Downtown outdoor spaces

[ijmorlan]

It’s a pretty good plan, but I’d be happier if they made the street one-way: one lane, one-way, westbound. Eastbound traffic can duck down to Benton/Frederick at either Courtland or Charles. This would free up a lot more space for the pedestrian realm, and/or allow bicycle lanes (both ways, of course) to be installed. The total number of people moved by the traffic lanes is probably minuscule compared to the pedestrian and bicycle traffic so I don’t see why motor vehicles should get half the space.

I suspect there wouldn't be much appetite for one-way streets in the core at the moment, given how recently Duke and Charles were turned back into two-way streets.  Also, a single lane makes it very difficult for emergency vehicles to be able to pass any blocking traffic.

I walk on Queen St (between Highland and Lancaster) a lot, and, really, the pedestrian traffic is far less than that on King St.  Bicycle traffic is substantially lighter yet. I don't see much evidence that car traffic is minuscule compared to those.  City of Kitchener traffic counts show roughly 10K vehicles/day in the two blocks surrounding King St.

Interesting. I would have thought that pedestrian traffic would be high in that location but maybe the destinations just aren’t in those particular blocks. If the pedestrian traffic does increase however in the future then giving a lane back from cars to pedestrians should be considered. If there are also bicycle lanes (both ways), then the emergency vehicle problem should be minimized.

I think there is a big difference between a pair of wide one-way streets pretending to be an expressway and a two-lane road from which one of the lanes is returned to pedestrian/cycle use. The former is just planners wishing they could build an expressway while the latter is telling drivers that while they are allowed to drive downtown, they must do so in a way that doesn’t inconvenience pedestrians.

It will be interesting to see how different modes of use of the area change over the next few years.