Calgary Roads - Page 234

tomthumb2 · #**4661** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 4:58 PM**

I had the "pleasure" of going DT on Bow Trail last evening. What a complete disaster. If they are going to shut it down to one lane for the summer for paving why not just expand it. Its a classic case of a 1960s road not designed to handle any volume whatsoever. It seems like the WLRT has had zero effect?

artvandelay · #**4662** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 5:08 PM**

The amount of playground zones in the city is ridiculous to begin with. They are used as a traffic deterrent rather than a safety measure. Calgary is one of the few jurisdictions in North America that even has playground zones to begin with. Most places only have school zones, which are often only in effect at times when there are children present outside the school.

Also, there is a reason that 50km/h is the default speed in residential areas worldwide - it's because it's been determined over the years to be the most reasonable and safe speed for these types of roads. There's no use in re-inventing the wheel.

Calgarian · #**4663** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 5:10 PM**

I think playground zones are a total waste of time, can't think of the last time I even saw kids playing in a playground, they are all inside watching TV or playing Xbox.

Full Mountain · #**4664** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 5:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgarian

I think playground zones are a total waste of time, can't think of the last time I even saw kids playing in a playground, they are all inside watching TV or playing Xbox.

Maybe if we stop designing for the car and started designing for humans they would be outside.

suburbia · #**4665** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 5:36 PM**

Am generally quite pleased about the decision of council to standardize school and playground zones. Good move in support of people who choose to enjoy the fields around schools and the playgrounds in their areas. It may aggravate those who are anti-public space and drive everywhere, but I think it is important to support / encourage / enable play and physical fitness in general.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgarian

I think playground zones are a total waste of time, can't think of the last time I even saw kids playing in a playground, they are all inside watching TV or playing Xbox.

It is probably due to the areas you hang out in.

rotten42 · #**4666** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 5:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

Maybe if we stop designing for the car and started designing for humans they would be outside.

ya...because that's the reason

Mazrim · #**4667** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 6:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

Eventually I'd like to see most local roads move from a 50km/h design to a 30km/h design, this would make people feel that they are going faster thereby slowing traffic.

That isn't how things work. Drivers already for the most part will drive whatever feels comfortable to them. Lowering the speed limit will not have a distinct effect on their interpretation of the road in front of them. Traffic calming is a better solution as it changes a driver's expectations and forces them to feel uncomfortable, which then slows them down.

MalcolmTucker · #**4668** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 6:01 PM**

I would rather my neighbourhood get rid of of the different zones and go to limits of 40 kph instead everywhere. Easier to enforce, less confusing.

Full Mountain · #**4669** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 6:22 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mazrim

That isn't how things work. Drivers already for the most part will drive whatever feels comfortable to them. Lowering the speed limit will not have a distinct effect on their interpretation of the road in front of them. Traffic calming is a better solution as it changes a driver's expectations and forces them to feel uncomfortable, which then slows them down.

That's what I'm getting at, design for 30km/h not 50km/h. A great example of what not to do is 16th Ave N, the road is designed for 60-70 km/h traffic but is signed at 50km/h, people then feel safe driving over the speed limit because of the way the road is designed.

fusili · #**4670** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 6:24 PM**

Somewhat related, but I recommend anyone read "Traffic" by Tom Vanderbilt. It is a well-researched book on how people drive, the psycholgy behind it and why drivers behave the way they do. It really demonstrates how dangerous driving is, why people on average drive so poorly, what causes traffic jams, etc. Definitely a good read.

Ferreth · #**4671** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 6:30 PM**

I'd like to see all roads without a dividing line (basically side streets) be 40km/hr. 50 is just too fast on those narrow roads. I'd also get rid of school zones and playground zones and replace them with speed limit signs with the times valid underneath.

Oh, and I would get rid of about 1/2 of the current zones out there - too many zones for too little reason right now.

None of this is going to happen, but I bitch about it at any rate

freeweed · #**4672** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 6:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by artvandelay

This might me the stupidest thing I've heard all week, what is the point of having a school zone in effect 5 hours after school is out?

I've never understood why school zones AREN'T in effect long after school is out, if this really is about safety. As a kid, we played in the local schoolyard after hours all the time. Most schools seem to have playgrounds of one sort or another in them, or at least big open fields which attract children for a pickup game of soccer or tag or something.

Of course I hate the entire thing to begin with. Apparently children are being mowed down in record numbers in cities across North America, and only in Calgary are they safe. And Calgary has raised a culture of mindless pedestrians who pretty much from birth are taught to never look out for cars, which is the only reason these idiotic 30km/h zones are required in the first place. I was fortunate enough to grow up in an era when children actually played at playgrounds all the time, and somehow we managed to avoid the inevitable death trap that 50km/h residential streets are.

CPS sure is gonna like this though. Another hour every morning, and several more hours every winter. Plus, even more people slamming on the brakes on slippery roads for no reason. Yay!

