how big an impact they will have on cycling. If you create new supporters, the project will be successful. Creating useless lanes, disconnected lanes, or lanes that might be useful only in the future will only serve to provide arguments against building more infrastructure, and provide no supporters to argue the other side...but building impactful infrastructure--even if doing so upsets
more people--is by far the better value both politically and for society.
That being said, not arguing with any of those projects...I in fact, will have a proposal for Frederick soon, and River is an obvious one...Krug too...but the point is not any individual project, it is how it affects the connectedness of the grid that reveals how impactful the project will be.
(08-18-2020, 02:59 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: [ -> ]The realization that I am coming too is that the most important thing--maybe the only important thing when selecting which cycling projects to push is how big an impact they will have on cycling. If you create new supporters, the project will be successful. Creating useless lanes, disconnected lanes, or lanes that might be useful only in the future will only serve to provide arguments against building more infrastructure, and provide no supporters to argue the other side...but building impactful infrastructure--even if doing so upsets more people--is by far the better value both politically and for society.
And this is why I questioned the value of putting lanes on Benton here a few years back: not because the space is needed for cars (it's not) but because it's just three or four blocks, and does not connect to anything.
Now, if Frederick gets bike lanes, we may be onto something, as the (Kitchener) south end of Benton connects to Mike Wagner Green and the IHT through a quiet residential street, and the Benton street diet could create a connection instead of an isolated three-block stretch of lanes that few people will use.
(08-18-2020, 03:38 PM)tomh009 Wrote: [ -> ] (08-18-2020, 02:59 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: [ -> ]The realization that I am coming too is that the most important thing--maybe the only important thing when selecting which cycling projects to push is how big an impact they will have on cycling. If you create new supporters, the project will be successful. Creating useless lanes, disconnected lanes, or lanes that might be useful only in the future will only serve to provide arguments against building more infrastructure, and provide no supporters to argue the other side...but building impactful infrastructure--even if doing so upsets more people--is by far the better value both politically and for society.
And this is why I questioned the value of putting lanes on Benton here a few years back: not because the space is needed for cars (it's not) but because it's just three or four blocks, and does not connect to anything.
Now, if Frederick gets bike lanes, we may be onto something, as the (Kitchener) south end of Benton connects to Mike Wagner Green and the IHT through a quiet residential street, and the Benton street diet could create a connection instead of an isolated three-block stretch of lanes that few people will use.
If you mean Benton between Charles and Courtland, this actually does make some connections...the IHT is accessible from the west end of Benton, and bringing it two blocks closer to Downtown, with near connections to a transit station, (and the former Charles Term) is meaningful...even though it's not a long route...not every part of the network need be built with segregated infrastructure...although for it to be a real connection there would need to be wayfinding and prioritization changes made elsewhere in the network...without those changes...it would be isolated.
The reasons for changes to Benton are larger however, whether or not it got bike lanes, the road is criminally wide and suburban for a downtown street, it dates to the 60s and now defunct long term plans of cutting through the city...but those plans have been dead for decades, it should have been redesigned, instead we continue to waste money paving a wide street. Now we've rebuilt a section with the LRT which will make retrofitting it to something better much more difficult.
It's just another demonstration of how our engineer favour the car centric status quo above everything including reason.
Anyone seen any designs for the Victoria-IHT crossing?
(08-18-2020, 03:56 PM)dtkmelissa Wrote: [ -> ]....
As someone also interested in housing, especially more affordable housing, I have been thinking about this a lot. Many/most mid-rise (and higher density) projects are built along busier corridors. I have spoken at numerous council meetings where folks oppose certain new developments, and they'll always say that if it has to be built, at the very least put it away from the 'residential' side of the lot towards the corridor. Perhaps that makes sense sometimes, but I'm not convinced it should be the default. Then, when we talk about these corridors, we speak of 'car sewers', highways, etc and not as residential neighbourhoods where people live, work, walk, etc (and often a lot of people due to the higher density I just spoke of). To me, it feels like one more way we treat those who rent and/or live in apartments as not as important as 'homeowners'.
You're absolutely right, there is a huge equity issue here.
It is of zero surprise that one of the few regional arterial roads that also serves as a residential street that has been able to reliably push back on road expansions is a wealthier exclusively single family home neighbourhood...and an aggresively so one at that.
I suspect that if that neighbourhood was more affordable townhomes and midrise apartment buildings, chances are good that road would be five lanes wide with no trees right now...
(08-18-2020, 04:03 PM)clasher Wrote: [ -> ]Anyone seen any designs for the Victoria-IHT crossing?
Nope. I've been asking for them for a year, they haven't given me anything, I asked at committee and was rebuffed, I asked on twitter a few days ago.
It's too late at this point...but literally 12 months ago I asked to see them...
This is why my expectations are near zero here.