London Roads

[londonbuilders]

Hi guys

Compared to London ,England is still way better. Over here we have an infrastructure that belongs to a museum. And we have the Olympics.

[Kokkei Mizu]

This story is a few days old, but nobody has posted it, and thought it would be of interest. I think some people do have a point. Is London big enough for something like this yet?

Inspired by the Car Free Festival, Mayor Joe Fontana is floating the idea of closing off a section of Dundas St. to vehicles -- permanently.

Fontana is mulling the idea of turning Dundas St. between Wellington and Ridout streets into a pedestrian mall featuring arts, music, cafes and shopping.

"Bringing Dundas back to the people, as opposed to the cars, would be something . . . good," said Fontana, who said he believes the addition of a pedestrian mall would help revitalize the downtown.

"You've got to attract people, and I think that's what they want."

But a pedestrian mall isn't what some Dundas St. business owners want.

Jonathon Bancroft-Snell, owner of the Jonathon Bancroft-Snell Gallery, said the idea would be disastrous for businesses and might drive him out of London.

"You don't close off a street just because you think it's a nice idea to have a walkway," he said.

There aren't enough people living downtown and there are too few businesses to attract sufficient foot traffic, said Bancroft-Snell.

It wouldn't be the first time London tried to turn a section of Dundas St. into a pedestrian mall.

In the 1970s, merchants created a pedestrian-style mall along Dundas St. from Lyle to Adelaide streets. The project was a flop -- some blamed it for destroying the once-thriving strip.

A handful of other Canada cities -- including Calgary, Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, Halifax and St. John's -- have pedestrian malls.

"If Dundas St. was made (into) a permanent walkway, then I would look at changing locations, even if that meant changing cities," said Bancroft-Snell, who moved his gallery to Dundas St. from the former Galleria London (now Citi Plaza) six years ago.

But Bancroft-Snell said he supports temporary shutdowns of the street for special occasions such as the Car Free Festival, concerts or parades.

Peter Vergiris, owner of the Mascot Restaurant, draws many of his customers from the nearby bus stops on Dundas St.

Closing the street to traffic, including LTC buses, means the eatery would lose business, Vergiris said. "The buses bring the people downtown," said Vergiris, who has operated the restaurant for 40 years.

A pedestrian mall might be possible in the summer when many people visit downtown for festivals, but it would never fly in the winter, Vergiris said.

Three more Car Free Festivals on Dundas St. between Wellington and Ridout streets are scheduled on July 1, Aug. 6-7 and Sept. 17-18.

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2.../18328196.html

[Snark]

Originally Posted by Kokkei Mizu

This story is a few days old, but nobody has posted it, and thought it would be of interest. I think some people do have a point. Is London big enough for something like this yet?

No, and it won't happen for a number of reasons beyond the city's size.

JF is just musing out loud and the local rag has picked up on it and is trying to generate some controversy.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by Snark

No, and it won't happen for a number of reasons beyond the city's size.

JF is just musing out loud and the local rag has picked up on it and is trying to generate some controversy.

What are some of those reasons, aside from London Transit?

[Simpseatles]

Originally Posted by londonbuilders

Hi guys

Compared to London ,England is still way better. Over here we have an infrastructure that belongs to a museum. And we have the Olympics.

Huh? Not sure what your trying to say there, but from my knowledge London, England has better infrastructure.


I was not aware that Dundas St E was once pedestrian only. I think that today, the priority should be getting the damn buses off the street, and building a bus depot on one of the many empty parking lots around the core. This is an obvious step towards making the street more attractive.

[ForestryW]

They should do something similar to the King St revitalization here in Kitchener. Keep it open to traffic but make pedestrians the priority.

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by londonbuilders

Hi guys

Compared to London ,England is still way better. Over here we have an infrastructure that belongs to a museum. And we have the Olympics.

Your infrastructure may be ancient, but it's better to have something ancient than nothing at all.

Originally Posted by Kokkei Mizu

This story is a few days old, but nobody has posted it, and thought it would be of interest. I think some people do have a point. Is London big enough for something like this yet?

Personally I think it's a bad idea. Sure, it would work great in the summer months, but the foot traffic would die off completely during the winter. Despite the fact that we live in a cold, snowy city, few Londoners seem to enjoy the idea of walking around outside in January. The students are particularly bad and will do anything to avoid going outside. We also don't have the tourism advantage that cities like Ottawa possess. That being said, the city should definitely look into expanding sidewalk space along Dundas, perhaps by removing the perpendicular parking. Also, all bus routes except the #2 Dundas really should be removed from the street. Queens Avenue and King Street were made 1-way for a reason; Dundas is just too narrow and congested.

[haljackey]

I'm not for turning Dundas into a pedestrian mall.

