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Just noticed that the roundabout at Bleams / Manitou is now complete (though has no access from Bleams at the moment)! I presume they're waiting to open it until the Manitou bridge is complete.

The area looks a million times better now that the sky is not just a disgusting tangled mess of wires and 2 billboards (which were removed, surprisingly. Hopefully those don't go back in).
Any idea when the Manitou bridge is set to open?
It feels like that bridge has been closed for two years now. Am I imagining things?
The forms for the project list the completion date as "June 2016", but mention that it will open to through traffic on December 18th. Not sure why 6 more months of work is required.

The bridge closed in June if I remember correctly Smile
Laurelwood Extension is *still* closed despite being basically finished for almost a year now. I e-mailed an engineer at the region who had indicated earlier this year that it was on track to open in September, but haven't heard anything back from him. At the rate this is going, they'll need to resurface the road before it ever even opens to traffic.
What is Laurelwood Extension?
Connecting Laurelwood to the roundabout on Westmount.
(12-04-2015, 01:25 AM)GtwoK Wrote: [ -> ]The forms for the project list the completion date as "June 2016", but mention that it will open to through traffic on December 18th. Not sure why 6 more months of work is required.

I imagine the main structural work will be completed so the road can reopen, but he finer details will be polished off after the winter.

Pleased to hear the Dec 18 date, I will have to check it out at that point!
Five lessons TorontoJeff Outhit could learn from New York’s transportation shift 
Quote:Cars don’t shop, people do... After pedestrianization, Times Square became one of the 10 hottest retail areas in the world...

Change how road-space is allocated... 

“Paint is cheap” [but also]... Data matter...

It’s not all Kumbaya... one tabloid called a particular Brooklyn bike lane “the most contested piece of concrete outside the Gaza Strip.”...

There was rancour and opposition and not everyone was satisfied. But she also said that when they showed what could be done, residents clamoured for similar changes in their neighbourhoods. By late in the administration, polling showed wide majority support for their work.
Some interesting proposed changes to Bridgeport/Caroline between King and Erb, Erb between Caroline and King, and Albert between Erb and Bridgeport for 2018.
http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/region...df#page=46
I'm not a fan. Anyone who's driven on Bridgeport between King/Albert at rush hour knows this. Bridgeport backs up halfway to Weber! Not the place to lose a lane. Unless they're suggesting 2 lanes + Right-Turn Lane onto Albert... Basically turning the 3rd lane into the right-turn Lane only. That I would be on board with. I hate when people stop in that lane going straight through so nobody can turn right when the light is red. It'd also be helpful to turn the right lane to a right-turn lane only at King, too. The dynamics of these two intersections should be studied carefully. I'd be happy to go into more detail why but again, if you've driven through here when it's busy you already know why and what happens.
The backup is almost entirely in just the right-most lane, particularly between King and Erb; motorists here are apparently afraid of merging. In either case, I doubt removing a lane will make any difference because of the fact that the congestion is almost entirely confined to a single lane as it is. Improving cycling facilities on Bridgeport and Erb, however, should be a priority and this is a nice start.
Much of the current constriction and backup is due to LRT construction and the closure of Caroline. Hopefully some of that will ease up soon.

That said ISTM we need a dedicated right turn lane from Bridgeport to Regina, King, Albert and Erb. The problem is that people who want to turn right either clog up the right lane well before their cross street or they stay in the middle lane until the last possible moment, then force themselves into the right lane. Neither approach is optimal. Perhaps we need something akin to highway exits with appropriate signage and "ramp" lanes. Someone who wants to turn right at, say Erb, would see signs as far back as Peppler with that keeps Erb "exit" traffic in the middle lane until Albert, then "ramps" them to the right lane as they actually approach Erb. Presuming that drivers obey these signs this would prevent aggressive drivers from jockeying for position, butting into traffic, and thus backing up everyone else.
(12-07-2015, 12:18 AM)Pheidippides Wrote: [ -> ]Some interesting proposed changes to Bridgeport/Caroline between King and Erb, Erb between Caroline and King, and Albert between Erb and Bridgeport for 2018.
http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/region...df#page=46

I'm not a fan of adding multi-use trails where they don't belong. I think that the north side of Bridgeport/Caroline is not a good place for an MUT, especially given the large number of driveways/intersections crossing that path.
(12-07-2015, 09:58 AM)timc Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-07-2015, 12:18 AM)Pheidippides Wrote: [ -> ]Some interesting proposed changes to Bridgeport/Caroline between King and Erb, Erb between Caroline and King, and Albert between Erb and Bridgeport for 2018.
http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/region...df#page=46

I'm not a fan of adding multi-use trails where they don't belong. I think that the north side of Bridgeport/Caroline is not a good place for an MUT, especially given the large number of driveways/intersections crossing that path.

Hmm? I count 3 on Caroline between Albert and Erb and 1 per block (2 total) between King and Albert.