Quote:
Originally Posted by invisibleairwaves
Lots of great points here about why more car lanes would be a terrible idea, but to add one more: it would inevitably come at the expense of pedestrian safety. It's a busy pedestrian route with shopping on both sides and wider streets have a measurable impact on pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
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One of the benefits of development, when done well at least, is that it makes things safer / more pleasant for pedestrians by eliminating curb cuts and widening sidewalks.
Just for fun I looked at the 2007 google street view from North Road and Como Lake and the number of curb cuts removed (e.g. at 567 Clarke) is remarkable and I guess City of Lougheed will have the same impact, taking a giant pedestrian unfriendly parking lot and creating streets, with sidewalks, and cross-walks and so on.
What is actually quite remarkable looking at the old streetview of Clarke Road through Burquitlam is the transition away from a car dependent economy. There used to be two gas stations on the East side of Clarke along there, both gone, and a drive through Dairy Queen also gone. The Safeway used to be a mile back from the road and now it is right at the street - so much better for pedestrians. Big used tire shop, gone.
The West side of Clarke had strip malls, including an auto body shop and two used car lots/dealers, all gone as well.
I guess newer cars just don't need the same level of repairs and get better mileage and last longer, plus not as many young people buy cars, so we just don't need as many car related shops as we used to. I mean, there were plenty of restaurants also displaced by development, but they seemed to pop up again nearby (e.g. pizza factory) or get replaced by other restaurants, so that there are still plenty of places to eat in the area, but all the car related businesses (except Lordco) just disappeared.
Aesthetically, it is hard to argue things haven't improves significantly due to the change, and I have to think economically things are better now as well, without having so much land and resources devoted to just getting people from A to B.
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