General Road and Highway Discussion

[bpoland]

I think the other end of Woolwich St is now closed for construction so everyone that lives back there by Kiwanis Park has to come out at the intersection with University. The lights are probably just temporary until that construction is complete.

[kps]

I think the other end of Woolwich St is now closed for construction so everyone that lives back there by Kiwanis Park has to come out at the intersection with University.  The lights are probably just temporary until that construction is complete.

Makes sense. I live in the adjacent ‘megablock’ and don't find that traffic levels warrant a light.

[Markster]

I think the other end of Woolwich St is now closed for construction so everyone that lives back there by Kiwanis Park has to come out at the intersection with University.  The lights are probably just temporary until that construction is complete.

That explains it. Thanks!

[Pheidippides]

I passed through the roundabout construction at Homer-Watson and Ottawa/Alpine over the weekend and was astounded at the rapid progress they have made. Sorry no pictures this time.

[danbrotherston]

I passed through the roundabout construction at Homer-Watson and Ottawa/Alpine over the weekend and was astounded at the rapid progress they have made. Sorry no pictures this time.

Perhaps they are not doing any underground utilities?  Building a road takes very little time, it's utilities that take forever.

[KevinL]

They definitely reworked the storm sewers (I pass by here regularly and have been watching progress closely), but that's expected when the road layout changes. I imagine the other utilities are in good enough shape that relocation/replacement was not necessary.

[GtwoK]

IIRC, hydro and telecom lines were all moved in the months prior to construction, so those should be done by now, with only waterworks to re-do

[Bob_McBob]

I'm guessing a few of you have already seen this dashcam video of Kitchener drivers in action at King and Victoria 

[Canard]

I drive a lot, and I've never seen anything like that. Yikes.

I'd like it if you changed it from "Kitchener drivers in action" to "a couple of bad Kitchener drivers in action", though. We're not all like that, despite what certain people on this forum would lead you to believe!

[jamincan]

It wasn't just one person, though.

I think the worst I've personally seen was a pickup that first went through one roundabout correctly, turning left, but proceeding counter-clockwise. He then proceeded to go through the next one the wrong way, once again turning left, but proceeding clockwise, for some reason.

[danbrotherston]

It wasn't just one person, though.

I think the worst I've personally seen was a pickup that first went through one roundabout correctly, turning left, but proceeding counter-clockwise. He then proceeded to go through the next one the wrong way, once again turning left, but proceeding clockwise, for some reason.

Maybe he wanted to mix it up a bit....or maybe he was trying to see what if felt like to go each way, and figure out the right way from there.

But honestly, I what I see walking to work every morning.  Sure, most drivers aren't as bad as shown in the video, but the majority aren't great, and don't care.  If I had a dollar for every cell phone I see in drivers' hands on the way to work, I could pay for my own chauffeur.

[MidTowner]

I was standing at the bus stop this morning a little longer than usual because the bus was late, and watched motorist after motorist fail to stop before making a right turn. Some barely slowed down. I guess they figure, it's early in the morning, it's optional.

Sunday afternoon, I got a bit annoyed when a motorist cut me off making a left turn in front of me (and I was pushing a stroller, so not exactly hard to see). Normally I watch closely for this 'cause I really don't want us to get hit, but the guy hadn't been signalling his turn. Eh, why would he? There wasn't any oncoming (vehicular) traffic.

That video is really wild, though. I don't think I've seen anything like that. I can't really imagine how they could have done that.

[Markster]

It wasn't just one person, though.

It was one driver who made a pretty big mistake, (getting confused as to where the lane continues on the far side of the intersection) and two drivers who made relatively minor ones (herd mentality).

[MidTowner]

"(getting confused as to where the lane continues on the far side of the intersection)"

Was that the reason? I'm trying to think about how you could get confused about that there. At least, confused enough to cross the yellow line.

[panamaniac]

"(getting confused as to where the lane continues on the far side of the intersection)"

Was that the reason? I'm trying to think about how you could get confused about that there. At least, confused enough to cross the yellow line.

I wondered the same thing as I couldn't see from the videos any "design cues" other than the minor jag in the lane at Charles that might cause confusion.  In fact, you can see that the driver is beginning to crowd/cross the yellow line even as he/she approaches Charles.  I always warn people not used to driving in K-W to be on alert for "oblivious driving".  It happens everywhere, but I do find local drivers prone to the strange and unexpected in ways that I don't seem as much elsewhere.