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In terms of AADT counts, one could say the same about NB and NS as well. |
TCH in Alberta is basically a freeway from the BC border to the east side of Calgary (if you use the Ring Road). East of there, yes, lots of upgrading required.
Ozabald - do you have an example of a “Texas style slip ramp” ? |
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https://www.texashighwayman.com/glossary.shtml Slip ramp in Texas: I-35 NB; exit 280; Salado, TX https://www.google.com/maps/@30.8769...8192?entry=ttu Slip ramp - Swift Current, SK: https://www.google.com/maps/@50.3018...8192?entry=ttu |
Similar to my proposal for Morris, MB? :D
https://i.imgur.com/VOO1vAxh.jpg By the way, we can probably try similar stuff for Sorrento, Salmon Arm, Sicamous, Revelstoke and Golden. ;) |
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https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZR7k2Ya1Dkj88SgZ8 |
Oh wow it does. The ramps at Lonsdale Avenue border on that type of ramps too.
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The other towns listed would be relatively easy. |
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I wonder if a bypass couldn't be built to the south of Salmon Arm along the base of Mount Ida? |
A bypass south of Salmon Arm sounds better. That may require rebuilding the through lanes of the interchange at Salmon River Road, though. (This is to cap the maximum slope of the bypass at 5% for 4.2 km at the foot of the hill.) I wonder how much work that will be.
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https://i.imgur.com/26xXICDh.jpg |
Is that in Google Earth Pro, or Global view of Google earth? It even shows the shape of the mountains. :runaway:
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This is obvious in the recent investment done to twin the highway west of Salmon Arm with an interchange, a section that would be completely bypassed in the above bypass. |
It’s just B.C. On one hand, I get the idea.
Meanwhile in Ontario, TCH, despite its meagre volume in Northern Ontario, is still understood as a route carrying long-distance traffic, and classified and treated accordingly (in terms of design and maintenance). As such, its long-term upgrades around built up area will be an uninterrupted 4-lane facility (aka freeway bypasses). Back to Salmon Arm: Bluntly, if it weren’t for that new interchange on the west side helming things in, I wouldn’t have suggested something as insane as a freeway through the town. Then again, all that’s needed is 40-m ROW, which just means demolishing the south side of the section through the town. |
My attempt at Freeway by Golden | Mon essai à une autoroute à Golden:
https://i.imgur.com/kq48SSEh.jpg |
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20-year strategy advances solutions for Central Okanagan transportation
Nothing even remotely ambitious here: :(:hell: http://https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023MOTI0152-001513 |
Yeah, it’s a complete joke and a real slap in the face to the Okanagan.
I posted this in the Kelowna thread, but it didn’t get a single response from anyone there, so at this time judging from the complete lack of engagement I now feel people get what they deserve… Quote:
So when it comes to being shortchanged for highway improvements, Kelowna is the bottom of the bottom (Kamloops likely to have the best roads, followed by Nanaimo, Victoria and then Kelowna / Okanagan relative to populations.) |
I can feel your frustration in that post Metro.
It really is unbelievably non-sensical. How can a project improve transportation in the region and yet hurt affordability ? How can it improve connectivity yet hurt inclusivity (what does that even mean) ? How does it hurt livability ? Is crawling through traffic on Harvey more “livable” than being able to take an alternate freeway route and downgrade Harvey as you describe ? So stupid - who is making these boneheaded decisions ? (Sorry for all the rhetorical questions). |
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At the bare bare bare minimum, since they are still planning to upgrade the section of the 97 between Downtown Westbank and the bridge to freeway standards, and that the 97 between the Okanagan Connector and Downtown Westbank is already freeway standard... that they would have included a plan that at least alludes to a tunnel being built (since they have officially nixed any bypasses of the Westbank town core) in order to have a complete freeflow standard between the connector and Kelowna. Instead, we will get free flow from the connector to downtown Westbank, at this point cars will crawl though a local street with 4 to 5 traffic lights over a span of 1 KM (thats all that would be needed, a 1 KM long tunnel section) then it will be free flow again for roughly 12.5 KM into downtown Kelowna. And yeah, the "inclusivity" measure for highway upgrades sounds like some pretty BS contemporary word salad fresh out of university nonsense we need to invent jobs for people with useless majors to me. |
Such a joke! They can't even upgrade the #1 from Hope to Port mann bridge, let alone through Kelowna. That stretch should have been a 4 lane highway years ago but all the government does is limp through projects throughout a persons entire life. They need to actually build things instead of talk and run studies. All it does is waste time and money - what government excels at.
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The postponement of the plan to widen (with most options being full freeway grade) the 97 through Peachland (the last remaining two lane segment between Penticton and Vernon) to four lanes by at least two decades was an obvious middle finger to the area from the NDP. In fact, not a single major highway upgrade project has broken ground, or even moved to finalized design / funding, since the NDP took power. That's now 7 years... |
Which one would you prefer though? Being totally ignored, or being totally screwed?
If they're gonna spend money making things worse in Okanagan, I much prefer total neglect. By the way, what's the minimum required ROW for freeway in B.C.? I thought that I could get away with 40 m, but the design guideline seemed to be hinting at 60 m... (Link: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/t...-survey/tac-bc) |
Meanwhile my attempt at freeway through Revelstoke:
https://i.imgur.com/JwypQ5i.jpg |
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Maybe that's the inclusion factor. :P At least the next election is in October 2024. EDIT: Never mind, I looked at the poll numbers and barring a major development, the NDP will be sticking around for a while. |
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https://i.imgur.com/xSIvpAS.png |
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I don’t know the geology of the Rockies well enough to dream like that. :( |
^I like this idea - hopefully it’s not just a dream. The 3-Valley gap section would be a nightmare to expand to 4 lanes.
