London Roads

[Waterlooer]

I think the LRT or BRT is a great idea. The LRT is a nice looking form of transit and personally I think it is a great thing for London to have. Were getting the LRT in K/W (whenever we get the provincial and federal fonding!!!).

[haljackey]

As everyone knows, this is going to be London's biggest year for road construction due to government stimulus funding.

I recently talked with the city, and to my surprise Wonderland between Gainsborough and Fanshawe is the only road that is being widened this year even with the increased funding. The rest of the projects are mainly road resurfacing projects and sewer work.

However there are a few residential curb extensions going in this year. Traffic calming bump outs will be constructed on Andover and Jalna, and smaller traffic calming on Chiddington and Killarney.

And of course, the city's first roundabout is going in on the new Hale and Trafalgar overpass.

Some pictures:

Hale and Trafalgar overpass


Wonderland widening

[MolsonExport]

^wow. first renderings that I've seen. thanks for that.

[manny_santos]

I like the plans for the Snake Creek bridge on Wonderland.

Speaking of roundabouts, I wonder if the proposed roundabout at Hamilton and Commissioners/Old Victoria is going to be built anytime soon. It was mentioned at a planning committee meeting I was at in 2007 and I haven't heard anything about it since.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

I like the plans for the Snake Creek bridge on Wonderland.

Speaking of roundabouts, I wonder if the proposed roundabout at Hamilton and Commissioners/Old Victoria is going to be built anytime soon. It was mentioned at a planning committee meeting I was at in 2007 and I haven't heard anything about it since.

I don't know of any new developments about that one.

The city is also considering a large roundabout, or multilane rotary to connect Wonderland/Warncliffe/Exeter which currently meet in a triangle. Something eventually needs to be done to fix the problem as volumes increase, but no solution has been decided yet.

I could also see a large roundabout going in at Wonderland/Oxford as a lot of traffic there is turning.

[ldoto]

Keep up this the good posts haljackey!!!!!!

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by haljackey

I don't know of any new developments about that one.

The city is also considering a large roundabout, or multilane rotary to connect Wonderland/Warncliffe/Exeter which currently meet in a triangle. Something eventually needs to be done to fix the problem as volumes increase, but no solution has been decided yet.

I could also see a large roundabout going in at Wonderland/Oxford as a lot of traffic there is turning.

The Wonderland/Wharncliffe/Exeter idea sounds like an interesting one. What it sounds like to me, if one was driving westbound on Exeter Road, for example, and they wanted to turn southbound on Wharncliffe towards Lambeth, they would have to go north on Wonderland and then make a left onto Wharncliffe. Would I be correct?

For now I'd like to see the city improve traffic flow by correcting some problems with the traffic signals. There are a lot of minor signalized intersections that need signals during the day, but don't need them at night. Some intersections have low enough traffic at night that it would be more efficient to switch the signals to flashing red and flashing amber after, say, 10 PM.

[haljackey]

Despite the recent widening/upgrades between Huron University College and Richmond Street, Warncliffe/Western Road has been named London's worst road and the 16th worst in the province, according to the CAA.

Link to source: http://www.caasco.com/community/wors...orst-roads.jsp

The recent reconstruction is nice, but it doesn't help the fact that the road still bottlenecks north of Western and near Horton Street. These are primarily due to the old rail overpasses that are not long enough to accommodate a wide roadway.

Next time you drive between Oxford Street and Patt's lane, look at more than the road. There isn't even a sidewalk on one side, and the sidewalk on the other side very narrow and is right at the curve. What a great way to impress people coming to Western.

The road needs to have 4 through lanes the whole way from Lambeth with enough land protected to widen it to 6 lanes in the future.

Maybe bus lanes are a good idea too between Dundas and Lambton, as the amount of bus traffic on that stretch is high. Another alternative is LRT, possibly having a line in a new median. Bike lanes are an absolute must.

The road surface isn't very good for the majority of its length either. I drive from Westmount to Western a lot and most times I'll just take Wonderland as it is a safer drive dispute Warncliffe being the faster route for me.


What other roads suck?

[ForestryW]

To widen Western Rd between Oxford and Platt's Lane would involve encroaching on Grosvenor Lodge. If it was ever seriously proposed there would be such a shit-storm of NIMBYism that it would never happen.

[MolsonExport]

That tunnel-like road (Philip Aziz Avenue) is extremely scary to walk up/down. No sidewalk. No shoulder. Extremely fast traffic on curving roads. Try to get from Main campus to the football stadium on foot. I dare ye.

Someday soon, somebody is going to die here.

Ditto on that stretch of Western Road. So small townish. Expand it or bypass it (e.g., Platt's Lane tunnel expansion). End of story.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

That tunnel-like road (Philip Aziz Avenue) is extremely scary to walk up/down. No sidewalk. No shoulder. Extremely fast traffic on curving roads. Try to get from Main campus to the football stadium on foot. I dare ye.

Someday soon, somebody is going to die here.

Ditto on that stretch of Western Road. So small townish. Expand it or bypass it (e.g., Platt's Lane tunnel expansion). End of story.

