Regina Bypass Thread

[djforsberg]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...5600-1.5383749

What an absolute waste of taxpayers money.

[UPP]

Originally Posted by djforsberg

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saska...5600-1.5383749

What an absolute waste of taxpayers money.

And that number is probably inflated by the amount of people just trying it out.

[jigglysquishy]

I told you so.

I've never been more right about something.

[Dengler Avenue]

Now people are definitely going to question the need of an outer ring for Saskatoon...

[djforsberg]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Now people are definitely going to question the need of an outer ring for Saskatoon...

There were reports recently showing that far less people used the new north "commuter" bridge than was originally estimated.

[Dengler Avenue]

On the other hand, we can probably wait till next year to get a full picture. The bypass was opened in late fall/early winter. That could also be a contributing factor to the low volume.*

* Correct me if I'm wrong.

[djforsberg]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

On the other hand, we can probably wait till next year to get a full picture. The bypass was opened in late fall/early winter. That could also be a contributing factor to the low volume.*

* Correct me if I'm wrong.

Not sure where those vehicles are going to magically appear from.

[StealthGirl]

Is the bypass appearing on GPS maps? I know in our vehicle the bypass is not yet showing although we have driven on the bypass. Maybe the next update will affect that?

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by StealthGirl

Is the bypass appearing on GPS maps? I know in our vehicle the bypass is not yet showing although we have driven on the bypass. Maybe the next update will affect that?

Sometimes I can't help but wonder if big companies like Google simply don't care about the Prairies lol. We had to report a missing road to get the new stretch of the bypass onto Google Maps.

[Stormer]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Sometimes I can't help but wonder if big companies like Google simply don't care about the Prairies lol. We had to report a missing road to get the new stretch of the bypass onto Google Maps.

Google maps is now giving directions on the new Bypass and is also showing traffic conditions.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Stormer

Google maps is now giving directions on the new Bypass and is also showing traffic conditions.

That I know, but it took them a few days. On the other hand, in P.E.I., when their Cornwall Bypass was completed, Google Map showed it right away. That bugs me.

[ericmacm]

Highways are a long term investment. It's going to take more than a month of being open for the bypass to get into full swing. I reckon by next year it'll probably hit the expected usage levels and exceed it later. If we judged every infrastructure project by its first month of performance, we wouldn't build anything at all.

Give it time and it will be used.

[Corndogger]

Originally Posted by ericmacm

Highways are a long term investment. It's going to take more than a month of being open for the bypass to get into full swing. I reckon by next year it'll probably hit the expected usage levels and exceed it later. If we judged every infrastructure project by its first month of performance, we wouldn't build anything at all.

Give it time and it will be used.

Is the road even fully open and properly signed yet? The people declaring it a huge failure after one month are the same people who have crapped all over it since it was first announced. Once the road is fully functional the numbers will go up. I just had a look at traffic volumes for various points along the 201 around Calgary from 2009 to 2018. At first the volumes were very low but it didn't take long for them to grow. Now I believe every point is well above what the province was forecasting. As stuff gets built along the bypass traffic volumes will rise.

[djforsberg]

Originally Posted by ericmacm

Highways are a long term investment. It's going to take more than a month of being open for the bypass to get into full swing. I reckon by next year it'll probably hit the expected usage levels and exceed it later. If we judged every infrastructure project by its first month of performance, we wouldn't build anything at all.

Give it time and it will be used.

I guess you've never been to Regina, city of 250k people and two ring roads.

[djforsberg]

Originally Posted by Corndogger

Is the road even fully open and properly signed yet? The people declaring it a huge failure after one month are the same people who have crapped all over it since it was first announced. Once the road is fully functional the numbers will go up. I just had a look at traffic volumes for various points along the 201 around Calgary from 2009 to 2018. At first the volumes were very low but it didn't take long for them to grow. Now I believe every point is well above what the province was forecasting. As stuff gets built along the bypass traffic volumes will rise.

I was a supporter of it back when the GTH was supposed to be a big thing. The best predictor of the future is the past and this bypass will never be fully utilized in the coming decades, just like the GTH wasn't in its first and likely, subsequent decades.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by djforsberg

I guess you've never been to Regina, city of 250k people and two ring roads.

Three points that I wanna make:
(1) It was a mistake to build up (and out) Victoria Avenue: We could have completely grade-separated it from RR to Balgonie and put a partial system interchange at RR;
(2) Even then, I’ve heard that RR can get stressed during rush hour;
(3) Most importantly, we are talking about the Trans-Canada Highway here, not just your back country road, but cross-country highway: It’s somewhat important to keep it free-flowing. Bref, at least SK didn’t repeat the mistakes of MB (aka putting traffic lights). *cough cough*

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by StealthGirl

Is the bypass appearing on GPS maps? I know in our vehicle the bypass is not yet showing although we have driven on the bypass. Maybe the next update will affect that?

It will not appear in your vehicle until you do an update of your maps. Which depending on your vehicle and it's age may be costly. Or, very easy for vehicles that have wifi connectivity..

Again, I'm not sure what vehicle you have. Newer vehicles allow you to use an app from your mobile that connects with your vehicle display. Such as google maps. In this case there would be no need to update.

[jigglysquishy]

For reference, that number was their expected 2019 numbers. The report (which was taken down off their website) lists expected traffic volumes as

Q4 2019: 21,000
Q4 2020: 32,000
Q4 2021: 35,000

I can't find any data beyond that.

[city rep]

Google maps is missing key interchanges like south HWY6 still, so anyone who would potentially be taking the bypass south, to exit and enter the city arent shown on the maps properly.
The bottom line is when the bypass was first given the go ahead, Regina and area was growing at a much different rate than it has been over the past few years.
A good number of the predicted traffic volume was tied to the GTH mess, so its no shock that only after a handful of weeks, numbers arent as high as expected.
Whether Regina hits that pace in the future again or not, factually every year the bypass makes more sense.
As Dengler said the biggest mistake here is Victoria Avenues development

[bomberjet]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Three points that I wanna make:
(1) It was a mistake to build up (and out) Victoria Avenue: We could have completely grade-separated it from RR to Balgonie and put a partial system interchange at RR;
(2) Even then, I’ve heard that RR can get stressed during rush hour;
(3) Most importantly, we are talking about the Trans-Canada Highway here, not just your back country road, but cross-country highway: It’s somewhat important to keep it free-flowing. Bref, at least SK didn’t repeat the mistakes of MB (aka putting traffic lights). *cough cough*

Just jab that knife a little deeper haha. Yes, we know all too well thank you.