Western Expresso

[micheal]

Taxpayers group highlights provincial debt ahead of budget

by: Larry kusch
Winnipeg free press

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/T...d-of-budget-248587141.html?device=mobile

Time to elect a new government.

[Cyro]

Originally Posted by micheal

Taxpayers group highlights provincial debt ahead of budget



Time to elect a new government.

Thx for the insight and revelation. I'm sure Manitoba voters will take the suggestion into consideration next time we vote.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Bdog

So one can certainly have empathy then for others who drive for various reasons, including work, kids activities, shopping for certain items, etc. etc. etc.

Big difference between taking a car when you have no other choice (going out of town, hauling bulky items, travel with several small children, going at odd hours when transit isn't running) and living a lifestyle that demands driving for everything you do (living in places where you can't walk anywhere and transit service is lacklustre).

The problem is this city tends to cater to the latter group, at an enormous and unsustainable cost.

[steveosnyder]

Originally Posted by Bdog

So one can certainly have empathy then for others who drive for various reasons, including work, kids activities, shopping for certain items, etc. etc. etc.

Exactly as Esquire says -- I have never said I never drive, nor have I said that driving is by any means "fun" in this city, or can be done with any ease. I would just like the city to run in a sustainable fashion, one that actually takes into account all 3 pillars of sustainable development (social, environmental and economical). This project only addresses 2 of the 3 and it needs to be pointed out.

[steveosnyder]

Event at U of M taking place tonight -- Heather Dubbeldam is speaking about City Planning and Architecture.

Speaker info -- http://dubbeldam.ca/practice/principal
Event info -- http://events.umanitoba.ca/EventList.asp...n=2867&information_id=8112&type=&rss=rss

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by Crisis

Really? I thought the whold purpose of this thread was to provide a place for unnecessary, though not necessarily rude, comments. Lighten up.

idea is for offtopic around the counter chit chat while sipping on an expresso and being relaxed

[1ajs]

on a random note anyone herd of the midnight choir? got 2 friends in it i know of it kind cool idea if none of u guys herd of it

Video Link

[Cyro]

Tired of Manitoba's and Winnipeg's infrustructure problems?
Worried about the CPT and population threads?
Tired of the NDP governement and the Never ending Winter and Snowfall?
Thinking about Shindico and Sammie's shady deals .....

Well this is for you...

Enjoy and.......

• Video Link

[1ajs]

aww monty python

[micheal]

Enbridge to upgrade pipeline through Saskatchewan
majority of the $5 billion project runs through Saskatchewan

by:Courtney mintenko
March 10th 2014
newstalk 980

http://cjme.com/story/enbridge-upgrade-pipeline-through-saskatchewan/278293

[Riverman]

Heard the following on Adler this morning regarding opening P&M to foot traffic.

"There is no difference in traffic on Portage and Main compared to say, Portage and Fort."

Stefano Grande: "Winnipeg has a lot of pedestrian traffic downtown due to the thriving retail sector there."

These are either NDP-calibre lies or neither of these people have been downtown.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Riverman

Heard the following on Adler this morning regarding opening P&M to foot traffic.

"There is no difference in traffic on Portage and Main compared to say, Portage and Fort."

Stefano Grande: "Winnipeg has a lot of pedestrian traffic downtown due to the thriving retail sector there."

These are either NDP-calibre lies or neither of these people have been downtown.

I won't defend Grande's alleged statement (although I have my doubts as to the accuracy of that quote), but the other one is bang-on.

If you accept the logic that opening P&M to foot traffic would cause traffic armageddon, then in theory there should be no traffic moving through downtown Winnipeg given that there intersections with very similar vehicle counts that allow ped crossings, like Broadway and Main or Portage and Memorial. So that idea is obviously and demonstrably wrong.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by esquire

I won't defend Grande's alleged statement (although I have my doubts as to the accuracy of that quote), but the other one is bang-on.

First, Grande's statement is word for word and I don't care if you don't believe it. I heard it, in my truck this morning on the way to Home Depot to buy a hot water heater.

