07-04-2017, 09:30 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-04-2017, 09:31 PM by danbrotherston.)
(07-04-2017, 08:42 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: Resuming this conversation from the Ion thread:
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Can anyone point me to an evidence based study that shows that lanes narrowed using edge lines slows traffic down in a statistical sense? I have searched without luck.
After seeing the King at Allen example I started noticing them in my travels, like this one on Westmount:
and seem to be used enough around town that they must still be apart of the local traffic calming toolkit.
Are regional staff actually on record stating that they would not use edge lines to narrow a lane?
I have an email from a staff member from another road project indicating that it is current practice: "When it comes to wide lanes on Regional roads our current practice is to mark an edge line 3.35m from the centre line of the roadway but no closer than one metre to the curb."
I know of no data to back this up, but the same staff member indicated: "The advantages of an edge line include:
· Additional roadway guidance and delineation;
· Reduces motor vehicle lane widths to encourage slower motor vehicle speeds;
· Narrows the look and feel of the roadway to encourage slower motor vehicle speeds; and
· Reduces motor vehicle lane wandering"
(Which ironically is two points given in four bullet points). I'm not sure if this is backed up by data or not.
I have had another staff member mention to me, he would in future prefer to put such extra space in the median instead of the edge, which might make a slight improvement to cyclist safety. Although other roads, like Park St. make the strange decision to put in bike lanes of a generous, but not overly so width, and then provide drivers with a generous median, why not make bike lanes buffered?!
In any case, what really frustrates me is why we don't just build narrower roads. I mean, there are operational issues with a narrow curb to curb distances (which I don't necessarily buy but at least explain it in the case of King St.), but the road I was discussing in this email, as well as the one you provide an image of, has no such constraints, so why we as a city/region/province are paying to pave an extra 1-2 meters of space at the side of roads, which serves no other purpose but to make the road LESS safe boggles my mind.