Roads/Bridges projects/issues

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by Dado

The intersection where the collision occurred (Albion Road and Rideau Road) is controlled by a traffic light. Three of the four directions have left-turn lanes.

It would seem that someone ran a red light.

Personally, I'm not at all keen on introducing traffic lights as a way of controlling these rural intersections. People just go way too fast if they've got a green. I think instead we should be installing roundabouts at these rural intersections since then everyone has to slow down upon approaching the intersection.

According this article the collision occured 300m south of the intersection. A vehicle hit the gravel shoulder and overcorrected. A roundabout would not prevent that, but a paved shoulder would.

[waterloowarrior]

Roundabout at the west end of Embrun (report is looking at trail crossing)

[waterloowarrior]

County Road #43 widening ESR (Kemptville). Interesting bike lane configuration..separated from traffic by a 0.8 metre mountable curb.

[waterloowarrior]

Heron and Riverside intersection to get facelift

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/travel/...090/story.html
THE OTTAWA CITIZEN MAY 31, 2010 2:02 PM


OTTAWA — The troubled intersection of Heron Road and Riverside Drive is due to get nearly $1.9 million worth of work in an attempt to make it safer, Councillor Maria McRae announced Monday.

The crossroads next to Canada Post's mirrored headquarters is one of the busiest in the city and had 35 collisions in 2009, according to city statistics, second only to Woodroffe and Baseline. The plan is to add more through lanes, make existing turning lanes longer, add dedicated bike lanes approaching and running away from the intersection, and to give transit buses priority in passing through. The city also intends to close a left-turn lane on Riverside that allows access to the Sir Charles Tupper government complex.

A city report says the widening of the intersection will help vehicles pass through more quickly and safely, and the addition of the bike lanes will "clarify" where different kinds of vehicles ought to be.

It also concedes that the changes will make things worse for pedestrians, extending the time it takes to get across the road.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

Heron and Riverside intersection to get facelift

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/travel/...090/story.html
THE OTTAWA CITIZEN MAY 31, 2010 2:02 PM


OTTAWA — The troubled intersection of Heron Road and Riverside Drive is due to get nearly $1.9 million worth of work in an attempt to make it safer, Councillor Maria McRae announced Monday.

The crossroads next to Canada Post's mirrored headquarters is one of the busiest in the city and had 35 collisions in 2009, according to city statistics, second only to Woodroffe and Baseline. The plan is to add more through lanes, make existing turning lanes longer, add dedicated bike lanes approaching and running away from the intersection, and to give transit buses priority in passing through. The city also intends to close a left-turn lane on Riverside that allows access to the Sir Charles Tupper government complex.

A city report says the widening of the intersection will help vehicles pass through more quickly and safely, and the addition of the bike lanes will "clarify" where different kinds of vehicles ought to be.

It also concedes that the changes will make things worse for pedestrians, extending the time it takes to get across the road.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Where is said report?

[eternallyme]

Heron and Riverside is a nasty intersection with few viable solutions. Short of a grade-separated interchange, only creative solutions are possible in my opinion (traffic volumes are way too high for a roundabout).

My suggestion there would be a first in Ottawa and perhaps in all of Canada: a continuous-flow intersection. That would eliminate all left-turn conflicts within the intersection (there is plenty of ROW for the early traffic signals), and allow left turns to once again be permitted in the Heron EB to Riverside NB and the Riverside SB to Heron EB movements.

[waterloowarrior]

[waterloowarrior]

Work on the Limebank widening from Earl Armstrong to Spratt has begun (part of Limebank is now closed for the summer). I went on Limebank last night for the first time in a while and the widened Limebank and intersection with River is almost unrecognizable... The section north of Leitrim looks like it`s pretty close to being done.

[waterloowarrior]

Centretown News - Residents angry about Bronson redevelopment plan
http://centretownnewsonline.ca/index...668&Itemid=127

[Dado]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

Centretown News - Residents angry about Bronson redevelopment plan
http://centretownnewsonline.ca/index...668&Itemid=127

Interesting:

Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes says she agrees that the plan contradicts the city’s master transportation plan, which places priority on pedestrians, then cyclists, then transit, and lastly personal vehicles.

“The reality is that the second suggestion is still a four-lane highway mainly for commuters. We still have a long way to go to redesign Bronson,” says Holmes.

She says that many of the engineers have a suburban mindset and have probably never read the city’s transportation plan.

“We need urban engineers who understand the texture of city and that people have to be able to walk,” says Holmes.

Has she been listening to my complaining or something? This talk of engineers with a suburban mindset is impressive. We're finally starting to get to the heart of the matter.

[eemy]

Originally Posted by Dado

Interesting:

Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes says she agrees that the plan contradicts the city’s master transportation plan, which places priority on pedestrians, then cyclists, then transit, and lastly personal vehicles.

“The reality is that the second suggestion is still a four-lane highway mainly for commuters. We still have a long way to go to redesign Bronson,” says Holmes.

She says that many of the engineers have a suburban mindset and have probably never read the city’s transportation plan.

“We need urban engineers who understand the texture of city and that people have to be able to walk,” says Holmes.

Has she been listening to my complaining or something? This talk of engineers with a suburban mindset is impressive. We're finally starting to get to the heart of the matter.

