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+--- Thread: Road design, safety and Vision Zero (/showthread.php?tid=1409)
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - danbrotherston - 04-04-2023
That was a disappointing outcome.
I think the thing that bugged me most in the article was the quote about this being a 50-100 year decision...and then making that decision for cars...like honestly...Davey is really making a strong case for him being actually stupid.
Climate change is real and happening...if he plans for cars in 50 years, then the actual 100 year decision is actually to invest in a city wall so that we can effectively drive off mongol hordes after society breaks down, and while the freeway would work well in that role then WE STILL DON"T WANT RAMPS!
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - ijmorlan - 04-04-2023
A real 100 year decision would be to plan explicitly for what our road and transit networks should look like when private car ownership is at maybe 10% and most of the traffic on the freeway (assuming it still exists) is trucks.
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - cherrypark - 04-05-2023
(04-04-2023, 01:43 PM)neonjoe Wrote: Kitchener Council has come out against the closure of the Lancaster St Bridges.
https://archive.is/Pb2kG
The ramps are an 'Asset to our community'
Cars Win!
Cars lost today at Regional council, carrying the motion to move ahead with the ramp removal.
I don't think Kitchener council really factors at all, beyond a vote that had Berry make some acrobatic reaches for rationale to preserve the ramps. From "voting against the business prosperity of the region" to "removing ramps with decades of service" as if they were armed forces veterans.
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - danbrotherston - 04-05-2023
(04-05-2023, 12:25 AM)cherrypark Wrote:(04-04-2023, 01:43 PM)neonjoe Wrote: Kitchener Council has come out against the closure of the Lancaster St Bridges.
https://archive.is/Pb2kG
The ramps are an 'Asset to our community'
Cars Win!
Cars lost today at Regional council, carrying the motion to move ahead with the ramp removal.
I don't think Kitchener council really factors at all, beyond a vote that had Berry make some acrobatic reaches for rationale to preserve the ramps. From "voting against the business prosperity of the region" to "removing ramps with decades of service" as if they were armed forces veterans.
Well I am pleasantly surprised about that.
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - cherrypark - 04-05-2023
(04-05-2023, 12:31 AM)danbrotherston Wrote:(04-05-2023, 12:25 AM)cherrypark Wrote: Cars lost today at Regional council, carrying the motion to move ahead with the ramp removal.
I don't think Kitchener council really factors at all, beyond a vote that had Berry make some acrobatic reaches for rationale to preserve the ramps. From "voting against the business prosperity of the region" to "removing ramps with decades of service" as if they were armed forces veterans.
Well I am pleasantly surprised about that.
Going to need more examples to form a trend, but wondering if some of the changing of the guard at the regional planning department is going to start showing up more often in the recommendations.
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - Bob_McBob - 04-05-2023
There was some significant discussion about roundabout safety improvements at the P&W Committee meeting yesterday. Apparently the region is looking into trying raised crosswalks at at least one roundabout, but staff seem pretty happy with the current safety level for pedestrians and cyclists. I anticipate "illumination improvements" will be the major focus. Of note, the traffic manager or whoever was giving the presentation emphasized that flashing lights at roundabout pedestrian crossovers would likely be a "distraction" for drivers due to commercial signage surrounding them.
Councillor Huinink, who is visually impaired and uses a wheelchair, said she basically has to hope vehicles stop for her when crossing at roundabouts because there's no audible signal like at a regular intersection. IMO a lot of other councillors made comments that show they don't really understand anything about traffic planning or road safety.
Quote:Improved Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety and Accessibility at Roundabouts
Collision statistics in the Region from 2016 to 2020 indicate good overall performance for roundabouts in the area of pedestrian safety. Some of this good statistical performance is likely attributable to informed improvements that have been incorporated into roundabout designs.
Nevertheless, Regional staff have heard general concerns around pedestrian safety at roundabouts through various forms of engagement and it is plausible that these concerns hinder the Region’s efforts to encourage more people to walk, roll, and cycle around the Region. In addition to proving safe for active transportation users, roundabouts need to feel safe in order for people to feel comfortable choosing a non-car mode for their travels. To that end, Regional staff are investigating several design enhancements, both for future roundabout designs and for retrofitting existing roundabouts, which would be aimed at improving the safety, desirability and accessibility of roundabouts for active transportation users.
