Let's talk about one-way streets

[drpgq]

New traffic lights at King William and John. Also saw some at Hughson and Wilson.

https://twitter.com/philipquick/stat...36988704612352

[NortheastWind]

Parts of King William and Hughson Streets will become 2-way next week
CBC News Posted: Aug 22, 2017 2:55 PM ET

Driving in downtown Hamilton will change next week when the city converts two heavily traveled streets to two way.

Hughson Street North will accommodate two-way traffic as of Aug. 29, and King William Street as of Aug. 30.

The change will affect Hughson Street North from Wilson Street and Barton Street East; for King William, from John Street North to Mary Street. The change will include new signs, traffic signals, pavement markings, parking changes and stop signs.

City council approved these changes in May 2014 as part of an ongoing effort to make Hamilton easier to navigate, and answers a growing chorus of cyclists and pedestrians asking for safer streets. The city is converting them a few at a time.

Here are the others approved:

- Wentworth Street South from Delaware Avenue to King Street East.
- Wentworth Street North from King Street East to Barton Street East.
- Victoria Avenue North from Barton Street East to Burlington Street East.
- Caroline Street North from King Street to York Boulevard.
- Park Street North from York Boulevard to Barton Street West.
- Hess Street North from York Boulevard to Barton Street West.

[BaconPoutine]

Originally Posted by NortheastWind

Driving in downtown Hamilton will change next week when the city converts two heavily traveled streets to two way.

Since when are King William and Hughson heavily trafficked?

[matt602]

Probably the same people who think "congestion" is having to tap your brakes or stop for more than 30 seconds on King or Main.

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

A new study says the conversion of Queen Street into a two-way operation between King Street and Aberdeen Avenue is 'physically and operationally feasible.'

I'm realize this was posted months ago, but I hope this happens.I live on the tail end of Duke by Queen.

I moved to Hamilton in April, and am still getting used to where all the one way streets are. Saturday morning my brother and I wanted hamburgers before driving to Windsor, so we headed to A&W on King. This is the route we ended up taking:

Drive down Duke, cross over Queen.
I couldn't remember exactly how far down King it was, so I didn't turn on Bay like I should have. I figured it would be easier to go one more and have to come back another block.
Park and McNab are blocked by city hall and railway, which took me to James.
Drive down James to King, only, you're not allowed to turn onto King at all there.
Continue past the City Centre to York. No left turns allowed there.
Turned left on Vine, which ends on a T at Bay, which is one-way.
Turn right onto Bay, left onto Cannon.

At which point, we said f**k it, we'll stop in Brantford, since we could have been well on our way there by that point.

After having read through this thread, I have a question about LRT and the one-ways, although maybe this isn't the thread for it. But, since Main is so much wider than King for it's whole length, why isn't the LRT route using Main? it seems like whatever is done with traffic flows, the extra space would give added flexibility.

[drpgq]

Council unanimous on two-way conversion of Queen Street

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7...-queen-street/

Well at least it is getting done.

[lachlanholmes]

Originally Posted by drpgq

Council unanimous on two-way conversion of Queen Street

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7...-queen-street/

Well at least it is getting done.

On the South end. It is progress, but only for the better off.

[TheRitsman]

Originally Posted by drpgq

Council unanimous on two-way conversion of Queen Street

https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7...-queen-street/

Well at least it is getting done.

Thank god. I really want to move to Hamilton, and there are a ton of reasons I love Hamilton. But I absolutely feel that the one-way streets are part of the reason Hamilton still has that sketchy feel. Like the people on the street don't matter. I will still move there when I can, but I would love for two ways to become the norm. That and it's one of the main complaints I hear from people not wanting to go to, or live in Hamilton.

[matt602]

Originally Posted by TheRitsman

Thank god. I really want to move to Hamilton, and there are a ton of reasons I love Hamilton. But I absolutely feel that the one-way streets are part of the reason Hamilton still has that sketchy feel. Like the people on the street don't matter. I will still move there when I can, but I would love for two ways to become the norm. That and it's one of the main complaints I hear from people not wanting to go to, or live in Hamilton.

Thankfully the areas of the city that still feel this way are decreasing all the time. There are so many more urban, vibrant neighborhoods than there was when I moved to Hamilton over a decade ago.

[eatboots]

Originally Posted by scootaround

On the South end. It is progress, but only for the better off.

It's actually because the North part of Queen is part of a truck route to the 403.

[lachlanholmes]

Originally Posted by eatboots

It's actually because the North part of Queen is part of a truck route to the 403.

A suboptimal truck route that values truck traffic over pedestrians, and cyclists. I was reading a thread on this elsewhere that there is more optimal solutions but for the sake of the trucks the city keeps it as is.

[king10]

Originally Posted by scootaround

A suboptimal truck route that values truck traffic over pedestrians, and cyclists. I was reading a thread on this elsewhere that there is more optimal solutions but for the sake of the trucks the city keeps it as is.

truck route will be eliminated from queen and moved to dundurn when the LRT comes online.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^Forget two-way.

I'd be thrilled with three lanes (one way) with curb-side parking.

That seems to be the best case scenario for Main.

[LRTfan]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

^Forget two-way.

I'd be thrilled with three lanes (one way) with curb-side parking.

That seems to be the best case scenario for Main.

3-lanes, parking protected 2-way bike lanes on north curb.

[TheRitsman]

I'm personally a fan of the two way main Street with wider sidewalk and bike lanes. I don't think Main needs street parking personally.

[HamiltonBoyInToronto]

Main would be perfect if it was 2 way traffic with a centre boulevard/turning lane.... Parking during off peak times and no parking during rushes .... The boulevard filled with landscaping and even some water features to soften the hard image of the street

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^Yes please to the bike lane proposal.

Two-way is a non-starter so let's stop fussing about with things that will never happen and make pitch for something that might...

[LRTfan]

Originally Posted by HamiltonBoyInToronto

Main would be perfect if it was 2 way traffic with a centre boulevard/turning lane.... Parking during off peak times and no parking during rushes .... The boulevard filled with landscaping and even some water features to soften the hard image of the street

let's combine our ideas....2-way simply isn't gonna happen with our city administration.

Let's go with 3 lanes one-way, a treed/landscaped boulevard, then 2-way bike lanes. Plant lots of trees on the south sidewalk as well so that eventually Main has a nice tree canopy on both sides:

[anactualalien]

Love the above ideas.

Re; the impossibilty of two-way I'm not so sure. If we are that cynical about the chances for 2-way ever I can't imagine any of the proposed features wouldn't also raise the hackles of Hamilton's drivers for only a few years before they are ultimately ripped out in celebration - if they even got as far as implentation.

It's Main's freeway nature, lane capacity and ability to speed across town to catch the green wave that is most important to drivers in this city (although the King-Main directional relationship is also significant, I concede). There's really no compromise with them then, imo, since the above ideas would radically alter those three qualities. I could see them sooner yielding to two-way where there's less of a perceived road diet than center boulevards and (god forbid) bike lanes.

[NortheastWind]

Speaking of one-way streets, Public Works is recommending converting Birch Ave to two-way in order to accommodate the new HSR bus barn to be built.