02-17-2023, 01:59 PM
(02-17-2023, 11:57 AM)danbrotherston Wrote:While living in the Netherlands did you happen noticed any HWY's ? or for that matter any grade separated vehicular rail crossings? Your all or nothing approach to transportation infrastructure is ridiculous, even the most pedestrian/ public transit friendly countries in Europe don't plan with that approach. Utrecht a city similar to the size of KW has HWY's to 6 different urban centres from it. You can invest in all forms of transit.(02-17-2023, 11:41 AM)westwardloo Wrote: My question is, why not build a grade separated crossing similar to Margaret Ave? Lancaster at Victoria St is already higher than the rail crossing and could be built up easily. It would require remove access to the one garage property and the shell station, then some regrading to all Breithaupt meet Lancaster on the other side of the crossing. Lancaster is a major throughway, it may not seem like it compared to the suburban streets. Even after HWY 7 is built Lancaster will serve as a major connection for Bridgeport and Lancaster residents to get Downtown. I think it would be a mistake for the region to close this crossing to car traffic, I do think it need to be grade separated so GO/ VIA trains can travel faster through that section. St. Leger st could be closed with a pedestrian bridge built though.
For the same reason I don't want the highway widened. Many of us believe we should stop expanding roads and start reducing or restricting traffic in the city.
Whether this is the right crossing for that, I am not sure, but it doesn't really matter, it's all academic, the region will not consider doing it. Not only do they not have a goal of reducing VMT, the idea of closing a region road is literally confusing to the engineers, it's like trying to explain water to a fish.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@52.0948993,5....77z?hl=en
A HWY between two large cities in Ontario is not irresponsible planning, nor is it necessarily a strictly dystopian car only approach to planning as you continuously spout. HWY 7 will make way for the City of kitchener or the Region to reimagine Victoria street, transforming it from its current state as STROUD to something more pedestrian friendly. I would also argue that the boardwalk/ west kitchener could have been a more pedestrian friendly neighborhood had the Region decided to with the Ring Road HWY as opposed to the STROUD with roundabouts approach.
I know you would love to see the Billion Dollars only be used for bike lanes, but I can't help but notice that neither kitchener nor Guelph has received any money from the Ontario Government for active transportation projects as a result of the government delaying HWY 7? I admit that it seems like North America seemed to only invest in car infrastructure for the past 6 decades, but there has been some significant improvements in that regards in the last decade or so, especially in our Region. W