Metro Vancouver Road Infrastructure Discussion

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by makr3trkr

Poll came after the legislation, and the legislation is a result of the questionnaire in the highway review (I'd lean toward calling that democracy).

It still doesn't answer whether the "move over for emergency vehicles" is populist crap, or whether Victoria and Vancouver lowering the limit from 50 to 40 is populist crap. Are road blocks populist crap? Are speed traps populist crap?

It also doesn't address that one of the reasons for the safety of German highways in spite of higher limits is people try to keep right. Yes, there are other factors, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

I'm not sure you understand what populist means, none of the things you've listed qualify. There was no "survey" conducted to enact them. People we elected to lead made public safety choices to enact that legislation. To say people need to get out of the way as a public safety issue is pretty weak.

We have thousands of people being killed on the roads every year due to distracted driving, speeding, drunk driving, and so on. All avoidable issues. When you ask the average person what the biggest problem on the roads is, they will say "cyclists and people who don't get out of my way in the left lane".

Everybody is pointing fingers at everybody else for not obeying the rules. Yet somehow many people break them constantly. I'd love to see photo radar and red light cameras blanketing the city.

Direct democracy in the form of HST or Transit referendums doesn't always lead to the best outcome.

Keeping right on the highway if you are able is common courtesy, we don't need to legislate it until we can get everybody using their god damn turn signals first.

[makr3trkr]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

I'm not sure you understand what populist means, none of the things you've listed qualify. There was no "survey" conducted to enact them. People we elected to lead made public safety choices to enact that legislation. To say people need to get out of the way as a public safety issue is pretty weak.

We have thousands of people being killed on the roads every year due to distracted driving, speeding, drunk driving, and so on. All avoidable issues. When you ask the average person what the biggest problem on the roads is, they will say "cyclists and people who don't get out of my way in the left lane".

Everybody is pointing fingers at everybody else for not obeying the rules. Yet somehow many people break them constantly. I'd love to see photo radar and red light cameras blanketing the city.

Direct democracy in the form of HST or Transit referendums doesn't always lead to the best outcome.

Keeping right on the highway if you are able is common courtesy, we don't need to legislate it until we can get everybody using their god damn turn signals first.

The police already enforce existing laws regarding drunk driving, speeding, and texting.

I was not implying any of those things were "populist" I was pointing out that it wasn't relevant to call it populist to begin with.


http://www.vox.com/2014/6/16/5804590...-the-left-lane

Most states have similar laws on the books.

This law will not be enacted by survey. It will still have to pass the legislature, and will, therefore, also be a result of "people we elected to lead [making] public safety choices to enact that legislation."

This law is not functionally any different from the "move over, slow down" for emergency vehicles law - making highways safer and giving police the ability to go after the worst offenders.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by cleowin

The Willingdon EB and Central BLVD is strange.

On the WB lane, it's dual left turn

On the EB lane, it's two lights, when the road is just 2 lanes (one each direction). I feel when they built it, it was designed to be a proper 4 way interchange. Feels more like a t-intersection though.

So I just talked to Burnaby about this, and yes it is like a T intersection that partly sort of turned into a four way intersection. For the moment there's nothing they can do about it. At some point in the future (tied into development in the area) the plan is to widen the western side of Central Blvd to match the eastern side and make it into a true four way intersection. That will get rid of the worst of the pedestrian crossing problems there.

I asked about putting some kind of walkway or tunnel so the majority of pedestrians can cross that way instead of at ground level. The dept in charge of that has too many projects and not enough budget, and this intersection is low priority for now.

[officedweller]

The IKEA Exit from Knight Street is now open:

http://www.richmond-news.com/news/ik...ramp-1.1779322

[rxp]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The IKEA Exit from Knight Street is now open:

http://www.richmond-news.com/news/ik...ramp-1.1779322

FINALLY!!!

[The_Animal]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Keeping right on the highway if you are able is common courtesy, we don't need to legislate it until we can get everybody using their god damn turn signals first.

Expecting people to understand common courtesy nowadays is expecting a g*damn miracle to happen.

Have lost count of how many times I've had tail-gaters come up riding my bumper while I'm doing 10 over the speed-limit IN THE RIGHT LANE! Turns out I'm thinking about getting myself a dual-channel DVR (front and rear) dash-cam so I can start downloading video when I get home and writing down license plate numbers. Maybe the coppers will get their quota finally with turned in license plate numbers so that they can have their weekly donut binge.

[Klazu]

What is going on Howe Street and several other streets in Downtown? It seems like they have torn open every single street in Downtown and patching their work very poorly. Hemlecken is a like a constant speed bump because of the potholes. Irritating.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by Klazu

What is going on Howe Street and several other streets in Downtown? It seems like they have torn open every single street in Downtown and patching their work very poorly. Hemlecken is a like a constant speed bump because of the potholes. Irritating.

i have always found patchwork in Vancouver HORRID. and it will take months for them to come back and fix it after making a horrid patch job the first time. it cant be that hard to make a decently smooth patch.

