[St. John's] Transport development (Highways, Airport, and Public Transit)

[J_Murphy]

Originally Posted by statbass

Paradise is finally becoming more of a city and less of a "bunch of houses next to St. John's".

I wouldn't go that far yet...

[statbass]

Originally Posted by J_Murphy

I wouldn't go that far yet...

Maybe I did go a little too far with that statement... . All jokes aside though, progress is being made and it doesn't seem to be stalling. That's a good thing in my book!

[rthomasd]

Signs have started to appear on the TGH extension.

At the Pennywell Rd overpass you can see signs on the Collector Rd overpass including the southbound exit ramp ( still unpaved ) that reference the Collector Rd as " Brier Ave" , hadn't seen a name on that before.

I don't believe there's been any paving in the past 3 weeks or so since the paving flurry at the end of July.

They are still installing concrete at the Blackmarsh Rd roundabout; sidewalks, multiple lane dividers, etc. Also some landscaping. Still no work to link the roundabout to any of the connection roads.The concrete form work ends well before the roads linkages.

[wmemeadusjr]

The city's nomaculture committee announced the name Brier Avenue back in 2015. They should have called this centre city connection Empire Avenue and renamed all those broken up pieces of Empire Avenue. I don't know what the plans are for Blackmarsh Road are when it's realigned into Hamlyn and the roundabout is completed. From what I know, the connection from the Team Gushue Highway will be Captain Whelan Drive. Maybe they will rename the portion of Blackmarsh Road west of the roundabout as Blackmarsh Road West. And speaking of Blackmarsh West, the newly redesigned intersection with Topsail Road is nearing completion. The signalized intersection will now have a dedicated left turn lane heading east onto Blackmarsh Road. (This has been a pain for drivers heading east on Topsail Road as it backed traffic up to Farrell.) Also, the intersection appears to have a signalized double right heading west onto Topsail Road....similar to what we have on Alandale Road. Mount Pearl has anticipated traffic to be crazy at this intersection once the Team Gushue Highway is opened.

[Offshore1]

Yeah, I'd imagine traffic will be nuts coming off of the TGH there once that section opens... waiting...

I can see a lot of traffic from the Goulds/Southern Shore going through a residential area (Smallwood to Park Ave) to meet up with the TGH at Topsail Road.
Am I missing something or shouldn't city councils in St. John's & Mount Pearl be lobbying the provincial govt. to finish the TGH once and for all? It would unquestionably aid traffic flow in the NE Avalon. The silence is deafening.

Anyway, once the section to Brookfield Rd opens there'll be another bottleneck/headache there. If there are definitive route plans I'd like to see them.

[Horsell]

Lots of activity today on the section of the TGH behind the Sandman Hotel; paving, guard rails, realignment of the on/off ramps. Coming together! One other word about Goldstone Rd, this needs a serious upgrade from TGH to Pippy Place, it can barely handle the traffic now...(narrow...poorly planned). Sitting at the light on Pippy to get on to Goldstone I thought that this would be a perfect spot for a roundabout to keep traffic flowing instead of the dreaded waits.

[rthomasd]

I'd forgotten that the City is paying for part / all of Brier Ave connection at Old Pennywell and for the realignment of Blackmarsh/Capt Whelan, $600K and $500K and some other bits.
http://stjohns.ca/media-release/capi...ommittee-whole

[statbass]

Originally Posted by Horsell

Sitting at the light on Pippy to get on to Goldstone I thought that this would be a perfect spot for a roundabout to keep traffic flowing instead of the dreaded waits.

I agree, there is a lot of congestion at this light, especially during after work commuting. I used to work in that area and avoided taking Goldstone from Pippy. There appears to be ample room to put a roundabout at that intersection.

[goodgrowth]

St. John's report gives thumbs down to pedestrian tunnels under roundabout:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...bout-1.4821626

St. John's city council is considering adding underground pedestrian tunnels to a planned roundabout for the intersection of Prince Philip Drive and Allandale Road, but a report by city staff suggests they might cost too much.

A report provided for Wednesday's committee-of-the-whole meeting pegs the cost at just over $2.8 million, but notes that doesn't include the cost of maintenance.

"In addition to significant cost implications, issues regarding constructability, grading, drainage, safety, and maintenance were also identified as significant challenges" to adding underground crossings, says the report prepared by city staff.

The report says safe alternatives for pedestrians and cyclists can be provided at street level.

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by goodgrowth

St. John's report gives thumbs down to pedestrian tunnels under roundabout:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...bout-1.4821626

I got a bad feeling about "at grade" crossings on that roundabout.

[rthomasd]

There's some new fine gravel on parts of the Blackmarsh round-about so perhaps some paving soon?

Looks like they've pretty-much finished most of the concrete lane dividers, but some of those lanes look quite narrow.

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by rthomasd

?.. some of those lanes look quite narrow.

I thought the same thing. Thought I was missing something!

[Crisisnf]

Something doesn't seem right to me about the roundabouts in this area. The exit to the harbour arterial onramp below Galway has a yield sign and a parallel exit from Galway to the same onramp also has a yield. Saw 2 vehicles entering the onramp today and neither knew who had the right if way.

Then you have the roundabout below that one heading north(?) towards Kent where you have 2 lanes coming out of the roundabout that morph in to 1.

[jjavman]

Pennywell Underpass looking North at Kenmount



Pennywell Underpass looking North (foreground new layers)



Pennywell Collector
Fine gravel being installed

[rthomasd]

So looks like another flurry of pavement activity.

The Topsail Rd onramp also has a layer of fine gravel as does most of the Blackmarsh round-about, so
likely some activity there in the next few weeks.

Anyone seen any guardrail work ??

[Offshore1]

Looks like progress. How many more "flurries" of activity until the TGH is open?

Finish paving, lighting and guardrail installation - that's quite a list and construction season is getting shorter...
Another drone video showing where things stand would be nice.

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by Offshore1

Another drone video showing where things stand would be nice.

One can get a good feel for it from the middle of the Pennywell bridge; middle of the Redmond's Road bridge; and by walking in from the Canada Drive 90 deg. bend(after hours)!

[Offshore1]

Originally Posted by jjavman

One can get a good feel for it from the middle of the Pennywell bridge; middle of the Redmond's Road bridge; and by walking in from the Canada Drive 90 deg. bend(after hours)!

I'll have to check it out when I get back home.
Right now I'm enjoying the nice highway driving in the Maritimes. Maybe some engineering / construction types could come up here to see how real highways are built - with night time construction too. It works!

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by Offshore1

Maybe some engineering / construction types could come up here to see how real highways are built - with night time construction too. It works!

I have to agree with you. Did a lot of travel thru' Maritimes recently myself. Like night and day, for whatever reason!

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by jjavman

Pennywell Underpass looking North (foreground new layers)

Looking at that concrete divider makes me wonder why that wasn't done on the non-median sections of Columbus. i.e. Blackmarsh, South to Topsail Rd?
Or could easily be done as a retro fit?