Quote:
Originally Posted by kgc087
I know someone who works at midtown and they told me that the midtown is planning on improving the west entrance but they weren't ready to make it a main one b/c they needed to improve the interiors of the mall first. I'm thinking that when this happens maybe this will increase pedestrians in this area and maybe the city or midtown will even construct some sort of pedestrian bridge over idylwyld to help with the flow.
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Not to be a grump, but pedestrian overpassess are not great, particularly in this climate (it is very cold and windy up there!) and I think they would discourage pedestrian travel.
I don't think that any changes need to be made with regard to increased traffic flow in that area. Many cities have multiple traffic lights and some have several pedestrian controlled lights on major arteries (for example Cambie and Oak streets in Vancouver), and they seem to function. I have driven and walked in the area of 20th and Idlwyld and I would have to say that the driving even with the long waits at lights is not as unpleasant as being a pedestrian there (slow light changes, eratic turning practices, exhaust and noise). I believe there are studies indicating that when you improve traffic flow, traffic volume increases to the point that the original delays are soon back. That is, any benefits to drivers are only temporary and come at the cost of alternative transportation use. I am open to being corrected on this.
If we are going toward increasing use of alternative transportation, there will be some cost in terms of car travel efficiency. We can't have our cake and eat it too. My vote would be for giving priority to feet and bikes over cars, because cars carry other significant costs to society, but that is just my opinion.
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