General Road and Highway Discussion

[cherrypark]

This roundabout will definitely be a test ... There are a lot of pedestrians in the area as Chandler Mowat is quite dense and the Laurentian Hills Shopping Centre is their local destination for Groceries etc.
That intersection has always been dangerous, I lived in the area as a kid and you had to always be super aware of the left hand turners as they seemed to never pay attention to pedestrians, cyclists or even motorists. The have redone it numerous times, adding slip lanes, adding dedicated left turn lanes and more but its only become worse. Slip lanes are bad, but the left turn movements here from SB Westmount to EB Ottawa are the sketchiest.

Not helped by the fact that the left turn you mention is rarely long enough to clear the vehicles queued during busy hours, so you get more drivers pushing limits.

[KevinL]

I often take the bus to this area and shop at both M&M and FreshCo; as those are on opposing corners it's a full crossing.

It hasn't felt super dangerous so long as I stick to the signals, but there won't be any after this change so I will have to see if that alters my habits.

[dtkvictim]

Anecdotally, growing up in this area I know about a fair number of pedestrians being hit, but I recall it always being pedestrians crossing from the path at the end of Chandler Dr over Ottawa St to get to the plaza. That's not to say the intersection isn't also sketchy. I would hope at least a pedestrian island could be offered for this desire path, but I doubt it would even be considered given the proximity to the intersection.

[Acitta]

This is about Toronto, but I think that the commentary applies anywhere. 

The battle over the Bathurst Street bus lane is really about preserving the privileges of the status quo

Some day in the future, archeologists sifting through the remnants of our city might conclude that we were a people who loved our dogs, but worshipped our parking spots. They might speculate that the parking spots lining our roadways served as sentries awaiting the return of a messiah. Or even suggest that this worship bordered on idolatry, with parking spots alongside dwellings treated as sacred spaces; the size of domestic structures that housed parking spots the measure of a person’s piety. The archeologists would be awed by the gigantic vaults excavated beneath commercial and residential towers for parking spots, and marvel at the hectares of parking spots created by paving over fertile lands. Parking spots were more valued than human sustenance. They might theorize that this idolatry sparked resistance, though find little evidence of its success. Perhaps they would conclude that when the decline began, wrought by searing heat waves, floods, insect plagues, and wildfires, the society’s high priests — perhaps to appease an angry deity — proposed a colossal waterfront monument to the parking spot, pipelines across the land to fuel cars to stand idle in parking spots, and giant caverns under motorways to speed idolaters to parking spots.

[KevinL]

The Bleams extension beyond Manitou should be ready to open very soon - grabbed these shots from the bus this morning.

[danbrotherston]

2025 and we're still building new suburban 4 lane roads.

I miss you guys, but I don't miss the city.

[westwardloo]

2025 and we're still building new suburban 4 lane roads.

I miss you guys, but I don't miss the city.

At least they included an MUT to the bridge.  I don't want to completely defend this, but the connection will see a lot of truck traffic as it is in an industrial area of town.

[creative]

When all this work is finally complete and the road is all connected, there will be a continuous route from Victoria Street to Trussler road. This will include bike lanes and/or multiuse trails. This will eventually not only provide convenience for cars but also taxis/rideshare, buses, transport and delivery trucks, emergency vehicles as well as pedestrians and cyclists. Plus pedestrians and cyclists can use the bridge over the railway tracks at Victoria and continue onto Uptown Waterloo and beyond. With the planned lane reductions/multi use trail on Bridgeport and Erb streets, this will most likely be the longest continuous bike routes in the area.

[danbrotherston]

When all this work is finally complete and the road is all connected, there will be a continuous route from Victoria Street to Trussler road. This will include bike lanes and/or multiuse trails. This will eventually not only provide convenience for cars but also taxis/rideshare, buses, transport and delivery trucks, emergency vehicles as well as pedestrians and cyclists. Plus pedestrians and cyclists can use the bridge over the railway tracks at Victoria and continue onto Uptown Waterloo and beyond. With the planned lane reductions/multi use trail on Bridgeport and Erb streets, this will most likely be the longest continuous bike routes in the area.

