+- Waterloo Region Connected (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com)
+-- Forum: Waterloo Region Works (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=14)
+--- Forum: Transportation and Infrastructure (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=25)
+--- Thread: General Road and Highway Discussion (/showthread.php?tid=335)
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - darts - 11-25-2017
they look like they are going to start opening up franklin blvd again unless they are working under the sidewalk only. It would be nice if they finished before they can't like last year where they sort of paved two lanes and than didn't have time to finish the job.
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - Bob_McBob - 11-27-2017
Kitchener is currently installing contentious speed bumps on Glasgow between Fischer-Hallman and Westmount, the "upscale" section that already has a 40km/h limit and chicanes and medians to calm traffic. Residents lobbied hard for the speed bumps, and the city caved despite the fire department's protests and their own policy about traffic calming on major collectors.
Summary on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/waterloo/comments/7fo7qx/new_speed_bumps_on_glasgow_crosspost_rkitchener/
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - DHLawrence - 11-27-2017
Sounds like west Galt.
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - danbrotherston - 11-27-2017
This is one of the clearest indications of money buying political clout in the city.
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - MidTowner - 11-27-2017
Sometimes good things trickle down. If another street where street calming would be justified in the real world, but not by the city's policies, can point to Glasgow and say that exceptions are made, that's a positive, I think.
I have a specific trip I take from time to time, usually on Sunday evenings, to visit someone who lives in Westvale. I take Glasgow its entire length for this trip and, when I do, I drive the speed limit. There is usually a queue of motorists tailgating each other behind me by the time I get to Fischer-Hallman, the first of which often glares at me when we pull up alongside each other there.
I only say that to say it's meaningless when the poster on reddit says the street "already has a 40km/h limit." I'm glad that some apparently influential people have learned that speed limits are useless and redesign is what really works.
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - jamincan - 11-27-2017
Speed bumps are the worst possible form of traffic calming, though. There are much better ways it can be accomplished.
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - panamaniac - 11-27-2017
(11-27-2017, 08:19 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: This is one of the clearest indications of money buying political clout in the city.
That particular example is of very long standing.
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - danbrotherston - 11-27-2017
This street is especially offensive to me as virtually every house has a lawn care service and every single one of them park in the bike lanes. The road has bike lanes but at certain times of the year, they are available exactly 0% of the time. Plus the current traffic calming is very dangerous for cyclists. I was nearly hit by a truck that swerved into the bike lanes to get around the islands without slowing down, at this point, downhill, I usually take the lane, do 50 km/h and still get angrily passed.
Plus all the people running or walking in the bike lane who can't use the sidewalk which doesn't exist, and all the homeowners like to place their garbage and recycling in the roadway.
Not to mention I was hit at the intersection of Glasgow and Fischer-Hallman.
Yeah, I'm probably biased, but I have no love for the street or it's residents.
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - highlander - 11-27-2017
Can someone explain how money is involved here? Are we saying because they pay a lot of property tax they have more influence or is it some other mechanism?
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - Viewfromthe42 - 11-27-2017
I believe they are suggesting that council is pandering to their unjustified needs (using city money wastefully) to buy votes.
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - danbrotherston - 11-27-2017
(11-27-2017, 11:44 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: I believe they are suggesting that council is pandering to their unjustified needs (using city money wastefully) to buy votes.
We have to define "buy votes" though, because the people there have just the same individual vote as a less wealthy person.
It is being suggested by me and others, that the politicians pay more attention to these people based on their wealth, so it is a valid question of "why". To be honest, I don't really know, maybe these people contribute to campaigns, i.e., buying signs, or maybe it is just that these people have the means to make trouble for local politicians. I'm not sure. But I can see a pattern.
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - tomh009 - 11-27-2017
(11-27-2017, 09:09 AM)jamincan Wrote: Speed bumps are the worst possible form of traffic calming, though. There are much better ways it can be accomplished.
Will they actually be bumps or humps? The former are far worse than the latter.
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - robdrimmie - 11-27-2017
My impression of that stretch of Glasgow is that the residents are not just considerably wealthy, but also very well connected. I don't know specific connections, but they're the sort of people who are actively engaged community members. They are in the various social clubs, on boards of community events and regional organizations. They participate in big community events. They golf together at the exclusive club on that stretch of road.
For the most part I don't think these are particularly bad people, and they are likely responsible for quite a lot of good in our community but they're also quite happy to leverage their networks to resist the fact that that stretch of road is not a quiet neighbourhood street but a very useful through path from one of the heavier suburban areas into the downtown core.
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - danbrotherston - 11-27-2017
(11-27-2017, 01:29 PM)robdrimmie Wrote: My impression of that stretch of Glasgow is that the residents are not just considerably wealthy, but also very well connected. I don't know specific connections, but they're the sort of people who are actively engaged community members. They are in the various social clubs, on boards of community events and regional organizations. They participate in big community events. They golf together at the exclusive club on that stretch of road.
For the most part I don't think these are particularly bad people, and they are likely responsible for quite a lot of good in our community but they're also quite happy to leverage their networks to resist the fact that that stretch of road is not a quiet neighbourhood street but a very useful through path from one of the heavier suburban areas into the downtown core.
"Bad people"...no that's a value judgement. But as you say, they do enjoy outsized political clout, and they're happy to use it. They also seem to act with an air of entitlement about their (through) road (which is certainly not unique in our region).
Whether you consider these things bad traits or not, and whether those few traits are reflective of a person as a whole, is a value judgement, but objectively those traits seem to be true.
The end result however, is that there is that the road is getting less safe for cyclists, and worse, there is a sense of unfairness to it which undermines confidence in our system of government.
[ end of rant ]
RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - tomh009 - 11-27-2017
(11-27-2017, 01:52 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: The end result however, is that there is that the road is getting less safe for cyclists
If the cars end up driving slower, I should think that would be an improvement for cyclist safety. Subject to the specific implementation of speed bumps/humps, of course.