[officedweller]

Of interest - HOT lanes for I-405 through Bellevue:

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-...ak-congestion/

[Sheba]

There's a trench in the middle of the road where they're doing pipe work on Royal Oak just off Imperial. Good thing it's not that busy of a street as traffic slowed to a crawl.

[connect2source]

Vancouver has the WORST traffic in Canada.. no surprise here.

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/va...#__federated=1

[DKaz]

On a 49cc scooter, Fleetwood to downtown would be 52 minutes at absolute fastest and 90 minutes on average leaving the office at 5PM, for a congestion index of 72%.

In a single occupancy vehicle, the absolute fastest is 36 minutes and an average at 5PM leave time of 58 minutes, for a congestion index of 61%. Both via the Port Mann Bridge. Half of the additional time is in Vancouver and half of it is on the freeway.

On my 125cc motorcycle, I have the same absolute fastest time and an average at 5PM leave time of 47 minutes by making use of the HOV lane, for a congestion index of 31%. It takes me a couple minutes longer on the freeway really, most of the additional time is in Vancouver.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by connect2source

Vancouver has the WORST traffic in Canada.. no surprise here.

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/va...#__federated=1

The TomTom methodology is flawed. Do we have to bring up this conversation every year?

Anybody who's driven in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver will laugh at this.

[connect2source]

Regardless of whether the Tom Tom methodology is flawed, our gridlock, coupled with the plebiscite is timely and topical.

As a Realtor, I'm in my car all the time and witness to the rate at which drive times are increasing, and yes, I've also driven in Toronto and Montreal, which, if you read the study, shows commute times virtually the same as ours.

Simply exiting the Downtown peninsula has become a nightmare for me, from say Coal Harbour to Mount Pleasant is the worst, your options are gridlocked Georgia, gridlocked Nelson with several construction projects, gridlocked Davie, soon to be made worse by the summer Robson redux. Getting from the North Shore to Vancouver has become markedly worse in the last couple of years. Lions Gate from West Van is insane lately and seems much worse since the addition of the Park Royal intersections and removal of the overpass, HWY 1 East is now regularly backed up to Westview, which only a couple of years ago didn't happen on the daily basis.

At the very least, Toronto and Montreal have something more than a ( at times ) one lane bridge entering the third largest city centre in Canada.

[Tetsuo]

Never had a problem exiting Downtown (save for exiting via LGB)

Just use the side roads and service roads along the waterfront, otherwise use on of the bridges and get to east van via False Creek and GNR

[Klazu]

Sea-to-Sky Highway retaining walls needs repairs, but still safe, says minister

Transportation Minister Todd Stone says a retaining wall on the Sea-to-Sky Highway near the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal needs repairs, but doesn't pose safety concerns despite questions by the Opposition about the new highway falling. Stone says Transportation Ministry engineers assure him there are no safety issues along the stretch of road that includes steep cliffs and a railway track just below the highway that was rebuilt for the 2010 Olympics.

He says measures are being taken to ensure residents who live in the Pasco Road area of the highway will face minimum traffic delays while crews make sure a wall above the road is properly reinforced and stable.

NDP transportation critic Claire Trevena is calling for an independent safety audit of all the highway's retaining walls. Trevena says she has concerns that construction shortcuts may have been taken on the highway because it was only built five years ago and it already requires structural repairs.

Stone says Transportation Ministry engineers assure him there are no safety issues along the stretch of road that includes steep cliffs and a railway track just below the highway that was rebuilt for the 2010 Olympics. He says measures are being taken to ensure residents who live in the Pasco Road area of the highway will face minimum traffic delays while crews make sure a wall above the road is properly reinforced and stable.

NDP transportation critic Claire Trevena is calling for an independent safety audit of all the highway's retaining walls. Trevena says she has concerns that construction shortcuts may have been taken on the highway because it was only built five years ago and it already requires structural repairs.

British Columbia's government spent $600 million to widen and straighten large sections of the Sea-to-Sky Highway, known for its deadly vehicle crashes, in time for the 2010 Games.

[SOSS]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Sea-to-Sky Highway retaining walls needs repairs, but still safe, says minister

The residents of Pasco Road (about 2 dozen homes) are up in arms. Apparently to get the work done the contractors will need to shut their road for 2 hours at a time (to give access for equipment) and will have scheduled openings that last 15 minutes throughout the day.

[DKaz]

This is why most people don't live in places only accessible via a one lane road on a mountainside that could easily get cut off in the event of an earthquake or landslide.

A good number of those residents have boat docks. Just saying.

[SOSS]

Originally Posted by DKaz

This is why most people don't live in places only accessible via a one lane road on a mountainside that could easily get cut off in the event of an earthquake or landslide.

A good number of those residents have boat docks. Just saying.

Yup, redundancy in everything is a good thing.

[Klazu]

Ah, they have finally completed re-paving southern Howe Street. What a bliss the new asphalt is being. We should really have more of that in this city although it benefits big and bad car traffic.