Phillip Aziz Ave is so bad that it actually gets closed down before/after some Mustangs football games, particularly their home opener and the 2008 championships, so that pedestrians can safely get to the stadium from Western Road.

[manny_santos]

I am getting very frustrated with the state of Riverside Drive. Every time there is minor work being done on that road, a massive backup results. Today there was some minor work being done which required the westbound lane to be closed near Brittania Ave, and traffic backed up all the way west to Wonderland Road. For several days a couple weeks ago a small lane closure near Wharncliffe related to a nearby watermain project on another street resulted in the same problem.

Riverside desperately needs to be four lanes. A two-lane road connecting West London to Downtown is not sufficient. This road may have been adequate in 1945, but definitely not today.

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by manny_santos

Riverside desperately needs to be four lanes. A two-lane road connecting West London to Downtown is not sufficient. This road may have been adequate in 1945, but definitely not today.

I agree, but do to the fact that the road is in a residential area, close to the river and has more than a few bends in it I doubt it would happen.

The good news is that Springbank Drive was widened a few years ago so a lot of people just travel a bit more down Wonderland to use it. Problem is its not as direct and there's always a backup of cars wanting to turn onto it from Wonderland.

[haljackey]

The Smartmoves site was recently cleaned up by the city, and I posted my little rant about Warncliffe/Western Road there:

http://www.smartmoveslondon.com/view...179&p=459#p459

The clean up of spam, ads and whatnot only came after we heckled the city to clean it up as they advertised the second Smartmoves meeting on Wednesday.

Took'em long enough, but at least it got fixed.

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by haljackey

I agree, but do to the fact that the road is in a residential area, close to the river and has more than a few bends in it I doubt it would happen.

The good news is that Springbank Drive was widened a few years ago so a lot of people just travel a bit more down Wonderland to use it. Problem is its not as direct and there's always a backup of cars wanting to turn onto it from Wonderland.

The CN Overpass and portion directly east of there has already enough space for a 4 lane pavement. Also, thinking of topography and ROW, widening to the west to Wonderland would be also an easy job.

Only east towards Woodward and by the cemetary does widening that road seem practically impossible.

They just redid that section of road over as well last year too. Doubt it'll happen.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by go_leafs_go02

The CN Overpass and portion directly east of there has already enough space for a 4 lane pavement. Also, thinking of topography and ROW, widening to the west to Wonderland would be also an easy job.

Only east towards Woodward and by the cemetary does widening that road seem practically impossible.

They just redid that section of road over as well last year too. Doubt it'll happen.

East of Beaverbrook Ave, the only way Riverside could be widened is if either the houses on the south side are demolished and a massive retaining wall is built, or if the graves immediately adjacent to Riverside are re-located elsewhere in the cemetary - something which has been done at some cemetaries in very limited cases, such as when erosion threatens part of a cemetary. That said, I highly doubt re-locating graves to accomodate road widening would go over well in London.

[MolsonExport]

I would prefer leaving Riverside as is. The best-kept secret way to get downtown quickly. Much better than the horrid Oxford.

Manny, where are those London-Mall shots?

[haljackey]

Here's a drawing I made a while ago envisioning a collector / express system along Highway 401 in the London Area. This is a long-term vision.

It's pretty rough (made in paint) and is not drawn to scale in any way, shape or form.

In addition, the interchanges are spaced much further apart and the overpassing roads are at different angles in RL.



Click here for full size if it doesn't display correctly.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy it, even if you're not familiar with the London Area. Just something to think about.

[MolsonExport]

Wow now that is one ambitious plan! Unless London suddenly gains 2 million people, I don't see why we would ever need 3 parallel North-South freeways and the ten-lane 401. Still, interesting. How does transit fit into that vision?

[haljackey]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Wow now that is one ambitious plan! Unless London suddenly gains 2 million people, I don't see why we would ever need 3 parallel North-South freeways and the ten-lane 401. Still, interesting. How does transit fit into that vision?

Well this is assuming no other freeways get built. In my opinion, Highbury doesn't count (it's classified as an expressway) and a VMP freeway is at least 20 years away I'd assume. I doubt the plan for a freeway on the west side will ever get built.

The amount of traffic on the 401 is expected to grow significantly as it is Ontario's "main street" as our province's population goes up and up. In addition, as London grows south, a lot more people are going to use the 401/402 as a east/west artery. Separating local traffic from longer distance travelers will help eliminate weaving on the road and minimize localized congestion.

Also, take the Conestoga Parkway in K/W for example. That's strictly a local freeway and yet it also has a collector/express system for a portion of it's length. (Link to Google Maps example)

As for transit, this has nothing to do with transit. It is just a long term vision of how the increased traffic on the 401 can flow smoothly despite considerably higher volumes and how it is to handle it's new role as a urban freeway in the London Area. Perhaps a High Speed Rail line could be built along the 401 corridor as well, and maybe a light rail line could overpass it in the future to link growth south of the 401 to the downtown.