08-04-2020, 11:18 AM
(08-04-2020, 10:14 AM)panamaniac Wrote:(08-04-2020, 08:44 AM)ijmorlan Wrote: Thanks for the traffic level update. I didn’t realize Queen had such a low level of traffic (although I’m not surprised to hear it’s significantly less than Westmount). I agree that if waiting for turning cars just slows down vehicles, that’s fine in a place like Downtown. I just object to having to wait for multiple cycles of a traffic light not due to overall high traffic levels but just due to one or two people wanting to turn. It sounds like that would be unlikely to be a problem on Queen.
It would likely be a huge problem on Queen, with traffic backed up for blocks. If you had no turn lanes, you'd have to ban all left turns off Queen, at a minimum, and probably right turns as well from Charles to Duke. Actually the idea of a two-lane, no turns Queen St through the downtown core could have some appeal.
....Why do you think this? Traffic congestion isn't magical...Queen carries very little traffic between Joseph and Duke, the rest doesn't carry much either. So do you have any models that show that removing turn lanes in that section would cause any congestion? Or just your intuition. Because it was my intuition that said Westmount would also be backed up for blocks...it isn't...I was wrong then, and it's because my views are still skewed by the historical planning biases in the region.
I think slow streets like Queen would operate just fine, and I have at least as much evidence to back my beliefs as you have for yours.