General Road and Highway Discussion

[danbrotherston]

I'd endorse that. Why are we not doing that?

One exception is that ragweed does need to be removed.

I don’t know. But in other possibly related news, I distinctly remember the University of Waterloo making a big deal some years ago — probably around 20 by now — about stopping grass mowing in some areas. As a result many areas grew up into brush over several years. In the last few years, I’ve noticed that, with no fanfare, they’ve started mowing again. Completely incomprehensible to me. Sometimes you save money by simply stopping doing stuff that isn’t actually useful.

That's a word I would use to describe a lot of what the university administration does.

[jeffster]

I'd endorse that. Why are we not doing that?

One exception is that ragweed does need to be removed.

I don’t know. But in other possibly related news, I distinctly remember the University of Waterloo making a big deal some years ago — probably around 20 by now — about stopping grass mowing in some areas. As a result many areas grew up into brush over several years. In the last few years, I’ve noticed that, with no fanfare, they’ve started mowing again. Completely incomprehensible to me. Sometimes you save money by simply stopping doing stuff that isn’t actually useful.

I seem to recall that too, but I think it changed when the government made it illegal to use weed killer, so instead of grass, you have weed growing. And not the happy type of weed, obviously. Anyway, lots of complaints about this. The region also tried the same things maybe 10 or 12 years ago. And apparently the got too many complaints.

[ijmorlan]

I seem to recall that too, but I think it changed when the government made it illegal to use weed killer, so instead of grass, you have weed growing. And not the happy type of weed, obviously. Anyway, lots of complaints about this. The region also tried the same things maybe 10 or 12 years ago. And apparently the got too many complaints.

All that’s needed is a combination of not worrying about weeds with some judicious weeding as the more diverse ecosystem takes hold.

What I mean is that what grows naturally is a huge variety, some of which are unambiguously attractive, some have to be removed (noxious), and some are an acquired taste. Since some weeding is required to suppress the noxious weeds, one can also have policies about some of the in-between species. For example, there are some huge spiky things that as far as I know aren’t actually harmful (unless you get up close and personal), but which have an excessively aggressive look to them.

Eventually you start getting bushes and taller grasses growing up and weeds become less of a problem. We don’t need to weed the entire countryside (or rake our forests), after all, and the UW campus is just a portion of countryside that happens to have a bunch of academic buildings and pedestrian walkways built on it.

[ac3r]

City of Waterloo sees mixed results with closed and slow streets: https://www.kitchenertoday.com/local-new...ts-3449430

[danbrotherston]

City of Waterloo sees mixed results with closed and slow streets: https://www.kitchenertoday.com/local-new...ts-3449430

I think this headline is, at best an oversimplification.

I really wish they would make a stronger distinction, both in seeking feedback, and in presenting results between "the implementation was poor" and "the experience was poor".

Obviously they are related, but when people complain that construction barrels look messy, they aren't complaining about slow streets, they are complaining about temporary measures (and frankly, without much rationality--most people didn't really think about how to do something quickly).

I suspect making this distinction would show a lot stronger support.

I also agree with Tenile, to me, it was utterly abhorent and frankly, criminal, the thefts of signage and materials marking the slow streets, and down right sociopathic the dangerous driving we see in our communities. Of course, that has little to do with the pandemic, sociopaths live among us, and only the entirely unfounded fear that they would be found guilty of some crime stops them murdering us with their cars.  I'm only slightly exaggerating here.

[ac3r]

Doug Ford is planning to introduce legislation to license the towing industry and give companies monopolies on provincial roads: https://twitter.com/richard680news/statu...5216295942

[Bytor]

Highway 401 bridges over Grand River to be replaced starting this spring
https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...pring.html

Does anybody have a timeline of how often the Waterloo Region section of the 401 has been redone since it was initially built?

[KevinL]

This bridge has not been replaced in a very long time, to my recollection.

[WLU]

This bridge has not been replaced in a very long time, to my recollection.

 This is the first time that this bridge is being replaced since this section opened in the 1960's.  The 401 itself was widened in the 1980's through Cambridge into Wellington County from four to six lanes.  Can't remember when it was widened from Hwy 8 to Homer Watson but it wasn't too long after.  In 1987 the Hwy 8 bypass including flyover onto the east bound 401 opened.

[jeffster]

Highway 401 bridges over Grand River to be replaced starting this spring
https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-...pring.html

Does anybody have a timeline of how often the Waterloo Region section of the 401 has been redone since it was initially built?

Not sure. But for as long as I can remember, there has always been construction going on.

80’s was the highway 8 by-pass. 90’s was widening 401 from highway 8 through to Milton. Extending expressway through to New Hamburg, and past Northfield, 2000’s widening 401 to 3 lanes from highway 8 through to London, the highway 8 flyover, widening the expressway from Ottawa St to Fischer-Hallman and adding NJ barrier, 2010’s widening highway 8 to 4 lanes each way from expressway to cut off and NJ barrier, twinning the bridge over the Grand, widening 401 to 8-12 lanes from highway 8 to Hespeler Road, more work on expressway to accommodate new highway to Guelph.

I am sure I am missing lots of things. But it been no-stop construction it seems.

[nms]

Wouldn't it be nice if the rail infrastructure received the same level of upgrade treatment? I feel like Metrolinx is only now playing catch up for a lot of the infrastructure needs that have been on the books for decades.

[ac3r]

Pedestrian bridge over Highway 7/8 at Strasburg/Avalon has approval: https://www.kitchenertoday.com/local-new...ng-3611563

[Bjays93]

Pedestrian bridge over Highway 7/8 at Strasburg/Avalon has approval: https://www.kitchenertoday.com/local-new...ng-3611563

I like this a lot. Not a terrible price either.

[danbrotherston]

Pedestrian bridge over Highway 7/8 at Strasburg/Avalon has approval: https://www.kitchenertoday.com/local-new...ng-3611563

I like this a lot. Not a terrible price either.

It's a lot of money for a bike connection that could have been made very cheaply if we simply took out a lane on Homer-Watson---leaving millions of dollars on the table for other improvements.

[tomh009]

I like this a lot. Not a terrible price either.

It's a lot of money for a bike connection that could have been made very cheaply if we simply took out a lane on Homer-Watson---leaving millions of dollars on the table for other improvements.

Politically it's easier to spend $7M than to take a lane out of Homer Watson.