That's nice and all, but it's missing the point. In fact, creating long continuous routes for drivers should be an anti-goal. The city I live in isn't better for cycling because it's bad for driving. It's better for driving, because the traffic planners actively restrict driving. They don't have through routes, they don't have a high connectivity driving network, they funnel drivers onto a few fast routes with limited intersections which means they move freely and safely. In all other areas they heavily limit driving so drivers move slowly and carefully, and only drive when their destination is not within the same area.

The city and region have zero willingness to do this, and it's why driving in Kitchener (and every Canadian city) sucks.

[creative]

You obviously didn’t read my entire post and just decided to center on car movement and not the other great uses of this route.

[danbrotherston]

You obviously didn’t read my entire post and just decided to center on car movement and not the other great uses of this route.

I read your entire post, several times in fact. It was quite short, which I appreciate. But I reiterate my previous statement, this is missing the point. Say it with me, "its not just bikes"....it is in fact, cars...limiting them, specifically.

Let me make this blunt...I would trade all the bike infrastructure in the city in return for better urban design which effectively limits driving. Convenience for drivers (and the resulting deluge of fast moving cars) is the cause of nearly all the urban development problems of Canadian cities. Simply adding bike infra to the existing bad design does not fix this.

[creative]

“This will eventually not only provide convenience for cars but also taxis/rideshare, buses, transport and delivery trucks, emergency vehicles as well as pedestrians and cyclists. Plus pedestrians and cyclists can use the bridge over the railway tracks at Victoria and continue onto Uptown Waterloo and beyond.”

[danbrotherston]

“This will eventually not only provide convenience for cars but also taxis/rideshare, buses, transport and delivery trucks, emergency vehicles as well as pedestrians and cyclists. Plus pedestrians and cyclists can use the bridge over the railway tracks at Victoria and continue onto Uptown Waterloo and beyond.”

Are you entirely unwilling to question the fundamental assumptions here? Is it convenient to have a cycle path next to a four lane stroad? Sure.

But maybe question why you have to have all these cars right in the middle of everything instead?

Like...when the US started to have rivers catch fire because of the volume of industrial contaminants pumped into the river, they didn't just invest in fireproof boats, they fundamentally changed the paradigm of the water, where maybe it shouldn't be flammable.

The Netherlands isn't a pleasant place to live because there are bike paths adjacent to all the four lane stroads where we have to exist. It is pleasant because they don't have such things, the cars are limited and kept away from people.

But what the fuck, everything I posted here gets downvoted by the same jackass, so I'm seriously questioning whether I have any interest in continuing to participate here. It's a pretty shitty experience, and especially infuriating given the whining and complaining that certain folks here express when people actually engage with their arguments.

[Rainrider22]

Why do you care what people on here think about your thoughts You add your opinion and that's it. How anyone can take anything personal online is beyond me.

[neonjoe]

“This will eventually not only provide convenience for cars but also taxis/rideshare, buses, transport and delivery trucks, emergency vehicles as well as pedestrians and cyclists. Plus pedestrians and cyclists can use the bridge over the railway tracks at Victoria and continue onto Uptown Waterloo and beyond.”

Are you entirely unwilling to question the fundamental assumptions here? Is it convenient to have a cycle path next to a four lane stroad? Sure.

But maybe question why you have to have all these cars right in the middle of everything instead?

Like...when the US started to have rivers catch fire because of the volume of industrial contaminants pumped into the river, they didn't just invest in fireproof boats, they fundamentally changed the paradigm of the water, where maybe it shouldn't be flammable.

The Netherlands isn't a pleasant place to live because there are bike paths adjacent to all the four lane stroads where we have to exist. It is pleasant because they don't have such things, the cars are limited and kept away from people.

But what the fuck, everything I posted here gets downvoted by the same jackass, so I'm seriously questioning whether I have any interest in continuing to participate here. It's a pretty shitty experience, and especially infuriating given the whining and complaining that certain folks here express when people actually engage with their arguments.

The road in question leans far more towards being a Road than a stroad. It’s primarily being built for cross town traffic, there is very very little along Bleams that would be considered local access besides a few industrial buildings  but these almost always have their access off of other side streets. The inclusion of multi use trails for the long distance active travellers is a good inclusion.