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.

A road widening may be initiated in response to demand, but that doesn't contradict induced demand. To explain briefly: at a certain point, a road reaches a saturation point. The number of people using the road balances the number of people avoiding it. I may start using that road, but at the same time, someone else is making the decision to use another, or take transit, or work from home. Expanding a road changes that equation. It does lower congestion for a time, but as more people use the road, existing users don't have an incentive to not use it any more until it once again reaches a saturation point.

Basically, induced demand simply acknowledges that the supply of a particular transportation mode - whether that be roads or transit or bike lanes - affects the demand toward certain modes. Supply and demand works on roads just as it does for any other good.

Hi Jaminican,  I'm not sure if it's accurate to assume that the number of people that avoid using a road is equal to the amount of people using it.  I think that the vast majority of drivers just tend to put up with congestion where it exists.  For example, one can see this everyday on highway 8 approaching the expressway for the vehicles that want to head westbound on the expressway or the vehicles in Waterloo heading southbound on the expressway between King St. towards the collectors.  Commuters show up everyday knowing that there's going to be congestion and that nothing will really change until changes are made to the highway.  When the expressway in Kitchener was widened between Courtland and Fischer-Hallman the back-ups disappeared and traffic, even in the busiest parts of the day, moves well.

Sorry, I'm not quite sure what you meant by the highlighted line below

"It does lower congestion for a time, but as more people use the road, existing users don't have an incentive to not use it any more until it once again reaches a saturation point."

I do definitely agree with your comment about supply and demand.  I'm just not sure about "induced demand" as I have never seen a road widened to create demand only to satisfy it. 
One thing is interesting about transportation and induced demand certainly as it relates at least to our region.  Prior to the completion of the LRT something in the vicinity of 90% of all trips were made by car, with the balance using public transit, walking and cycling.  After the addition of the LRT and numerous additional km of cycling lanes, I'm not sure a lot has changed.  The addition of these two modes hasn't really induced their demand.  

Cheers