I'm for turning Dundas into a LRT line. The rest of the artery would be cobblestone for pedestrian use.

Some day.

[Pimpmasterdac]

I don't know why London ever attempted to turn Dundas between Lyle & Adelaide into a pedestrian mall. That area if anything has too many people of disrepute hanging around there. If anything they should make Dundas 4 lanes from Wellington to VMP!

As for downtown, just do those car free deals to weekends or summer days. The rest of the time it would just be another locale for OW recipients to loiter downtown and drive families away. Leaving the possibility for LRT open would be good, but seems as likely as us getting a ring road

Though the city should re-route all buses on Dundas to King & Queen, why clog up the street with 20 buses pumping emissions in a narrow area. Most people can use the exercise and walk a block anyways. That would help in dispersing the people who loiter on Dundas!

[MolsonExport]

The critical mass is not yet there. An expensive roll of the dice if this goes forward.

[haljackey]

...

I had to do it.

Drove northbound on Western Road today during rush hour between Windimere and Sarnia. Took 45 mins just get through that stretch. Never again.

They better have this all cleared up by the time the students start to move back in.

[MolsonExport]

The horror. At 430pm, the lineup of cars snaking out of Springett Lot (in front of Brescia) backed up way into the parking lot. Nothing was moving. Trucks trying to exit the IVEY world clASS construction were tooting their horns. I heard somebody yell "Oh C'mon for fucks' sake!!"

I grinned, as I walked home!

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

The horror. At 430pm, the lineup of cars snaking out of Springett Lot (in front of Brescia) backed up way into the parking lot. Nothing was moving. Trucks trying to exit the IVEY world clASS construction were tooting their horns. I heard somebody yell "Oh C'mon for fucks' sake!!"

I grinned, as I walked home!

You were just eagerly looking forward to the dinner special at Lord Gainsborough.

[Wharn]

Originally Posted by haljackey

Windimere

I love that spelling, and that's not even sarcasm. Maybe the city can change the name once they've linked it with Gainsborough some gorgeous day in 2112.

On that note, this traffic problem right now is indicative of a dysfunctional grid system. Had there been a bridge connecting Philip Aziz and Huron, do you think you would have gone through that mess? Better question, would the mess have even existed in the first place after people had been given alternatives?

Originally Posted by haljackey

They better have this all cleared up by the time the students start to move back in.

It won't be. I'll enjoy the bike ride through the Thames ravine for the first two months of school.

[go_leafs_go02]

I think it's been determined that the next London forum meet needs to take lake at Livers & Onions. It's only fit for that to happen.

[haljackey]

Haha then I'll leave it up to MolsonExport to organize the next meet-up.

[MolsonExport]

There is a half-decent pub on Hyde Park Parking Lot (former Volker's restaurant).

[haljackey]

Haven't done one of these in a long time... so here you go!

• Video Link

HD/link here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AXq0Mst1C0

Hope you enjoyed the drive!

Southdale suffers from chronic congestion pretty much all day long, and Southdale/Wonderland desperately needs a reconfigured intersection.

[manny_santos]

Originally Posted by haljackey

Haven't done one of these in a long time... so here you go!

• Video Link

HD/link here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AXq0Mst1C0

Hope you enjoyed the drive!

Southdale suffers from chronic congestion pretty much all day long, and Southdale/Wonderland desperately needs a reconfigured intersection.

I just drove through that area this afternoon, and I concur. They also need to fix the traffic light timings in the area. Coming out of Loblaws, the red light turning left is three minutes long, then the light at Wonderland is red, and then the light at Home Depot always turns red as the light at Wonderland turns green. It was bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way from Colonel Talbot to Wharncliffe.

By the way, the last road you turned onto, was that Cheese Factory Road? Last time I was out there it was a gravel road with a farmhouse on it! (Trivia: Cheese Factory Road used to continue northward to Bradley Avenue, but was severed by Highway 401 and was eventually abandoned. The old right-of-way is still visible on Google Maps satellite view.)

[Pimpmasterdac]

The traffic around Wonderland & Southdale is utter bullshit these days. All the extra development and lights that seem to be 2 feet away from each other are just overkill! It wasn't so bad a few years ago but now Andover and Viscount have those lovely curb extensions/traffic islands, makeing it a "fun" obstacle course.

If the city had followed its plans, it called for Andover Dr. to be extended south to Wharncliffe which would have taken some local area traffic off Southdale and Wonderland south. Of course a few people on Andover complained about "increased hypothetical traffic" and now a retirement home has been built square in the middle of any southern extension rendering that idea dead.

Just looking forward to when Commissioners , get the city transportation somewhat improved. South will be good too but has too many lights whereas Commissioners is great for cross city driving!