Quote:
Originally Posted by makr3trkr
Pattullo can’t handle speed: TransLink
24 Hours Vancouver
Sunday, September 20, 2015
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2015/09/20/pattullo-cant-handle-speed-translink
Speeds were measured over a week in November 2014 and revealed 95% of Surrey-bound vehicles were going over the speed limit of 50 km/h.
The data revealed that the vast majority of drivers could potentially speed up to 80 km/h — the maximum safe speed to negotiate the bridge’s southside turn is considered 70 km/h.
One option seeks to close two middle travel lanes anytime outside of rush hour — leaving the bridge with only one lane each way. Previous nighttime lane closures had indicated doing this reduces the number of collisions by nearly 40%.
Two other options recommend concrete barriers — one option will cut out a northbound lane to reduce traffic flow to New West, and leave more room for the two southbound lanes.
Another option would put in a centre median and reduce traffic both ways to one lane. |
Physics 101, if you want to get more stuff through a small pipe the stuff needs to move faster. So if you slow everything down through the pipe (Pattullo bridge) less stuff (cars) will be able to go through the pipe in the same given time.
You then either need to overall reduce the stuff (cars) going through the pipe or that stuff (cars) has to find an alternate pipe to go through; Port Mann, Alex Fraser, SkyTrain, etc.
Just physics. Don't even have to look at logic. SO if you reduce the speed (force everyone to drive 50kph vs 80kph) and shrink the pipe (4 -> 3 or 2 lanes) even less stuff will get through in a given time and more stuff will need to go to the other pipes.
There becomes a breaking point though especially when that stuff is trucks transporting goods where the delays and bypasses become so great that commerce slows and businesses decide to either uproot and move or costs go up to consumers.
So really all the suggestions I see are just bandaids to the real issue which is that the bridge needs to be replaced with tolls or not I don't care.
The bridge was opened in 1937. Let's go back to that time when Metro-Vancouver had a population of under 650,000 people and 5,000 cars per day crossed the bridge vs > 60,000 per day now. Surrey also had a population of 13,000 vs now at roughly 500,000 people.
So you have a bridge built for 5000 cars per day servicing a population of ~15,000 people in a metro less than 650,000 people. Today that same bridge is servicing a population of 550,000+ (Surrey + North Delta) in a metro of ~2.5 million.
It's also the only bridge outside of Vancouver directly linking 2 city centers (Surrey <> New Westminster). So it's like the Granville Street bridge of the Fraser River yet people are somehow talking about making it smaller??
Just insane.
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