[St. John's] The Official Project Thread

[ConundrumNL]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I agree. I'm a big fan of zero or minimal traffic control signs in residential neighbourhoods.

I've read over the years about a few places who have tried this and it forces motorists to pay attention which basically eliminates accidents. Replace a stop sign with a yield sign, fewer accidents. Remove the signs all together, fewer still.

It sounds counter-intuitive but, when it's the norm, it works.

But watching how St. John's drivers navigate three-way stops, especially busy ones like those around the Avalon Mall... it's embarrassing. I thought Winnipeg drivers were idiots (and they are in some ways. You put on your blinker to merge and they will GO OUT OF THEIR WAY to speed up and ensure you CAN'T. It's truly unbelievable and it's not a sometimes thing... it is EVERY DAMN TIME. It's their driving culture) but the ones here can give them a run for their money. There's no legitimate reason why a three-way stop should back up so badly for ONLY one side.

I don't really know if 'naked' roads would work in St. John's, mainly because most side-streets are pretty bare as it is. A drive around St. John's shows roads with no pavement markings (expect at intersections), minimal signage, and what signage there is often poorly placed, or damaged and unreadable.

I'm all for replacing Stops with Yield's though, and the more All-Way Stops that can be replaced with Roundabouts or lights, the better.

[jeddy1989]

Found a website against the "rock" development

http://www.batteryradio.com/Pages/Housemotel.html

I think this is a gross over exaggeration of what the building would have looked like



WOW talk about fear mongering! .. have a look at the images in the "good news" section ... this is like rediculous NIMBYism .. like extremist cult NIMBYism

Without the Battery Development regulations. Welcome to the Future!

Want to build a 10-storey condo on Signal Hill/Battery?
Feeling defeated by those pesky building regulations?
Tired of dealing with City Planning Dept. staff?
No Problem!
Councillors will vote a green light for your proposal!

http://www.batteryradio.com/hotel/hotel-c.html

[SignalHillHiker]

It's like Signal Hill is an extra in an 80s music video.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by jeddy1989

Found a website against the "rock" development

http://www.batteryradio.com/Pages/Housemotel.html

I think this is a gross over exaggeration of what the building would have looked like



WOW talk about fear mongering! .. have a look at the images in the "good news" section ... this is like rediculous NIMBYism .. like extremist cult NIMBYism


http://www.batteryradio.com/hotel/hotel-c.html

It's not clear whether this would have ever been built even if approved, and although it was approved in principle there was such a campaign to stop it that it was never heard from again. I suspect that this developer, who seemed to have no credentials or track record might have had financing issues. However, the rendering shown there using a very unattractive picture, was clearly spun in a way to make it look completely out scale and place, much worse than it would have actually been. That being said, a more sensitive and well thought out design might have received a better reaction.

[PoscStudent]

Originally Posted by Townie709

Well aren't you just a beacon of optimism

Well it's true. The person who wanted to build the new hotel has been trying to sell it, or has sold it. The hotel has been "renovated" inside in recent years, despite it being gross they're obviously still selling rooms, and it hosts a good few conventions and luncheons. There are already a number of hotels planned for St. John's and getting loans from the bank to construct hotels is not easy. When the hotel market, hopefully, expands over the next few years then we might see The Battery run into problems and the owners may be forced to either do some huge renovations or tear the place down.

[jeddy1989]

Originally Posted by Architype

It's not clear whether this would have ever been built even if approved, and although it was approved in principle there was such a campaign to stop it that it was never heard from again. I suspect that this developer, who seemed to have no credentials or track record might have had financing issues. However, the rendering shown there using a very unattractive picture, was clearly spun in a way to make it look completely out scale and place, much worse than it would have actually been. That being said, a more sensitive and well thought out design might have received a better reaction.

I agree with what you're saying, I don't know if I would have actually liked the proposal howevere these people were almost savage when tryignt o oppose it.

The company who proposed it was a US company so maybe due to this being just before the huge economic recession there, they were one of the first to be affected, who knows

[SignalHillHiker]

I browsed the Good News section as well. Hilarious.

The renovations inside the Battery are awful. Haphazard and not well done. And if not for the heavy wear/staining on the carpeted hallways, it'd be hard to tell what was the before and what was the after.

[Copes]

From my understanding, the owner has yet to sell the Battery hotel. He is California based, and hasn't tried to do anything major with the site since his proposal was rejected. I believe the asking price is pretty reasonable for that piece of land. I also think that it is a prime piece of land for ANYTHING, so it might not necessarily be a hotel that goes there if someone does succeed at getting a proposal through council.

[SignalHillHiker]

I'd like to see condos/apartments. I think the next most important step for downtown St. John's is to increase the population living there.

[PoscStudent]

I'd say condos would be a hard thing to get approved there. NIKBYs will not want a few hundred people moving into that area.

