University of Waterloo Transit & Ring Road

[SammyOES]

Aren't there already a bunch of pedestrian and bike paths though?

And I don't think it makes sense to restrict cars completely from the ring road.

[plam]

Aren't there already a bunch of pedestrian and bike paths though?

And I don't think it makes sense to restrict cars completely from the ring road.

Banning cars from ring road was under discussion. There is Laurel Trail on the east side and something on the west side but east-to-west connectivity is not as good.

[insider]

Cars driving through Ring Road go incredibly fast, and it is in part because of the layout of Ring Road itself; it's smooth curves are "highway geometries" as some of my professors say, and it simply makes driving smooth, pleasant, without obstructions = much faster and paying less attention. Ring Road is a UNIVERSITY CAMPUS street for all kinds of traffic, removing sidewalks and adding fences will just make the problem worse. Changing the paving treatment to something more textured, making drivers more aware of their surroundings, and making it safe to people to cross everywhere should be the priority (think DT kitchener streetscape). Students WILL cross at every point they want/can. The speed bumps are an ok addition, but still a band aid solution to a problem that should be solved by its roots.

[nms]

It been interesting to watch as speed bumps are added, then removed, and crossings are added, then removed, typically on 15-20 year cycle depending on the philosophy of the day.

[tomh009]

Cars driving through Ring Road go incredibly fast, (...)

What is "incredibly fast" in your book?  In my experience the Ring Road speeds are quite moderate, but it may be that our standards are just different.

[mpd618]

What is "incredibly fast" in your book?  In my experience the Ring Road speeds are quite moderate, but it may be that our standards are just different.

I'm guessing 50-60 km/h is not uncommon on stretches, and that's far too high in my book for a place with that volume of pedestrians. Though of course a pretty common speed for a roadway that wide / devoid of trees.

[insider]

Cars driving through Ring Road go incredibly fast, (...)

What is "incredibly fast" in your book?  In my experience the Ring Road speeds are quite moderate, but it may be that our standards are just different.

Fast enough that they are intimidating and seem aggressive. Especially when there are and always will be people crossing at random points. I've been close to being hit more than once. Cars driving through a university campus should go at 30-40km/h max. I've definitely seen people drive at 60+, particularly through the curves. Also, there are a number of blind points along the road, and still people cross, and cars speed up without caring.

[plam]

What is "incredibly fast" in your book?  In my experience the Ring Road speeds are quite moderate, but it may be that our standards are just different.

Fast enough that they are intimidating and seem aggressive. Especially when there are and always will be people crossing at random points. I've been close to being hit more than once. Cars driving through a university campus should go at 30-40km/h max. I've definitely seen people drive at 60+, particularly through the curves. Also, there are a number of blind points along the road, and still people cross, and cars speed up without caring.

Yeah. There is occasionally speed enforcement as time permits. The university also owns a sign which indicates your current speed, and they use that when they can too. (They don't leave it out).

GRT buses, by the way, really got the memo & don't speed.

[tomh009]

What is "incredibly fast" in your book?  In my experience the Ring Road speeds are quite moderate, but it may be that our standards are just different.

Fast enough that they are intimidating and seem aggressive. Especially when there are and always will be people crossing at random points. I've been close to being hit more than once. Cars driving through a university campus should go at 30-40km/h max. I've definitely seen people drive at 60+, particularly through the curves. Also, there are a number of blind points along the road, and still people cross, and cars speed up without caring.

So I have only driven on Ring Road a handful of times in the last few years, and I haven't seen aggressive driving or high speeds, but this is only anecdotal evidence.  But correspondingly few people can accurately judge the speed of a car within 10 km/h from a sidewalk, unaided.

Still, the simple way to keep traffic slow is not redesigning the roads (very expensive, very disruptive) but using speed humps (not bumps) that keep the speeds down.  And somehow I thought that's what the university was doing ... maybe my memory fails me.

[Viewfromthe42]

Unless you have a low-riding car that would be damaged merely going over a speed hump, they are little distress to a driver. Timing your acceleration coming down from one, you can smooth out the bump, and it encourages the already-common reaction: speeding up between humps to make up any lost time (real or perceived).

The humps do damage buses that go over them, every time. So every greyhound, go, GRT, FedsBus, would be financially impacted. That is a reason why you will not (and should not) see humps.

[MidTowner]

So I have only driven on Ring Road a handful of times in the last few years, and I haven't seen aggressive driving or high speeds, but this is only anecdotal evidence.  But correspondingly few people can accurately judge the speed of a car within 10 km/h from a sidewalk, unaided.

Still, the simple way to keep traffic slow is not redesigning the roads (very expensive, very disruptive) but using speed humps (not bumps) that keep the speeds down.  And somehow I thought that's what the university was doing ... maybe my memory fails me.

insider said "fast enough that they are intimidating and seem aggressive." He wasn't trying very hard to gauge speed accurately, because you're right that's it difficult. If it is intimidating to someone on foot, it is too fast, particularly on a university campus. Speed humps may or may not be enough to discourage it: we shouldn't shy away from redesigning roads to be safe and pleasant for all users. It can be expensive, but it's an investment.

[DHLawrence]

University of Guelph has speed humps and the Guelph Transit buses seem to cope just fine with them. (I don't think GO buses drive on their ring road.)

[Viewfromthe42]

University of Guelph has speed humps and the Guelph Transit buses seem to cope just fine with them. (I don't think GO buses drive on their ring road.)

"Cope with" means they can indeed go over them. But in several meetings in our region, GRT, fire, and ambulance services have all complained about the delays and repetitive non-trivial damage caused to their vehicles. Time and again, it's reliably shown that if it feels safe to drive above the posted speed, people will do so. Trying to slow people down does not work as well as making it feel unsafe to speed.

[Markster]

East Ring Road, when it was rebuilt in 2007, had its somewhat harsh speedbumps replaced with very smooth humps that the buses have no problems driving over. In recent years, the West Ring Road speedbumps have also been tamed.


Getting back on topic....
At the south east curve of Ring Road, they've poured some concrete on the east side. It's kinda like a really narrow sidewalk. I'm guessing that it's a base that they're going to drill the fence into.

[Canard]

I still think the best way to prevent speeding (and to encourage gentle, smoother, more economical driving) would be to manditate that fuel consumption must be displayed in a non-switch-offable section of the vehicle's instrument cluster. People like to be "the best" at whatever they're doing by human nature, and having a number constantly there reminding them of how their speeding and aggressive acceleration greatly increases fuel consumption would dramatically change the driving habits of the general populous.