General Road and Highway Discussion

[ijmorlan]

But an AT connection along University should be a priority. Not exactly possible for it to be safe, without millions of dollars and a big detour, for bridges, OR simply closing couple of slip lanes, which the MTO will never do, so, probably a pipe dream.

But on writing the reply to this, I was absolutely shocked as I always am at the vast vast amounts of land ..... wasted.... on gigantic interchanges for city streets. Shockingly University Ave. and Bridgeport Rd. interchanges take up over 100 acres of land combined, to say nothing of the highway in between. What is the value of that, how much would 100 acres of land sell for, even in that relatively suburban area.  Don't worry, I'm sure the 417 will go better.

Those interchanges would probably work well as diverging diamonds. That can significantly reduce the space requirements, make the turns more like turning a corner, and provide a way to thread a safe multi-use trail across the highway without building a separate bridge.

That being said, one function of those interchanges is to provide green space, although that is significantly undermined by the fact that it’s mostly just grass which isn’t much better than concrete as habitat. If there were more bushes and marshes in the spaces between the various routes then an interchange could act as a significant amount of habitat for non-human plants and animals (although not larger animals obviously; I’m thinking of insects and rodents).

I should also add that as I looked through the report, I kept thinking that what I was reading would be nice, but the roads department (let’s be honest) would never in a million years allow it. Things like narrowing lanes (not even to really narrow, just to less than Le Mans standards) and reconsidering turn radii.