Quote:
Originally Posted by speedog
36.6km this morning, took a slightly longer route this morning but it's usually 32km, taking the ring road adds another 14km and it needs to be noted that I don't expect the city to spend billions to placate my commute - my commute is a matter of circumstances and personal choices and I accept it for what it is. It is easy enough to find alternatives that will cut 10-15 minutes of my commute time if the regular route is congested for whatever reason - just have to know the city well as well as utilize traffic radio reports, Google Maps traffic as well as Twitter.
All I know is that I've lived in this north central part of Calgary for close to 30 years and I just don't see things improving at all - one only has to look at NB Cambrian Drive NW up near 14th Street and see the mess that is now there during the PM rush hour due to a lane being taken away for cyclists. Yeah, I am well aware that one can't compare cycle lanes and transit lanes but I truly believe Centre Street (and Edmonton Trail and 4th Street NW) are in for a whole lot of hurt once the dedicated transit lanes come into being. Morning and afternoon rush hours on Centre Street currently see all 3 lanes very, very congested - don't see how that's going to get any better despite what the proponents are saying. That said, I will stand on my opinion that taking away lanes on Centre Street is not going to improve anything in the short term or long term - maybe time will prove me wrong and that would be a good thing, no?
|
With the city growing it's inevitable that traffic is going to increase, and with road access to downtown via bridges permanently limited, the city has limited options as to how to best manage the problem. Dedicating lanes to a more efficient mode is one way of doing it - it won't improve car drivers' commutes, but it should make it better for those using transit.
Personally I'd like to see lanes built on Centre and a bored tunnel ASAP afterwards. Once the tunnel is built, remove those lanes permanently and widen the sidewalks and add bike lanes. That would make the corridor a lot more pleasant than the mess it currently is.
Threaded Mode