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The Three Valley Gap will definitely be the most expensive segment per km to upgrade under provincial jurisdiction now that Kicking Horse is wrapping up.
Sure would be nice for the feds to get moving on Yoho Park, but of course it’s now been years since any updates / info has been given. In fact the only piece of news regarding that project from the feds was them saying, “we heard many complaints about the proposed traffic light in Field, but fuck you, that’s what we are doing.” I don’t mind using a mix of interchanges (urban / major exchanges) and protected-T intersections (rural / low volume) on the #1 through the mountains, but traffic lights? No. |
I wonder if that’s just because it’s B.C. though. In Newfoundland, TCH goes through Terra Nova N.P. If that ever gets twinned, I’ll be curious to see if Parks Canada has the gut to propose a light there. (Apparently TCH in Newfoundland has 0 traffic lights even for those through-the-town stretches.)
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Sorrento:
https://i.imgur.com/XrX9S7P.jpg Ps: I set aside 60 m ROW for Highway 1 through Sorrento. Then I checked the street view and saw increasing slope on the south side. Maybe the EB lanes will just be slightly higher than the WB lanes. Blind Bay: https://i.imgur.com/4bRoyvM.jpg |
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The lack of any funding for the project is also 100% on the feds. One good thing the province has done has been focusing on the most challenging sections first, such as the Yoho Canyon, and replacing major bridges. |
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Also, any thought on my (destructive) plan for Sorrento? I mean, TCH is a route that carries long-distance traffic, so in principle, traffic disruption should be minimal, which warrants freeway design. However, B.C.M.T.I. also believes that highways connect, not bypass, towns. I am just trying to make some compromise here. :D That said, admittedly, I'm getting into the bad habit of shoehorning freeways in towns... :( |
Field, B.C.
https://i.imgur.com/yzqzwQA.jpg With mountains to the north and a river to the south, and with Burgess Shales, the geological constraints are real in this area. I can start to see why Parks Canada doesn't want to do the interchange any time soon. :yuck: |
Your plan for Sorrento is more or less the official long term plan.
Again, from all the studies and documents I’ve seen the only two areas without a clear plan is the three valley gap and through Salmon Arm. It would be nice to get a Kicking Horse Canyon style plan going for the Three Valley Gap. I would be okay if Salmon arm is the last section to be tackled. As for Field, well, welcome to building highways in BC! Steep canyons, narrow Valleys, lakes, rivers, etc… |
Beauty of an area seems always directly proportional to the level of difficulty in road building… ;)
We may have to ask the Yankees how they’ve built I-70 through the Rockies. That may provide some inspiration. |
That is the price to pay for the scenery.
Their secret is a national highway system! Even the American interstate system has surprisingly few tunnels through the mountains. So, updated designs for Boucherie Rd. Interchange and Westlake Rd. Interchanges were posted a few days ago. This is the only real highway upgrade coming to the Okanagan for a while, so they better enjoy it! https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...24e21d2e_h.jpgKI1 by Ian, on Flickr https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3375c412_h.jpgKI2 by Ian, on Flickr |
https://i.imgur.com/E1bQcVo.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/p3T7sSJ.jpg Vicars Road around 4pm is torture. It took me seven minutes to get off the frontage and onto the highway Eastbound because the frontage intersection constantly clogs. Not 24 hours earlier I waited to turn eastbound but there was four or five cars already lined up between the highway lights and the frontage intersection with everyone waiting in the other three directions to turn onto the highway as well. Light goes green, they all turn left, light goes yellow and before I can cross and exit Eastbound I'm dicked for another three minutes by an F350 and a 50 foot horse trailer blocking the intersection AND taking all the spots at the light so they can turn left. Likewise the lights at the same time can back up traffic nearly a kilometer long heading Eastbound as far back as Ashley's Furniture, causing people to exit off the highway to the frontage by the Burger King, only to get jammed at Vicars or get stuck trying to turn left onto Valleyview Drive which at this point is heavily loaded with people exiting downtown that you get a lineup as far back as the Shell station. |
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https://i.imgur.com/8D1oXc4.png Since this is the same area as Three Valley Gap, I assume the rock conditions would be crappy here too. Avoiding a tunnel would be the best option. When I have some more free time I'll see if I can flesh out something more to see how feasible this really is. |
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BC isn't afraid of doing modern highways in difficult passes like this at least. 97C leaving the Okanagan Valley climbs at 6-8% for almost 25 kilometers, and the new Wood Lake bypass on 97 near Winfield is another good look at what the big rock cuts and big fills needed for a new mountain highway would look like. |
I agree: it’s definitely more ideological than technical when something doesn’t get done (i.e. how Malabar Drive will never have 4 lanes). KHC Phase 4 shows that B.C.M.I.T. does have the geotechnical expertise to contend with mountains of unstable rocks.
As for long steep slopes… Coquihalla Pass has one spot with 6% slope for 19 KM so why not here too. ;) |
Kicking Horse Canyon progress.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ee850407_h.jpgBC Highway 1-Kicking Horse Canyon-Phase 4-Sheep Bridge to Grizzly Wall by B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, on Flickr |
^^
That is going to be so much better once its done. But as you head west back to the two lanes again. |
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