I'm convinced that one of the biggest challenges for planning in general is the fact that the planning for roads and highways is almost always done from an engineering perspective with little regard to planning objectives. Considering the fact that transportation is central to planning, it can really undermine otherwise good policy. The MTO is particularly egregious in this regard and has almost complete disregard for local or county-level planning policy, or even provincial planning policy.

[eternallyme]

South of the 417, it would be VERY difficult to narrow Bronson to any less than 4 lanes and not have traffic gridlock. From a purely operational POV, a suburban design is what is necessary, but that would definitely be unacceptable from a community POV. There is also no alternative corridor available. I recommend only streetscaping changes there maintaining the existing general design as far as the Bronson Avenue Bridge.

North of the 417, narrowing to 2 lanes with a 40 km/h speed limit and a mainstreet design with wider sidewalks is probably best.

[adam-machiavelli]

"From a purely operational POV, a suburban design is what is necessary, but that would definitely be unacceptable from a community POV."

While I understand your argument, it's important not to perpetuate the legitimacy of the engineers' arguments by using their language. From an "operational POV", the current set-up is unsustainable because it perpetuates an auto-oriented mindset, increased pollution, and less overall long-term functionality. Therefore it is in fact not operational.

[Dado]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

South of the 417, it would be VERY difficult to narrow Bronson to any less than 4 lanes and not have traffic gridlock. From a purely operational POV, a suburban design is what is necessary, but that would definitely be unacceptable from a community POV. There is also no alternative corridor available. I recommend only streetscaping changes there maintaining the existing general design as far as the Bronson Avenue Bridge.

South of the 417, at least to Carling, there are also far more opportunities to widen the right-of-way by a couple of metres by seizing bits of setbacks and bits of parking lot and the like.

Even south of Carling it would be possible to widen the right-of-way in most places (the worst are the blocks either side of Lakeside where topography makes it more difficult).

It appears that the City doesn't want to expropriate any land - it just sort of wants to shove everything in the existing right-of-way and hope adjacent landowners allow [their heavily taxed] land to be used for pedestrian improvements.

North of the 417, narrowing to 2 lanes with a 40 km/h speed limit and a mainstreet design with wider sidewalks is probably best.

These options are not even on the table as they are discounted the moment anyone suggests them. That's the problem.

[waterloowarrior]

New Report Calls on Election Candidates to Support Roads Moratorium
http://www.ecologyottawa.ca/news/index.php

July 8, 2010 (Ottawa, ON) - A new report from Ecology Ottawa calls for a halt to the steady growth of the city’s road network. The report is part of Ecology Ottawa’s policy platform for the 2010 municipal elections.

According to the author, Matthew Paterson, the ongoing policy of focusing on road building is having a costly effect on our city – both financially and environmentally. Between 2008 and 2017, the city will spend $1.5 billion on road construction and widening.

Meanwhile, the construction of roads involves large quantities of oil, which increases water run-off and can lead to toxic chemicals entering into our water. In addition, 33% of Ottawa’s greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to transportation, which is also the fastest growing source of emissions.

“The financial and environmental costs are clear. Instead of pouring hundreds of millions dollars into new roads we should be focusing on providing real public transportation options for the people of Ottawa” said Graham Saul, Chair of Ecology Ottawa.

In addition, as the report details, congestion problems will not be solved by the construction of more roads. In fact, the reverse is often true. Road-construction sets in train the patterns of development and locks citizens and the City into restricted choices – by building out into the suburbs, the increased distances to work limit cycling to only the hardy and fit, while walking becomes impossible.

“The old adage that ‘if you build it, they will come’ is appropriate here,” said Mat Paterson, author of the report.

To view a copy of the report click here.

[eternallyme]

That might just send out growth to surrounding municipalities, just like the development freeze they called for.

[adam-machiavelli]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

That might just send out growth to surrounding municipalities, just like the development freeze they called for.

You don't need more roads to house more people and ensure they're close to all necessary amenities.

[lrt's friend]

I like this. Build thousands of homes and you decide to neither serve it with decent roads or decent transit. This is a recipe for building an unliveable city, choking on congestion. Our ranking as a great city to live in will quickly decline.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by lrt's friend

I like this. Build thousands of homes and you decide to neither serve it with decent roads or decent transit. This is a recipe for building an unliveable city, choking on congestion. Our ranking as a great city to live in will quickly decline.

Exactly...how are they supposed to get in? Cycling on grass? Long congested 2-lane roads? With no transit and bad roads, those are the only options.

Also even if Ottawa had the highest transit ridership per capita in Canada and second highest in North America, that would still be only about 35% using it regularly.

[adam-machiavelli]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Exactly...how are they supposed to get in? Cycling on grass? Long congested 2-lane roads? With no transit and bad roads, those are the only options.

Also even if Ottawa had the highest transit ridership per capita in Canada and second highest in North America, that would still be only about 35% using it regularly.

Much of London works like this and it still functions. The key is to reduce the commuting distance between home and work. The City took a step in the right direction by adding suburban town centres in its first post-amalgamation land use plan. Now it should focus on filling it with tens of thousands of jobs and adding equal numbers of new dwellings east of the O-Train tracks, and west (and also north) of the Rideau River.