Raised Crosswalks
The Region will be looking into the possibility of implementing raised crosswalks at roundabouts across both the approach and exit lanes. The goal of a raised crosswalk is to raise driver awareness around the requirement to yield to pedestrians, and to lower vehicle speeds at these critical junctions. Regional staff will be looking for opportunities to retrofit at least one existing intersection with raised crosswalks (particularly at a location with higher pedestrian volumes), and to incorporate raised crosswalks into at least one new roundabout scheduled for construction in the near future. These implementations would be supported by data collection efforts (e.g. vehicle speeds, driver yield compliance) to measure the effectiveness of the design feature and assess their candidacy for wider use across the Region. An example of a raised midblock pedestrian crossing – which could be adapted to a roundabout pedestrian crossing – is shown in Figure 9.
Rapid Flashing Beacons with Accessible Pedestrian Signals
Similarly, the Region will be investigating the feasibility of installing Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB) at roundabout crosswalks. One of the goals of the RRFB implementation would be to raise driver awareness of the requirement to yield to pedestrians. Additionally, RRFB can be further enhanced with the inclusion of Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) which would provide audible cues for users with visual impairments, increasing the accessibility of roundabout crossings. Regional staff will be looking for opportunities to retrofit at least one existing intersection with RRFB and APS (particularly at a location with higher pedestrian volumes). Since there are concerns that RRFB may have unintended consequences that actually worsen pedestrian safety, the implementation of RRFBs with APS at roundabout crossings would be combined with extensive data collection to ensure that compliance improves with respect to drivers yielding to pedestrians. An example of a midblock pedestrian crossing with RRFB – which could be adapted to a roundabout pedestrian crossing – is shown in Figure 10.
Staff will also look at the feasibility of combining a raised pedestrian crosswalk with an RRFB and APS implementation to understand the effect of both pedestrian safety and accessibility features in tandem.
Illumination Improvements
Staff are working to review the illumination of pedestrian facilities at roundabouts to ensure that pedestrian visibility is adequate during low-light conditions. A fulsome illumination review of all existing roundabouts is planned for 2023 and, where necessary, staff will develop a plan to install street lighting improvements for consideration in the future Regional Capital Budget Program.
Dutch-Style Roundabout Design Readiness
A modern, more bicycle-friendly roundabout design has emerged in the Netherlands that involves a bicycle ring around the outside of the roundabout’s vehicle lanes that allows cyclists to safely and efficiently navigate the roundabout within the confines of their own operating space. This design, which has been given the colloquial name “Dutch-Style Roundabouts”, has gained popularity globally as a way to improve conditions for cyclists at roundabouts. Figure 11 shows a Dutch-style Roundabout that has been designed and implemented in Cambridge, England.
Currently, there is no way to facilitate a Dutch-style roundabout in the Region of Waterloo since the Ontario Highway Traffic Act (HTA) does not allow the introduction of a crossing where motorists must yield to bicyclists (other than at signalized bicycle crossings). The Region – and other municipalities around the province – continue to lobby for changes to the HTA that would allow a protected bicycle crossing at roundabouts. In the short-term, Regional staff are looking to design roundabouts where possible in a manner that they can be adapted to a Dutch-style design in the future, when and if changes to the HTA support this design.
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - bravado - 04-05-2023
Do I really need to spend my summer standing at roundabouts with a counter of cars that don’t stop? Do councillors/planners only use injuries as a metric? Have they never tried to cross these things as a pedestrian?
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - cherrypark - 04-05-2023
(04-05-2023, 10:37 AM)bravado Wrote: Do I really need to spend my summer standing at roundabouts with a counter of cars that don’t stop? Do councillors/planners only use injuries as a metric? Have they never tried to cross these things as a pedestrian?
No, they have not and will not. Even though skipping a session to do a field trip to experience some of these infrastructure elements from ground level would do wonders for understanding what they are voting on.
