07-24-2016, 09:41 AM
(07-23-2016, 12:16 PM)Canard Wrote: As much as I like the idea of a trail between the tracks for photo ops and LRV viewing, I think the safety aspect would probably quash that idea pretty quick - even with fences. It'd be a long walk with very high safety fences on both sides. I hate the term, but it would be the epitome of "hostile to pedestrians".
Uh, I’m talking about an amply-wide path between two LRT lanes. This is not in any way a safety hazard, and wouldn’t require any more safety fences than any other place the sidewalk runs next to an LRT lane (e.g., King St. in Uptown Waterloo). The sidewalks that are planned are much more dangerous — sandwiched between the edge of the bridge and a high-traffic vehicular lane, probably with no barrier other than a 15cm curb. Furthermore, the sidewalks will cross the expressway ramps at a point where motorists won’t be used to seeing lots of pedestrians. With my idea, all pedestrian crossings of general traffic would occur at signals. And I didn’t develop it down to the level of what sort of barrier would be provided, but I would suggest the same barrier between the pedestrian path and the LRT as at the edge of the bridge — essentially a handrail.
In short, while I welcome any explanation or clarification you can provide, I cannot understand at all why you would bring up a safety issue with my idea, nor can I understand why you would consider being between two LRT lanes to be more hostile to pedestrians than being right next to a general traffic lane. LRT lanes are usually empty, after all, even when they are carrying many more people than a regular lane can.
But my real complaint is that my suggestion apparently didn’t even warrant a response. Now arguably I would be even more annoyed with a nonsense response that clearly didn’t engage with the idea, which is what I typically expect to get, but I got nothing — not even an indication that anybody read it.