Highway One Improvements: North Vancouver / Ironworkers Memorial Approach | Completed

[madog222]

They have night work on the Main St on ramp scheduled for the 12th to the 15th. I think we will see it in service on the 16th.

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by madog222

They have night work on the Main St on ramp scheduled for the 12th to the 15th. I think we will see it in service on the 16th.

When I drove past yesterday, there appeared to be signage in place for the lights, so yes, it does seem to be getting very close to opening day.

[jollyburger]

Public art on the sound walls



https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/massiv...ighway-1-through-north-vancouver-4499995

[Jimbo604]

DriveBc

The latest. Also do we have any info on how far the west-most lane will be divided from the other two south-bound lanes? (eg where the yellow line is in the pic)

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Jimbo604

DriveBc

The latest. Also do we have any info on how far the west-most lane will be divided from the other two south-bound lanes? (eg where the yellow line is in the pic)

I assume it will be divided until those two onramp lanes merge into a single lane. It makes sense for those higher speed cars to merge at the middle or end of the bridge.

[jollyburger]

Just noticed the guys who are doing the adaptive traffic signaling posted some YouTube videos:

#1 Why the Dollarton onramp creates traffic up the cut

• Video Link

Seems like they also thought about having alternating greens instead of longer green lights.

• Video Link

[esup21]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Just noticed the guys who are doing the adaptive traffic signaling posted some YouTube videos:

Seems like they also thought about having alternating greens instead of longer green lights.

• Video Link

That was the old ramp meter with a bus bypass option. The adaptive signal that is being built there will operate quite differently.

[madog222]

Night work on the Main St onramp tonight, first of four nights in a row.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by esup21

That was the old ramp meter with a bus bypass option. The adaptive signal that is being built there will operate quite differently.

Our new orange vest for the onramp project?

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

#1 Why the Dollarton onramp creates traffic up the cut

I suspect that the total volume of traffic going southbound over the 2nd narrows isn't going to change very significantly, and that the net effect of the new merging pattern will be to trade backups up the cut for backups along Main and upstream of the Dollarton on ramp.

[djmk]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

I suspect that the total volume of traffic going southbound over the 2nd narrows isn't going to change very significantly, and that the net effect of the new merging pattern will be to trade backups up the cut for backups along Main and upstream of the Dollarton on ramp.

there are a lot of cars that sit way too long on the dollarton on ramp because they are too scared to merge onto the highway. This gets eliminated

However, I suspect main street might be an issue

[esup21]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

I suspect that the total volume of traffic going southbound over the 2nd narrows isn't going to change very significantly, and that the net effect of the new merging pattern will be to trade backups up the cut for backups along Main and upstream of the Dollarton on ramp.

Actually, the new combined Main/Dollarton on-ramp will not cause any back-ups up the Cut, as it removes the existing Dollarton merge. Any upstream back-ups on the Highway from that location will be caused by the bridge itself.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by esup21

Actually, the new combined Main/Dollarton on-ramp will not cause any back-ups up the Cut, as it removes the existing Dollarton merge. Any upstream back-ups on the Highway from that location will be caused by the bridge itself.

I think he said he thought the Main/Dollarton onramps would backup because of the new signaling. Not that the cut would backup.

[madog222]

Plus half the people driving along the highway know how terrible that merge is and move into the left lane leaving the right lane almost empty.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I think he said he thought the Main/Dollarton onramps would backup because of the new signaling. Not that the cut would backup.

Yeah, my point was that the 3 lanes of capacity on the bridge isn't changing. All we're really doing is shuffling around where the congestion will be for the cars trying to cross over. Trying to relieve waits on the cut will come at the expense of waits for cars from Dollarton and Main merging to get onto that curb lane of the bridge. Even if the cut gets better, the congestion from those other sources will likely get worse.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by madog222

Night work on the Main St onramp tonight, first of four nights in a row.

Seems like they just updated it again and removed those 9pm closures.

[Tvisforme]

Hopefully, the overall reduction in choke points (the Dollarton/TC merge, the on/off ramp muddle westbound, etc) will help reduce congestion by improving the overall flow with fewer stops and slowdowns. I still remember how, even thought there were no new lanes, the overall Lions Gate traffic flow improved after they widened and improved the lanes over the bridge and through the Causeway.

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

Yeah, my point was that the 3 lanes of capacity on the bridge isn't changing. All we're really doing is shuffling around where the congestion will be for the cars trying to cross over. Trying to relieve waits on the cut will come at the expense of waits for cars from Dollarton and Main merging to get onto that curb lane of the bridge. Even if the cut gets better, the congestion from those other sources will likely get worse.

100% this. I think the simulation video shows it perfectly. I have serious doubts over people's ability to get going fast enough with the new metering, not to mention semis accelerating from standstill up the bridge. I predict the third southbound lane to be badly underutilized.

Also, should there be snow, it will become very difficult to get up the bridge as the rightmost lane will be separated far up the bridge.

It is great that they had the foresight to build 2nd Narrows six lanes but man, would eight lanes have solved so many problems for us for decades to come... If only a zipper lane could have been added.

[esup21]

Originally Posted by Klazu

100% this. I think the simulation video shows it perfectly. I have serious doubts over people's ability to get going fast enough with the new metering, not to mention semis accelerating from standstill up the bridge. I predict the third southbound lane to be badly underutilized.

Also, should there be snow, it will become very difficult to get up the bridge as the rightmost lane will be separated far up the bridge.

It is great that they had the foresight to build 2nd Narrows six lanes but man, would eight lanes have solved so many problems for us for decades to come... If only a zipper lane could have been added.

The bridge has reached capacity a few years ago will all three lanes also at capacity, so no way that the curb lane goes underutilized. Slow trucks are an issue on that bridge as on any other uphill bridge sections (like the Alex Fraser Bridge).

The entire Lower Lynn project proceeded with the knowledge that we cannot replace the bridge in the foreseeable future (not until other big ticket items like the Massey Tunnel are completed) but we can still improve traffic flow, safety, and provide improvement to other road users in the meantime. The removal of the Dollarton merge by itself is going to be a huge improvement.

[Tvisforme]

This might be completely impractical, but... what potential is there for making the Second Narrows Bridge (the rail crossing) drivable? I'm not suggesting that it be used every day; railway schedules would almost certainly never allow it. However, it might be possible to configure it for use by transit and emergency vehicles in the event that the IWM is closed or heavily clogged. On the north side, access would be from lower Mountain Highway along Barrow, Orwell and Railway. On the south side, the potential exit point would be the service road at the corner of Skeena and Bridgeway, which goes to a point on the track between the end of the Second Narrows bridge and the start of the Thornton tunnel.