Road design, transportation and walkability

[WLU]

  Not sure what the environmental costs would be as a result of widening the road.  The existing road is aprox. 14 - 15 m wide with the shoulders.  A typical 4-lane road is the same width.  Here the existing shoulders are essentially just being replaced with lanes.  The region may choose to add a small center median on this road which would make it slightly wider but regardless, the overall footprint will be relatively unchanged.  The new road will also have curbs and gutters which provides for controlled drainage preventing run-off of ice melting material into the vegetation alongside the road as is currently the case.  If you're referring to emissions, there is certainly a lot more created per vehicle/km when vehicles are "stop and go" as is the current condition with vehicles sometimes backed up from Bleams Rd. to the cemetery.  The proposed roundabout at Bleams is an excellent addition and assists in maintaining movement.

  I'm not sure how "it won't improve traffic".  If you have x amount of cars on two lanes and then you have 4 lanes, obviously traffic will flow more efficiently.  That whole "induce more traffic" theory is nonsense.  This road is being widened to satisfy the demand.  The road isn't being built to create demand.  If that were the case the road would have been widen 15 years ago before the subdivision was built.  I can't ever think of a road that was widened to "induce demand".  For example, Ira Needles was a built as a two lane road and as traffic increased the road was widened.  Hwy 401 was built as a 4-lane highway (excluding the section through Toronto).  Most of it now is at least 6-lanes and sections along the highway are currently being widened.  Trust me the MTO didn't widen the highway and then cross their fingers hoping more people would use it.  The same can be said for Fischer-Hallman.  Along with development out there, this stretch of Fischer-Hallman also provides commuters travel to communities southwest of Kitchener including Ayr and provides direct access to the expressway.

  Now you can argue that they shouldn't have built the Huron subdivision and then the road wouldn't have to be widened.  Well maybe, but as bland as it may be for some, the demand for suburban living is high as it provides the type of living that a lot of parents prefer to raise families in.  That's a whole separate discussion and yes, when you consider that all of those homes out there are likely paying property taxes at a minimum of $4000 annually, most of which goes to the Region, it is definitely a bargain.

If you deny the reality of induced demand there really isn't much point in talking to you. 

As for the subdivision. Also no. A far flung suburban subdivision costs the city more to provide services too than it collects in tax dollars. People like me who live in an efficient high density area subsidize the lifestyle of the people who live out there.

Great reply.  You don't like/agree with someone else's post so "there isn't much point talking".   You subsidize the people who live out there?  Sure you do.  Who do the people that live out there subsidize?