General Road and Highway Discussion

[dtkvictim]

I looked at the signs earlier this week, and I am actually more mystified now. Why is driving straight through prohibited when they allow turns onto Ontario St (Kitchener) northbound from King St? Does prohibiting driving straight increase cyclist safety, or is there some other kind of rationale that escapes me?

My guess (I think I posted earlier) is to prevent conflict between cars and cyclists both going straight by only allowing one to do so. And as Dan said, cyclists will have less cars to deal with on Ontario St because it also acts as traffic calming. Mind you, these merging conflicts happen in 100s of places throughout the city where painted bicycle lanes just end with no guidance, so maybe it's not that.

FWIW, a very large portion of cars go straight through anyways, and I'm sure a number of turning cars were going to turn regardless, so I think the restriction has already mostly failed.