tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1878072117828142274.post3776375019261684774..comments2024-01-03T02:19:40.350-08:00Comments on Victoria - The Sustainable City: 2 Lane Fairy TalesJohn Lutonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15714906728226432210noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1878072117828142274.post-3510870045825572722010-10-30T15:15:40.824-07:002010-10-30T15:15:40.824-07:00Hi Jared, I'm a little slow at finding some o...Hi Jared, I'm a little slow at finding some of the comments. I'm struggling through with my laptop while my new computer gets loaded up after my tech buddy couldn't fix the old one. It's been several weeks of frustration, and September was a busy enough month with a couple of conferences.<br /><br />The problem of adding 4 lanes to the Bay St. Bridge is that the bridge does not operate in isolation from the road network it connects to. On either side of the bridge Bay St. is only 2 lanes, one in each direction. At about 20,000 vehicles per day, Bay St. is already near capacity and if the bridge was expanded, the road would have to be widened to add the 4 lanes to match the bridge. Existing industrial and commercial properties on either side would cost tens of millions to acquire, if the property owners were willing to sell. Cities, for the most part, will not expropriate unless for very good reasons, and compensation is still required.<br /><br />Apart from being so much more costly than simply the bridge retrofit alone, (which itself would be expensive), adding capacity to the bridge would not meet our transportation needs in any event. Bay St. doesn't bring traffic downtown, at least not directly and the competition with industrial traffic would hamper their activities and create other safety issues.<br /><br />We want to keep what industry we have intact and are not contemplating traffic diversion schemes that would undermine their viability. On the westside, we would be equally challenged by having to slice off some of the westside village shopping centre to increase the capacity 4 lanes on the bridge would be delivering.<br /><br />You don't need to see more resources, just understand that traffic by nature doesn't stand still, and wherever you add capacity, it has to go somewhere.<br /><br />For some theory on lane capacity, and it will discuss peak hour flows, which are important to the understanding of what roads need to carry - functionality is critical at maximum demand for travel during afternoon rush hours -see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/hpmsmanl/appn3.cfmJohn Lutonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15714906728226432210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1878072117828142274.post-30659629993060131052010-08-25T15:33:44.987-07:002010-08-25T15:33:44.987-07:00Hey John, can you elaborate on the problem with th...Hey John, can you elaborate on the problem with the 4-lane Bay proposal or point me to some more resources? Thanks.Jaredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10444991317184288346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1878072117828142274.post-41899766329566720502010-07-08T23:35:04.720-07:002010-07-08T23:35:04.720-07:00The 2 lane trial petition doesn't seem to be g...The 2 lane trial petition doesn't seem to be getting anywhere on the jsb.org site: it's stalled out, and is filling up with Russian spam. <br /><br />To have 1.5m bike lanes on the bridge is close quarters. I shudder to imaging riding between the bridge structure and a large truck or bus. 1.5 metres is okay for an open space, but, as you point out, with solid barriers at shoulder level, it's not safe. Vehicles often wander in their lanes on this narrow bridge; side mirrors would be lining up with cyclists' heads.<br /><br />The bridge is only 9 meters wide; there isn't room for physically separated bike lanes. But bike lanes are desperately needed, as either biking the bridge or merely sitting and watching people cross it will attest. The more I study the bridge, the more I see the need for clearly marked, well designed routes for all users.<br /><br />I understand that emergency services in Victoria have expressed concern that 2 lanes would constrict emergency vehicle access, not a satisfactory result.felixBChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02504052743999451995noreply@blogger.com