Metro Vancouver Road Infrastructure Discussion

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Depends on what they mean by residential streets.

As it stands going 50 on a lot of residential streets is tough and dangerous (ie going 50 down 5th Ave or something similar) but if they mean residential streets like 4th Ave then that is nuts.

Vancouver's Street & Traffic Bylaw describes a "minor street" as a roadway that doesn't have lane lines or directional dividing lines. Setting the limit to 30km/h on these streets would be a great start, and it wouldn't include arterial streets.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by p78hub

install left turn bays and lights at all the major intersections before considering this move.

wont happen, council has preitty much banned new left-turn bays unless it is a very specific case, which rarely happens. look at W 2nd Ave by Olympic village. 3 or 4 streets, could have put in turn bays no problem with the new development. but nope, turn it into a 1 lane road most of the day with little to no stopping restrictions.

Originally Posted by p78hub

Or maybe they're working towards banning cars altogether. It's like that meme: can't have traffic fatalities if there's no traffic.

yes, that is the end game.

[Pinion]

Every single day lately is looking like this:



I really feel like I need to leave the north shore, even though I love it, just to be able to continue working. It's too risky trying to plan around this shit with no alternative options. There's nothing desirable in my price range anymore though. Sigh

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by Pinion

I really feel like I need to leave the north shore, even though I love it, just to be able to continue working. It's too risky trying to plan around this shit with no alternative options.

I know that this isn't an answer for everyone, but the SeaBus is actually very, very reliable. In fact it's probably the single most reliable and on-time service in the entire transit system.

[urbancanadian]

Originally Posted by Pinion

I really feel like I need to leave the north shore, even though I love it, just to be able to continue working. It's too risky trying to plan around this shit with no alternative options. There's nothing desirable in my price range anymore though. Sigh

You're actually not allowed to leave the North Shore. We need you for your updates!

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

I know that this isn't an answer for everyone, but the SeaBus is actually very, very reliable. In fact it's probably the single most reliable and on-time service in the entire transit system.

I rarely work downtown or near skytrain so doesn't help me much.

I agree it is reliable but it is also super slow, relative to the distance.

Originally Posted by urbancanadian

You're actually not allowed to leave the North Shore. We need you for your updates!

Thx. Sometimes I wonder if anyone besides jollyburger is reading that thread.

[flipper316]

The next major project after the Port Mann Highway 1 Improvement Project should've been redoing all of the Upper Levels to bring it in line with the rest of Highway 1. Of course, the government is too cheap.

[logicbomb]

I keep saying that Highway #1 will only get worse from here on out. North Vancouver and Langley need improvements asap. It's become to the point where google maps are showing red 12+ hours a day 7 days a week now whereas this was an issue confined to rush hour.

The province and North Van should come up with creative ideas to prevent multiple vehicles from entering their municipality. This includes parking fees at many popular parks and hiking points and perhaps a toll at both bridges.

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by logicbomb

I keep saying that Highway #1 will only get worse from here on out. North Vancouver and Langley need improvements asap.

Hwy 1 is never being widened. The native reserve prevents it, and now they're adding collector lane bridges on either side of the highway at Lynn Creek to keep it four lanes forever. Those bridges will help me a lot but cements the fate of everyone further to the west.

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by Pinion

Hwy 1 is never being widened. The native reserve prevents it, and now they're adding collector lane bridges on either side of the highway at Lynn Creek to keep it four lanes forever. Those bridges will help me a lot but cements the fate of everyone further to the west.

While I'm glad that they are taking steps to reduce the backup on Highway 1, I do have to wonder if there are missed opportunities here. The proposed upgrades to the Fern and Main Street interchanges don't do anything to address the less-than-ideal bends coming on and off the Ironworkers Memorial bridge, for example. I wonder if it might have been better to elevate the highway between the bridge and the Cut. That's certainly more expensive but it might allow better opportunities for local east-west traffic and a cleaner high-speed path through that area. As it currently stands, the Keith Road/Fern Street connection winds through what space is available whereas it could go more-or-less straight through to the intersection at Lillooet. The Fern Street onramp to Highway 1 east is also a kludge that appears set to remain in the new design.

[Bobert]

What's going on at the Highway10/King George intersection? Was it originally supposed to be free-flowing? The weird split nature doesn't make much sense.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by Pinion

Hwy 1 is never being widened. The native reserve prevents it, and now they're adding collector lane bridges on either side of the highway at Lynn Creek to keep it four lanes forever. Those bridges will help me a lot but cements the fate of everyone further to the west.

This got me wondering. Can they not sell the land that would be needed to expand the highway to the government?

[flipper316]

Originally Posted by Bobert

What's going on at the Highway10/King George intersection? Was it originally supposed to be free-flowing? The weird split nature doesn't make much sense.

that's been like that for over 10 years.

[libtard]

Originally Posted by Bobert

What's going on at the Highway10/King George intersection? Was it originally supposed to be free-flowing? The weird split nature doesn't make much sense.

How would it be free flowing? Genuinely interested how you propose on shoe horning an interchange into that area

[Stingray2004]

Originally Posted by Bobert

What's going on at the Highway10/King George intersection? Was it originally supposed to be free-flowing? The weird split nature doesn't make much sense.

