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General Road and Highway Discussion
(01-19-2018, 03:43 PM)MidTowner Wrote:
(01-19-2018, 03:34 PM)plam Wrote: The Internet is not great at tone of voice. That was sarcastic, right?

haha The first line was sarcasm; the second line really was not.

It frustrates me to no end, the police aren't filling a collision report. 

The driver intentionally broke the law, ever after being warned it was dangerous, then he hit a crossing guard (who are highly visible) and fled the scene.

If this doesn't deserve dangerous driving charges, what do you have to do to prove you're a danger to the public?!
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(01-19-2018, 04:35 PM)danbrotherston Wrote:
(01-19-2018, 03:43 PM)MidTowner Wrote: haha The first line was sarcasm; the second line really was not.

It frustrates me to no end, the police aren't filling a collision report. 

The driver intentionally broke the law, ever after being warned it was dangerous, then he hit a crossing guard (who are highly visible) and fled the scene.

If this doesn't deserve dangerous driving charges, what do you have to do to prove you're a danger to the public?!

Sorta makes you wonder if the driver 'knows' someone. Or the driver is 'someone'. Hopefully we find out.
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A second pedestrian has been hit in Kitchener today, on a residential street.

We must demand that our road design guides prioritize safety over speed.

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/man-in-crit...-1.3768449
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(01-20-2018, 07:58 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: A second pedestrian has been hit in Kitchener today, on a residential street.  

We must demand that our road design guides prioritize safety over speed.

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/man-in-crit...-1.3768449

Sorry - second today? Second this year? ....
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Second one this week, and actually just down the street from the first.

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/pedestrian-...-1.3762288
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(01-20-2018, 10:33 PM)Bob_McBob Wrote: Second one this week, and actually just down the street from the first.

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/pedestrian-...-1.3762288

I wonder if the local media will offer any follow-up re the circumstances?
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(01-20-2018, 10:16 PM)panamaniac Wrote:
(01-20-2018, 07:58 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: A second pedestrian has been hit in Kitchener today, on a residential street.  

We must demand that our road design guides prioritize safety over speed.

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/man-in-crit...-1.3768449

Sorry - second today? Second this year? ....

Yes, sorry, my language was imprecise.  Second this week.
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(01-20-2018, 07:58 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: A second pedestrian has been hit in Kitchener today, on a residential street.  

We must demand that our road design guides prioritize safety over speed.

https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/man-in-crit...-1.3768449

I agree on prioritizing safety. But we know nothing so far about this incident, except that it happened on (what I would call) an arterial suburban road, so it's too early to say whether this particular accident should impact the design guides.

What would be worthwhile, albeit far more work, would be to look at each of the 2017 pedestrian fatalities (how many were there?) and see how the particulars of each accident compare to the street in question and the current design guides for such a street. (Many streets were designed and built before such design guides existed.) This could provide enough data to actually influence the future of the design guides.

Sadly, I fear no one hear has the time or the inclination to take on such a project.  Maybe someone at TriTAG would be interested?
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News from this week's planning and works on Highland Road from Fischer Hallman through Ira Needles:

1. Construction is slated to occur in 2019, (originally advertised for 2018)
2. The intersections of Westheights and Highland will not be roundabouts
3. A petition by residents to have more sound barriers added was rejected
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From Kitchener Community and Infrastructure Services Committee (page 80 - sorry can't direct link with CoK's new site).

Three traffic calming projects for 2018:
Patricia (Victoria to Highland)
McGarry (Fischer-Hallman to Westheights)
Old Chicopee (River to Ottawa)

Interesting stats page on page 83 showing 85th percentile speeds, number of crashes, AADT, etc.:
   

The number of streets where the 85th percentile is nearly 60 or more is ridiculous given these are largely side streets.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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I’d love to drive 50 in a 50, but given the road rage that would induce, I can’t. I keep it as close as I can, but there’s a much bigger issue to solve, here. I’d also be happy with 40 km/h limits (or even lower) - but I can see this with eyes as a person on a bike because I ride one, too.

We’re not far off from having vehicles with location-based speed limiting, methinks.
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(01-31-2018, 10:34 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: From Kitchener Community and Infrastructure Services Committee (page 80 - sorry can't direct link with CoK's new site).

Three traffic calming projects for 2018:
Patricia (Victoria to Highland)
McGarry (Fisher-Hallman to Westheights)
Old Chicopee (River to Ottawa)

Interesting stats page on page 83 showing 85th percentile speeds, number of crashes, AADT, etc.:


The number of streets where the 85th percentile is nearly 60 or more is ridiculous given these are largely side streets.

Some of those are shocking to me, especially given some of the segments' lengths. A driver is achieving nothing in terms of time savings speeding ten or fifteen kilometres per hour on some of the streets, at the expense of increased fuel consumption and risk, and apparently the majority of drivers are doing it.

It has to be obvious that literally nothing is consciously going through the typical motorist's mind when he's accelerating to 60 kilometres an hour turning onto (for instance) Patricia Ave from Victoria, when he'll have to stop less than 500 metres away at Highland. He's just responding to the design of the road, which broadcasts "go ahead, go as fast as you like, it's safe to do so [for you]."

It would be so easy to change. I'm glad some streets are being addressed, but it shouldn't be piecemeal like this when the problem is so clear.
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(01-31-2018, 10:34 PM)Pheidippides Wrote: From Kitchener Community and Infrastructure Services Committee (page 80 - sorry can't direct link with CoK's new site).

Three traffic calming projects for 2018:
Patricia (Victoria to Highland)
McGarry (Fisher-Hallman to Westheights)
Old Chicopee (River to Ottawa)

Interesting stats page on page 83 showing 85th percentile speeds, number of crashes, AADT, etc.:


The number of streets where the 85th percentile is nearly 60 or more is ridiculous given these are largely side streets.

Doubtful speed is a factor with Stirling. They're most likely at the rounding corner at Pleasant. That spot is insane. I expect to see lights installed, if that's the case.
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I bike along that section of Stirling most mornings and would not at all have guessed that volume or number of collisions would be that high. Goes to show the value of real data!
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(02-01-2018, 08:26 AM)MidTowner Wrote: It would be so easy to change. I'm glad some streets are being addressed, but it shouldn't be piecemeal like this when the problem is so clear.

Implementing traffic calming costs money, so not everything can be addressed at once.
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