General Road and Highway Discussion

[Pheidippides]

I was going to add this to the GRT thread, but because what started out as an exercise to see if a GRT bus stop island could have actually fit between the Ion right-of-way and the street at King and William quickly turned into an exercise of, “what else could have been different, and hopefully improved, for all modes?” I thought it fit better in the general discussion.

   
(larger georeference PDF in attached zip file)

I tried to stick to regional standard lane widths (minimum, standard, maximum, etc.) as well as trying to keep to the original plans and/or what was actually built as much as possible.
 
I recognize that not every little detail conforms to what was planned, or what was even actually built or already existed, and that I have no idea what constitutes good or bad turning radius or good or bad cycling lane geometry, but hopefully shows what could have been with a little more thought and prioritization (not to mention professional knowledge, skill, and tools!).
 
Hopefully this type of exercise, re-thinking, and learning from these lessons will help when the time comes to build the Cambridge segment.
 
Highlights:
Added 2.5m GRT bus stop island

• Provides for a bus stop between Allen and Waterloo Public Square Ion stops right on King St.
  
• Avoids lengthy, awkward, and potentially less safe detour down William/Regina/Willis.
  
• Improves bus safety by reducing Ion track crossings by two.
  
• Improves bus route schedule adherence (fewer turns, fewer potential Ion delays), and shortens the length of the trip allowing for greater frequency of trips.
  
• Similar in size to one at King and Victoria.
  

 
Improves connectivity of pedestrian and cycling network

• Added protected lanes and cross-rides for people who cycle.
  
• Added more direct pedestrian connection from Willis Way Ion station to King St.
  
• Larger city block broken in to smaller blocks improves connectivity and improve the scale of place.
  
• Added potential extension of Iron Horse Trail to connect with new protected cycling lanes.
  

 
Enhanced safety features

• Tighter turning radii force vehicles to slow.
  
• Set back stop lines and bumped out curbs improve sight-lines.
  
• More frequent pedestrian crossings, both marked and unmarked, provide predictable places and refuge for pedestrians to safely cross.
  
• Separates all modes, LRT, motor vehicles, pedestrians, and people who cycle.
  

 
Most changes fit within the existing right-of-way

• Only a few additional slivers of land would be required in some areas, and much of those are already public land.
  

Additional parking spaces created by reducing length of parking spots from 6.50m to 5.75m and planning placement of fire hydrants more carefully.
 
 
How to fit more into the same space?

• south of William travel lane widths on King St were reduced from 3.50m to 3.35m (15cm narrower; regional minimum is 3.25m)
  
• south of William turning lane turning lane width narrowed from 3.50m to 3.00m (50cm narrower; regional minimum is 3.00m)
  
• north of William turning lane turning lane width narrowed from 3.35m to 3.00m (35cm narrower; regional minimum is 3.00m)
  
• where necessary curb widths were reduced from 0.50m to 0.20m (30cm narrower; regional minimum is 0.20m);
  
• parking spots were narrowed 2.50m to 2.00m (2.00m space + 0.50m flat curb/door zone on one side).
  
• an additional 2.50m was needed on the west side of King near William and additional 0.25 of land was needed on the east side of King at William, both of which are already public.
  
• reduced sidewalk width to 3.50m in some areas relative to what was built (6.0m), but still wider than what existed previously (2.5m-3.0m) or what was proposed (3.0m) and is a dedicated pedestrian space buffered from cars and bikes
  
• north of William travel lanes on King St remain the same size (3.35m)
  
• Willis Way (EB) travel lane width increased from 3.00m to 3.35m.
  
• Willis Way (WB) travel lane width increased from 3.25m to 3.35m.
  
• Willis Way left turning lanes width reduced from 3.50m to 3.00m.
  

 
Unfortunately the line fills and points are not exporting/rendering/supported in the KML format (see attached zip file), but it give a rough idea of what it might look like at King and William:
   
   
   
 
Now I can get back to finishing a similar re-do of Erb and Bridgeport/Caroline between Father-David Bauer and the expressway.