BC Hydro sub-station, in middle of median on east side of intersection, resulted in the split. BC Hydro sub-station removal was cost prohibitive at time of 4-laning.

[flipper316]

Drove to Penticton the other day and used Highway 3. Haven't been out that way in several years. A nice fairly long stretch past Princeton was recently freshly re-surfaced. Was surprised to see that certain 2 lane straight stretches of it have a 100km/hr speed limit. A mostly 2 lane secondary highway like the 3 in BC has a higher speed limit than our Metro Vancouver freeways. What a joke.

[Bobert]

Originally Posted by Stingray2004

BC Hydro sub-station, in middle of median on east side of intersection, resulted in the split. BC Hydro sub-station removal was cost prohibitive at time of 4-laning.

That makes a lot of sense. Driving through there I didn't notice it, but the split nature of the intersection seemed off to me.

[Stingray2004]

Originally Posted by flipper316

Drove to Penticton the other day and used Highway 3. Haven't been out that way in several years. A nice fairly long stretch past Princeton was recently freshly re-surfaced. Was surprised to see that certain 2 lane straight stretches of it have a 100km/hr speed limit. A mostly 2 lane secondary highway like the 3 in BC has a higher speed limit than our Metro Vancouver freeways. What a joke.

More complicated than that though.

Off the bat, we're in Osoyoos numerous times every year between May and September inclusive - Penticton as well. My preferred route is also Hwy 3 - albeit once in a while take the Coquihalla back for a bit of a change.

The coastal mountain Hope-Princeton section is an old, inferior design from the late 1940's. Obviously since then, that section has received numerous upgrades inclusive of new river crossings as well as relatively recent highway realignments in the Sunday Summit - Whipsaw Creek section. Still quite inferior geometry in terms of modern overall design standards though.

OTOH, the Princeton - Keremeos - Osoyoos section of Hwy 3, along the Similkameen Valley, has always had great geometry in terms of design speed. (my fave hwy section in BC BTW) Moreover, the Hwy 3 bridge in Princeton was replaced and, more importantly, east of Princeton the Similkameen River crossing (then a major S-curve) was replaced by a directional crossing with 100+ km/hr design speed.

Nevertheless, the posted speed limit along Hwy 3 from Princeton to Keremeos to Osoyoos had always been 80 km/hr - with 90 km/hr along the 4-lane RAD functional designed sections west of Keremeos (from the late 1970's era).

The Queen's Cowboys had a field day issuing tickets thereto, throughout the corridor, back in the day. They even utilized Cessna's in the air, along that section, in co-ordination with the on-ground Queen's Cowboys. How did the Queen's Cowboys then issue speeding ticket violations? Hwy 3 was "white-striped". IOW, the aerial Cessna timed fast moving vehicles between specific white-stripes and radioed the Queens Cowboys on the ground.

Just a "money-machine". In the late 1990's, the then BC NDP gov't (give them credit here) increased the speed limit along the entire corridor to 100 km/hr. Most folk traverse at 120 km/hr (well at least us) and have never seen a Queen's Cowboy in our midst.

Now back to Metro Vancouver. When Hwy 1 opened up, east of the Port Mann Bridge, circa 1964, and Hwy 99 south of the GMT in that same era, as well as even the then 2-lane Hwy 17 to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal... all were posted at 70 MHP (113 km/hr). Not much traffic back in the day.

Today? Said speed limit would be dangerous as too much traffic along same 2-lane carriageways - they should have had been expanded a couple of decades ago IMHO. Hwy 1 to Abbotsford (Hwy 11) has same AADT/SADT today as a long-weekend on Canada Day/BC Day over 20 years ago.

Same with Hwy 99 south of the GMT. What one witnesses today is a 100 km/hr speed, then 60 km/hr speed, then a 30 km/hr speed, then an 80 km/hr speed... and then rinse and repeat. Dangerous conflicts in a huge differentiation in speed limits due traffic snarls along the way.

The result of same? Hwy 1 WB at ~ 264th was shutdown on Friday for ~9 hours. Complete chaos. Tonight? Hwy 99 SB witnessed one-lane crawl just south of Serpentine River (South Surrey) due to roll-over. Happens all the time.

Increasing the speed limit would be dangerous. Increasing capacity would satisfy safety concerns and, ergo, potential increased speed limits.

[s211]

Originally Posted by p78hub

CoV loves to copy what other cities are doing, thinking that because it supposedly works there it will definitely work here.

Maybe the city should first fix the stupid light timings on pedestrian-controlled crossings and install left turn bays and lights at all the major intersections before considering this move.

Or maybe they're working towards banning cars altogether. It's like that meme: can't have traffic fatalities if there's no traffic.

This, oh Lord, this. It has to be one of the most idiosyncratic things about Vancouver that drives me insane any time I have to drive around the City.

[VancouverMark]

Originally Posted by Pinion

Every single day lately is looking like this:



I really feel like I need to leave the north shore, even though I love it, just to be able to continue working. It's too risky trying to plan around this shit with no alternative options. There's nothing desirable in my price range anymore though. Sigh

THAT is exactly why I quit my job in North Vancouver almost 4 years ago and it's even worse now! The 2nd narrows is consistently worse than the old Port Mann and the proposed improvements are so slow in coming, that they will be at capacity as soon as they are complete. North Van is a mess and I'm glad I'm out of that hell hole.