Staff had to explain what Northfield Dr. bike lanes looked like in the Lancaster discussion. Fair if a memory jog was required, but surely the discussion on slip lanes or not would have been quickly resolved if they all had to ride both ways over Northfield during rush hour...
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - danbrotherston - 04-05-2023
Good news folks...I've already written about this:
https://thecutstack.substack.com/p/roundabouts-are-bad-but-they-dont
And FWIW the region saying "Oh, we're happy with the current safety at our roundabouts" is comforting in a "devil you know" kind of way...
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - dtkvictim - 04-18-2023
Maybe this is a futile effort... But who would I write to try and get traffic mirrors installed in some of downtown's blind intersections/driveways? There are a handful of spots where I would've been hit dozens of times as a pedestrian by cars pulling out at way too high of speeds if I didn't always stick my head around the corner first. And now driving more often, I hate having to pull out blindly with no way to see pedestrians until you've already cut them off.
I think I noticed one appear on the bylaw office at Goudies/Ontario (didn't have a chance to go back and check yet), so maybe there is some hope. They are ubiquitous in Japan, and seem like such a no-brainer that I can't believe how rarely we use them in Canada.
These are what I'm referring to:
![[Image: Qu78HMd.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Qu78HMd.png)
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - danbrotherston - 04-18-2023
The "VVE" (basically condo corporation) for our complex just installed these at the driveway into our alley for basically the same reason.
FWIW...most people drive extremely slowly (like 10km/h or less) here, so I wasn't actually worried here, but apparently there have been issues in the past...I'm not sure how the mirrors will slow people down, but there was also talk of a speed bump.
There were definitely intersections in DTK that I walked past and thought, some idiot is going to blindly drive out and kill me one day.
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - dtkvictim - 04-18-2023
(04-18-2023, 04:45 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: I'm not sure how the mirrors will slow people down, but there was also talk of a speed bump.
At the very least, mirrors let vulnerable road users know they are about to get run down. But I also think a significant portion of those who pull out way too fast (at least here) don't want to run pedestrians over but genuinely think along the lines of "If I can't see them, they must not be there". Installing mirrors would hopefully slow down/stop at least some of them.
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - danbrotherston - 04-19-2023
(04-18-2023, 05:46 PM)dtkvictim Wrote:(04-18-2023, 04:45 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: I'm not sure how the mirrors will slow people down, but there was also talk of a speed bump.
At the very least, mirrors let vulnerable road users know they are about to get run down. But I also think a significant portion of those who pull out way too fast (at least here) don't want to run pedestrians over but genuinely think along the lines of "If I can't see them, they must not be there". Installing mirrors would hopefully slow down/stop at least some of them.
Yeah, I mean, the "vulnerable road users" in this case are toddlers...they aren't really going to look in the mirrors...and FWIW they can generally hear cars coming...even electric ones...the joy of having a car light area.
To be honest, most drivers seem to be careful, as they should (most drivers have their own children who are playing in the alley).
But apparently someone once didn't and ran over a children's toy. But I don't really know what's going through their minds then. I don't think the mirror will slow them down, it might make them more safe when being reckless.
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - Acitta - 04-24-2023
The City of Kitchener's Vision Zero Strategy.
"Traffic collisions are not accidents. They always have a cause, which means they can be prevented.
Our Vision Zero strategy is our long-term plan to reduce serious injuries and death due to traffic collisions to zero in our community. Everyone has a role to play in achieving this vision." A rather pointless video included.
RE: Road design, safety and Vision Zero - danbrotherston - 04-24-2023
I actually thought the video was good.
FWIW...I think there is actually a pretty significant barrier to overcome on even that obvious and fundamental point. There are entirely too many very loud people who claim that road deaths are just a part of mobility.
The actual program is still all talk until we see what they do...the good parts, a clear description of why lower speed limits are important. Not going to 30km/h is a shame...
I also would like to have seen less on the "interventions to fix bad roads" and more on the "fundamentally rethink engineering practices to focus on safety instead of convenience".