12-11-2015, 02:01 PM
Keep in mind that switching Erb from 3 lanes eastbound to 1 isn't a reduction of 2 lanes, because you would gain one on Bridgeport; the vice versa is true of westbound lanes on Bridgeport it would go from 3 to 1, but you gain one on Erb. So a net "loss" of one lane on both stretches plus the additional of two shared center turn lanes along the both stretches.
The two directional travel is also adding to the connectivity (more ways to get to the same place) of the street network and so if there is a crash or construction there are alternatives.
Consider a simple trip of getting from Royal St to the Waterloo library. Under the current set-up it is a two-way trip of 4.7km by car, but with two-way streets it becomes a two-way trip of 3.3km (a 30% savings in distance travelled). Plus, without two raceways to contend with you're more likely to just walk to the library at that distance anyway. :-)
Are there similar roads in the region (one lane each way + shared centre turn lane) with similar traffic volumes that could demonstrate that it could handle the volume? The only one that comes to mind is Bishop St in Cambridge between Hespler Rd (2014 AADT = 46,680) and Conestoga Blvd (2014 AADT = 21,848). Comparatively speaking Erb and Bridgeport's busiest intersection is at Weber with 2014 AADT's of 39,725 and 31,320 respectively while the average AADT for Bridgeport between Albert and the expressway is about 17,000 (as it is for Erb too). Source:
http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/gettin...ations.pdf
(this would be much more useful to the community as an OpenData GIS layer than as a PDF)
From the limited reading I've done it seems like up to about 28,000 AADT two-way left turn lane (TWLTL) roads can have as much capacity as a multi-lane road without a left turn lane. If that is the case then since Erb and Bridgeport are not near reaching those capacities along the majority of their stretches it would make sense to make them more liveable, safer, and efficient/connected while not reducing the capacity.
The two directional travel is also adding to the connectivity (more ways to get to the same place) of the street network and so if there is a crash or construction there are alternatives.
Consider a simple trip of getting from Royal St to the Waterloo library. Under the current set-up it is a two-way trip of 4.7km by car, but with two-way streets it becomes a two-way trip of 3.3km (a 30% savings in distance travelled). Plus, without two raceways to contend with you're more likely to just walk to the library at that distance anyway. :-)
Are there similar roads in the region (one lane each way + shared centre turn lane) with similar traffic volumes that could demonstrate that it could handle the volume? The only one that comes to mind is Bishop St in Cambridge between Hespler Rd (2014 AADT = 46,680) and Conestoga Blvd (2014 AADT = 21,848). Comparatively speaking Erb and Bridgeport's busiest intersection is at Weber with 2014 AADT's of 39,725 and 31,320 respectively while the average AADT for Bridgeport between Albert and the expressway is about 17,000 (as it is for Erb too). Source:
http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/gettin...ations.pdf
(this would be much more useful to the community as an OpenData GIS layer than as a PDF)
From the limited reading I've done it seems like up to about 28,000 AADT two-way left turn lane (TWLTL) roads can have as much capacity as a multi-lane road without a left turn lane. If that is the case then since Erb and Bridgeport are not near reaching those capacities along the majority of their stretches it would make sense to make them more liveable, safer, and efficient/connected while not reducing the capacity.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.