No, that statement is far from bang on. You are comparing one of Winnipeg's major commuter routes with a hardly-used one-way street.

Originally Posted by esquire

If you accept the logic that opening P&M to foot traffic would cause traffic armageddon, then in theory there should be no traffic moving through downtown Winnipeg given that there intersections with very similar vehicle counts that allow ped crossings, like Broadway and Main or Portage and Memorial. So that idea is obviously and demonstrably wrong.

That's quite a stretch, seeing that you have no idea what my opinion is on the subject.

[drew]

Originally Posted by Riverman

That's quite a stretch, seeing that you have no idea what my opinion is on the subject.

How about you enlighten us then?

I will start: I would support opening up Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic.

[Riverman]

I would certainly support a trial opening to see how well it works and to see how people like it.

[1ajs]

would be nice when out and about on foot to zip across though in dead of winter i am guna go underground to warm up as its blutty cold in that wind

[steveosnyder]

Originally Posted by drew

How about you enlighten us then?

I will start: I would support opening up Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic.

I support opening Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic. But I still find a problem with Esquire's analysis. And it's the same problem I have with most analysis when we talk about traffic, we don't consider the volume of pedestrian traffic.

Sure the other 2 intersections have similar traffic volumes coming in and out, but we don't have accurate pedestrian counts at either of these intersections because no one ever bothers to measure. We also are only estimating the pedestrian count at P&M. We don't actually know how many pedestrians would cross.

Taking this into account, I don't know if it will cause gridlock or not, but I still support it.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by steveosnyder

I support opening Portage and Main to pedestrian traffic. But I still find a problem with Esquire's analysis. And it's the same problem I have with most analysis when we talk about traffic, we don't consider the volume of pedestrian traffic.

Sure the other 2 intersections have similar traffic volumes coming in and out, but we don't have accurate pedestrian counts at either of these intersections because no one ever bothers to measure. We also are only estimating the pedestrian count at P&M. We don't actually know how many pedestrians would cross.

Taking this into account, I don't know if it will cause gridlock or not, but I still support it.

There are a number of ped xings near P&M, and looking at them you can get a pretty clear idea of what the ped traffic levels would be like if the corner is reopened, e.g. Portage & Fort, Main and William Stephenson, Main and McDermot, Main and Graham.

It's not as though the pedestrian traffic at P&M will be higher by orders of magnitude. Besides, in the unlikely event that things spin out of control the corner could always be closed back up to pedestrian traffic.

[steveosnyder]

Originally Posted by esquire

There are a number of ped xings near P&M, and looking at them you can get a pretty clear idea of what the ped traffic levels would be like if the corner is reopened, e.g. Portage & Fort, Main and William Stephenson, Main and McDermot, Main and Graham.

It's not as though the pedestrian traffic at P&M will be higher by orders of magnitude. Besides, in the unlikely event that things spin out of control the corner could always be closed back up to pedestrian traffic.

Can you show me what the numbers are? Have they ever done a "traffic" study for pedestrians at these locations? I would love to see those numbers.

I kinda follow the Jan Gehl model -- incrimental "improvements" (I use quotes because it might not be an improvement, in which case you can move back), then reassessment. Open the least busy crossing first (East side), if that works, open the next busy one, etc. etc. and after each, you reassess the conditions.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by steveosnyder

I kinda follow the Jan Gehl model -- incremental "improvements" (I use quotes because it might not be an improvement, in which case you can move back), then reassessment. Open the least busy crossing first (East side), if that works, open the next busy one, etc. etc. and after each, you reassess the conditions.

Yes! An engineer I used to work with at GEAE used to call it 🞵🞵🞵🞵-izing.

In any dynamic system (and this certainly is a system) one can not accurately predict what will happen with different levels of implementation. You can estimate and model but you also have to test and tune the system at each level. It certainly could work but you have to remember this "system" also involves all other intersections in four directions for some distance.

Of course, any true scientific process is screwed when politics are thrown into the mix.