Boris2k7 · #**4673** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 6:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeweed

I've never understood why school zones AREN'T in effect long after school is out, if this really is about safety. As a kid, we played in the local schoolyard after hours all the time. Most schools seem to have playgrounds of one sort or another in them, or at least big open fields which attract children for a pickup game of soccer or tag or something.

Of course I hate the entire thing to begin with. Apparently children are being mowed down in record numbers in cities across North America, and only in Calgary are they safe. And Calgary has raised a culture of mindless pedestrians who pretty much from birth are taught to never look out for cars, which is the only reason these idiotic 30km/h zones are required in the first place. I was fortunate enough to grow up in an era when children actually played at playgrounds all the time, and somehow we managed to avoid the inevitable death trap that 50km/h residential streets are.

CPS sure is gonna like this though. Another hour every morning, and several more hours every winter. Plus, even more people slamming on the brakes on slippery roads for no reason. Yay!

Sick and tired of this bullshit...

sim · #**4674** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 6:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by lubicon

Don't we already know that? It's just the other drivers on the road that don't.

Who's we? Who are these other drivers? I wonder if the other drivers think the same thing?

Well it doesn't really matter because what we supposedly know isn't true anyway and that is not how traffic works.

Jimby · #**4675** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 6:46 PM**

LED streetlights being installed in Altadore.
http://www.660news.com/2014/07/23/ca...KgaSdI.twitter

DoubleK · #**4676** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 6:54 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MalcolmTucker

I would rather my neighbourhood get rid of of the different zones and go to limits of 40 kph instead everywhere. Easier to enforce, less confusing.

This.

Save for the main entrance/exit to my community, I rarely do 40 kph. It's not worth the risk of running a kid over.

Full Mountain · #**4677** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 6:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeweed

I've never understood why school zones AREN'T in effect long after school is out, if this really is about safety. As a kid, we played in the local schoolyard after hours all the time. Most schools seem to have playgrounds of one sort or another in them, or at least big open fields which attract children for a pickup game of soccer or tag or something.

Of course I hate the entire thing to begin with. Apparently children are being mowed down in record numbers in cities across North America, and only in Calgary are they safe. And Calgary has raised a culture of mindless pedestrians who pretty much from birth are taught to never look out for cars, which is the only reason these idiotic 30km/h zones are required in the first place. I was fortunate enough to grow up in an era when children actually played at playgrounds all the time, and somehow we managed to avoid the inevitable death trap that 50km/h residential streets are.

CPS sure is gonna like this though. Another hour every morning, and several more hours every winter. Plus, even more people slamming on the brakes on slippery roads for no reason. Yay!

And mindless drivers, amazing how many times I've been nearly clipped when I have the right of way. IMO when you drive a vehicle you are responsible for any interaction between you and more vulnerable road users. Do I think pedestrians, etc. should be given complete prevalence? No but if a car is crossing a crosswalk the pedestrian in the crosswalk has the right of way, time to start making people understand that. I think we need to start raising crosswalks to the height of the sidewalks, to better delineate who has the right of way.

freeweed · #**4678** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 7:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

And mindless drivers, amazing how many times I've been nearly clipped when I have the right of way. IMO when you drive a vehicle you are responsible for any interaction between you and more vulnerable road users. Do I think pedestrians, etc. should be given complete prevalence? No but if a car is crossing a crosswalk the pedestrian in the crosswalk has the right of way, time to start making people understand that. I think we need to start raising crosswalks to the height of the sidewalks, to better delineate who has the right of way.

People understand it full well, but there will always be shitty drivers on the road. As a mostly pedestrian, it's up to me to protect my life - no amount of enforcement is going to make my broken spine better, after the fact.

I suppose we could start shooting motorists who make a mistake though. Seems to be a common enough sentiment whenever a pedestrian is hit. I'd love to see this standard applied to LRT drivers too, when they kill someone. Clearly the driver is always at fault after all.

Calgarian · #**4679** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 7:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Full Mountain

Maybe if we stop designing for the car and started designing for humans they would be outside.

I think you are missing the point. Kids don't play outside anymore and it has very little to do with the built form of the area they are in and everything to do with TV, video games and neurotic parents. When I was a kid I pretty much lived outdoors, my parents had to force me to come inside, now it seems to be the opposite, and the built form is the same now as it was then.

MalcolmTucker · #**4680** Posted **Jul 23, 2014, 7:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calgarian

I think you are missing the point. Kids don't play outside anymore and it has very little to do with the built form of the area they are in and everything to do with TV, video games and neurotic parents. When I was a kid I pretty much lived outdoors, my parents had to force me to come inside, now it seems to be the opposite, and the built form is the same now as it was then.

Might have something to do with there being more room inside homes due to increased floor space and decreased family size, not solely technology. I imagine in the 60s to be alone the best option was to go outside.