[SignalHillHiker]

I'm sure they won't - but if it came up, it should be approved. A condo wouldn't be that different in terms of impact and traffic than a popular hotel.

[statbass]

I also read in the St. John's council agenda that Yellowbelly is requesting the City sell them subterranean easement rights in order to expand their brewing operations... sounds promising!!!

http://www.stjohns.ca/upload/agendas/154_RegularAgendaOctober292012.pdf

[jeddy1989]

Ruby Church in Disrepair

A dispute between a venerable Goulds family and the Anglican Church is stalling attempts to restore the famous Ruby Church, a registered heritage structure on the main road in the Goulds. The little church with the pink and red border, received registered Heritage status back in the early 1980's. Since that time, the Ruby family has raised money and did some restoration work on the building, but it's fallen back into disrepair. George Chaulker of the Heritage Foundation says they approved a grant to replace the windows some time ago, however the Church refused to allow it to go through. A dispute between the Ruby family and the Church followed over who was the rightful owner of the building. The difficulty Chaulker says is that while the building was never consecrated, it is owned by the Anglican Church.

He says the Church was afraid that by signing off on the grant, they would be held responsible as the owner of the building for maintaining it, which they weren't prepared to do.

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&ID=27893&latest=1

This is an interesting story because my family's church is the Anglican one in St. Philip's where the old church's steeple was ripped off... I mean I'm not religious and I usually do support the Anglican church based on their open veiws (If I even support a church) and I mean tehre are associations will to do the work on the old churches and maintain them as town museums etc... Why the hell don't they want anything done with them .. It doen't make any sense to me :S

(I always thought that tuny church was soo cute, it's like an old mini church)

[SignalHillHiker]

$7-$7.5 billion price tag for Muskrat Falls
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundla.../29/nl-1029-muskrat-falls-price-tag.html

Cool.

[SignalHillHiker]

Some coverage of tonight's council meeting from CurtisRumboldt on the Twitters:

Mayor proposes a regional roads commission to take care of shared roads like Kenmount Rd.

Coun Colbert says that's never going to happen b/c Mt Pearl won't agree. Look at Team Gushue H'way, he says

Colbert says province should have forced Mt Pearl to take on Team Gushue upkeep.

Council considering a number of items under it's planning report, including allowing higher bldg's on Kenmount Rd.

Coun Duff says higher bldgs will increase traffic even more along Kenmount Rd, Suggests looking at building service roads.

Duff argues against changes to develop o, King's Bridge Road...calls it one of the city's 'most significant cityscapes.'

Mayor says can't let it be destroyed like LeMarchant Rd was in the 70's and 80's.

[Townie709]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Coun Duff says higher bldgs will increase traffic even more along Kenmount Rd, Suggests looking at building service roads.

That, or just widen it to six lanes. It's going to have to be done eventually! And with properties on both sides of Kenmound Road, where will we find space for service roads?

[jeddy1989]

Originally Posted by Townie709

That, or just widen it to six lanes. It's going to have to be done eventually! And with properties on both sides of Kenmound Road, where will we find space for service roads?

What it actually needs is a parallel road or two, like on the top of kenmount hill or behind the existing building... doesnt need to be along the whole stretch, even if it's part way it will help traffic flow ... increasing the lanes will just contribute to the negative affects, this is a key no no in combating sprawl's negative affects. ... you need to make something that resembles or serves the function that a grid system would

[Townie709]

Originally Posted by jeddy1989

What it actually needs is a parallel road or two, like on the top of kenmount hill or behind the existing building... doesnt need to be along the whole stretch, even if it's part way it will help traffic flow ... increasing the lanes will just contribute to the negative affects, this is a key no no in combating sprawl's negative affects. ... you need to make something that resembles or serves the function that a grid system would

I believe what you describe is the definition of a service road

[statbass]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

Coun Duff says higher bldgs will increase traffic even more along Kenmount Rd, Suggests looking at building service roads.

Hilarious...and as if approving a 1200 house subdivision with the only access points leading onto Kenmount wouldn't increase traffic... really??? May be this is council's way of trying to correct this bottleneck?

[jeddy1989]

Originally Posted by Townie709

I believe what you describe is the definition of a service road

There ya go hahaha well I suggest something like this:



Or with the same idea, it is despeiratly needed, I've been saying that for a while and it will help tremendously! also with more organized development.

I was gonna suggest upgrading old pennywell road and using that however there is a lot of residential on it now and I do not know if they would kick up a whole bunch, but who knows, still with this idea in mind! also I don't know if the slope of the land would allow it to efficiently connect to Kenmount road if we just upgraded Old pennywell

wow I agree with a suggestion of hers :O maybe she is learning a bit more .. FINALLY getting wiser hahahha , I find I now am much more scared of O'Leary and her messing up our city than duff ... lately lol