General Road and Highway Discussion - Printable Version +- Waterloo Region Connected (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com) +-- Forum: Waterloo Region Works (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=14) +--- Forum: Transportation and Infrastructure (https://www.waterlooregionconnected.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=25) +--- Thread: General Road and Highway Discussion (/showthread.php?tid=335) Pages:
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RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - danbrotherston - 02-27-2018 50 is the correct speed limit, 40 is not used anywhere else in similar conditions. The fact is however, that this street is one of the best examples of corruption in the city. The homeowners don't want other people using *their* road, the bike lanes are continually filled with vehicles, and yet little to nothing is ever done about it, and the only conceivable reason is the wealth of the residents on the street. Quite frankly, I can no longer use the road for biking. RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - Section ThirtyOne - 02-27-2018 The traffic calming on Glasgow is a joke and does absolutely nothing to slow down drivers. Complete waste of money. RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - MidTowner - 02-27-2018 (02-27-2018, 12:24 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: 50 is the correct speed limit, 40 is not used anywhere else in similar conditions. That's a point we can all agree on: the bike lanes, like elsewhere, are not enforced. RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - SammyOES - 02-27-2018 (02-27-2018, 12:24 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: The fact is however, that this street is one of the best examples of corruption in the city. I think "corruption" is the wrong word. I think it could just be that local governments respond to people that show up, and the wealthy people generally show up more (for lots of reasons). I've been in a lot of local government meetings where a delegation that almost certainly represents a minority view gets their way because they showed up. A lot of time I don't even know if its deeper than most humans don't like conflict and by appeasing the people that show up you avoid a direct conflict. I'm not saying this is really any better than actual corruption. But its at least a more tractable problem then real corruption. RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - clasher - 02-27-2018 (02-27-2018, 12:24 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: 50 is the correct speed limit, 40 is not used anywhere else in similar conditions. LOL, how do you ride anywhere else in this city? Glasgow is still a decent road for riding, especially between Westmount and F-H, even with the stupid curbed portion of the bike lanes it's rarely too busy. I too think the word corruption is a bit dramatic, it's not like those people gave the mayor a briefcase full of cash to get their way... and there are other places in city where they've put weird traffic humps, and "normal" traffic humps. Sydney street has them, I just rode along Doon South and there are some funny split humps along that road... could have been Robert Ferrie, they aren't on the most recent streetview. CoK Traffic Calming page has all kinds of stuff from the studies and whatnot. It doesn't appear to be completely based on greasing the squeakiest wheel. Also, unrelated to traffic calming, if you're riding in the southwest of Kitchener, Plains Road is no longer passable between Huron and F-H, they're developing that farmland into subdivisions so there is no road anymore. Google maps told me it was open when I planned my route... it also thinks that the stairs at the end of Durham street are rideable on a bike. RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - Canard - 02-27-2018 Dan is not wrong. This road is a hot mess. RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - ijmorlan - 02-27-2018 (02-27-2018, 09:05 PM)Canard Wrote: Dan is not wrong. This road is a hot mess. Wow. I don’t even understand what they’re trying to accomplish. It just makes no sense at all. Stuff like this is why I don’t really respect the supposed expertise of planners and traffic engineers. It’s clear they often really don’t know what they’re doing. RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - boatracer - 02-27-2018 (02-25-2018, 10:55 PM)GtwoK Wrote: Extremely surprised to see they plan to expand Blair Road between Fountain and George. That section of road has never struck me as being bad for traffic or needing to be widened. (02-26-2018, 10:55 AM)boatracer Wrote: "Extremely surprised to see they plan to expand Blair Road between Fountain and George. That section of road has never struck me as being bad for traffic or needing to be widened." I wonder if the planned upgrade for Blair Rd is tied to the new 1800 housing unit Cambridge West Development that will be moving forward based on recent approval from the Cambridge Planning board. It was scheduled to go to the OMB this spring. RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - Canard - 02-27-2018 Those shallow ramps are something else, too. If you don’t get guided off into traffic when you hit them, you get to enjoy wiping out when they force your wheel to the left violently*. They should be straight-on... * - yep, I know, you should be holding onto the handlebars firmly at times like this and give a quick, forceful counter-steer to mitigate the impact. And I’m guessing 10% of cyclists know how to do this, so that’s piss-poor to design like that RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - ijmorlan - 02-28-2018 (02-27-2018, 10:13 PM)Canard Wrote: Those shallow ramps are something else, too. If you don’t get guided off into traffic when you hit them, you get to enjoy wiping out when they force your wheel to the left violently*. Another good, and clearly objective, point. Your technique should be for locations where it is needed, such as a straight road crossing a railway track at a shallow angle that was determined by decisions made in the 1880s. It shouldn’t be needed in locations where shallow angle obstacles have been introduced for no good reason. This is sort of like the UW E5 entrance ramp, which I consider an accessibility fail even though wheelchairs can in fact get into the building using the ramp. RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - clasher - 02-28-2018 (02-27-2018, 10:13 PM)Canard Wrote: Those shallow ramps are something else, too. If you don’t get guided off into traffic when you hit them, you get to enjoy wiping out when they force your wheel to the left violently*. They shouldn't even be there, it's not like bicycles are the problem on that road. I never ride over them, I just merge into the regular lane, AFAIK there's no law saying I have to use the bike lane. Hot mess is a good way to describe it... I would love to ask the designer of this shit WTF they were thinking. RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - danbrotherston - 02-28-2018 (02-28-2018, 08:34 AM)clasher Wrote:(02-27-2018, 10:13 PM)Canard Wrote: Those shallow ramps are something else, too. If you don’t get guided off into traffic when you hit them, you get to enjoy wiping out when they force your wheel to the left violently*. Please do ask them. City staff and councilors need to know this design is bad. I know that some staff members are not happy about it, let they know they're not the only ones. RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - jamincan - 02-28-2018 I was in touch with Barry Cronkite, the manager of transportation planning with the City of Kitchener awhile ago. My impression was that the changes were sincerely made with the goal to improve cycling safety and reduce vehicle speeds on Glasgow. The disappointing part was that there definitely did not seem to be an openness to hearing about how my actual experience on that part of the road did not live up to their goals. The correspondence for the record: Quote:Dear Mr. Cronkite, Quote:Hi Jeremy, Quote:Hi Barry, RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - Section ThirtyOne - 02-28-2018 The speed humps as they are installed now do nothing to slow down traffic along that stretch. Cars can go over them without issue at 60km/h+, I see it regularly riding along this stretch. I'd love to see how much money has been spent on rebuilding this road to the state it is now. IMO this appears to be a perfect example of an influential, vocal group getting whatever they want despite little to no actual improvement in safety. RE: General Road and Highway Discussion - Canard - 02-28-2018 Wow, that’s awesome - thanks for sharing that, Jeremy! That little window into the dilusuonal mind of a regional traffic planner really clears up why we see so much questionable infra being built. |