General Road and Highway Discussion

[danbrotherston]

Ability to snowplow, apparently.

Wouldn’t it be nice if snowplows existed in different sizes for different situations?

https://www.google.com/search?q=sidewalk+plow

Not saying you’re wrong, of course…

To be fair, using two plows to do the job is far more expensive than using one.

But it's really questionable.  Frankly, given how obsessed the region is with proving out ideas before hand, I question where they've tested this.

[Pheidippides]

They’d probably have to do two passes with a standard plough anyway; once for the motor vehicle lanes and once for the cycling lane. So the operational costs would be nearly identical. The only difference would be the upfront capital costs of a smaller plough.

[danbrotherston]

They’d probably have to do two passes with a standard plough anyway; once for the motor vehicle lanes and once for the cycling lane. So the operational costs would be nearly identical. The only difference would be the upfront capital costs of a smaller plough.

They already do 2 passes with the plow, the first pass opens up the traffic lanes, with the wing up, after snow is finished, they do another pass to widen the road to the actual width of the pavement (why do we have such wide pavement anyway?) sometimes when there's no curb with the wing down allowing them to push snow farther off the road.  The bike lanes would be cleared in this second pre-existing pass.

[Pheidippides]

"Permanent barrier to go up near where car entered river"

The reaction to the car in the creek incident yesterday speaks volumes about local safety priorities. A single incident, well two if you count the one last fall in the same general area and under different circumstances, and the government leaps in to action and bends over backwards to protect motorists…from themselves.
 
Meanwhile, the 1000s of people who cycle and who face much more dangerous situations on a daily basis lobby endlessly and advocate for evidence based solutions for their own protection from others to no avail.

[danbrotherston]

"Permanent barrier to go up near where car entered river"

The reaction to the car in the creek incident yesterday speaks volumes about local safety priorities. A single incident, well two if you count the one last fall in the same general area and under different circumstances, and the government leaps in to action and bends over backwards to protect motorists…from themselves.
 
Meanwhile, the 1000s of people who cycle and who face much more dangerous situations on a daily basis lobby endlessly and advocate for evidence based solutions for their own protection from others to no avail.

Not only that, but this could be tackled in a number of ways, like say, slowing down cars here, but they chose the one that keeps the danger level high for everyone else, but doesn't impede drivers.

We'll have a moderately pleasant fence replaced with a steel guard rail.

And we'll still be in a situation where if there's a pedestrian on the sidewalk when the car loses control because of reckless driving and excessive speed, well the pedestrian will still be killed.

The region has their priorities very clearly identified.

[Canard]

Someone should speak at council about this (or to the media)...

[SammyOES]

For maximal effect I think you need to have the money being spent on this and give examples of where that money could be spent for real improvements to pedestrians or cyclists. Ideally for places that have had accidents that have injured or killed people.

[urbd]

'Add lanes above or below Highway 401 to ease gridlock, board of trade urges'

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/869...ade-urges/

wow.

[ijmorlan]

'Add lanes above or below Highway 401 to ease gridlock, board of trade urges'

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/869...ade-urges/

wow.

I was going to make a snarky comment about “… or spend less than that on better transit to more effect” but then I saw they’re talking about that 5km section from Renforth Drive to the Airport expressway where the collector lanes disappear. I’m not convinced that a fantastically expensive second deck is worthwhile, but it is strange having that narrow section in the highway so it’s at least potentially worth investigating.

[danbrotherston]

'Add lanes above or below Highway 401 to ease gridlock, board of trade urges'

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/869...ade-urges/

wow.

I was going to make a snarky comment about “… or spend less than that on better transit to more effect” but then I saw they’re talking about that 5km section from Renforth Drive to the Airport expressway where the collector lanes disappear. I’m not convinced that a fantastically expensive second deck is worthwhile, but it is strange having that narrow section in the highway so it’s at least potentially worth investigating.

IIRC, the reason for that is that the 427 bridges weren't built wide enough to accommodate the additional lanes, and the fantastical expense of rebuilding that entire interchange was foregone when the collectors were built.  You know, because we probably weren't going to focus all of the population growth in sprawling bedroom communities...I mean, that would be a short sighted policy that no government would implement right....

*sigh*.

Double decking is fantastically expensive, I wonder if it's actually cheaper than widening, or if the board of trade simply believes that the political appetite for the property acquisitions that would be required is no longer present.

[Markster]

What I found shocking on a road trip through the States, was just how many places have done just this, and built, or are currently building, double-decked freeway expansions. Houston, Los Angeles, and others.

As far as I'm concerned, the bottleneck at the 427 isn't much of a bottleneck at all, considering that the 427-409 deke exists. Those sections of those highways have a little bit of spare capacity, and give the 401 an effective additional lane. Expanding the 401 will just mean fewer people doing the deke. It won't speed anyone up.

[Canard]

What is the timeframe for completion for the (seemingly years of) work at Fountain/King in Cambridge?

I don’t mean to sound disrespectful to the workers, but what on earth is taking so long?

[mgregorasz]

What is the timeframe for completion for the (seemingly years of) work at Fountain/King in Cambridge?

I don’t mean to sound disrespectful to the workers, but what on earth is taking so long?

That work should be done this summer. I got an email at work last year said that utility relocations was causing a delay in completing the road. The other half of the culvert by the flour mill is finally in place and the contractor is working on backfilling it.

[boatracer]

Fountain Street bridge in Blair scheduled to open around Labour Day.

https://www.therecord.com/news-story/874...te-august/

[GtwoK]

Woah... Isn't that extremely ahead of schedule? I'm positive it was supposed to be finished in 2019.