[St. John's] Transport development (Highways, Airport, and Public Transit)

[ConundrumNL]

Originally Posted by jjavman

In the last link, the consultant's report shows several schemes for connecting to both Pitts and Howlett. Unfortunately, the news clips thus far are talking about the 2nd option of roundabouts which means a choke point for 4 lane highways.

That report also shows 2 types of flyover schemes for non stop into Pitts and Howlett. Not sure if these are conclusively ruled out.

I only did a quick glance through the report, but I didn’t see anything about the path of the tgh before the roundabouts. The tgh roadbed ends here:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ugsfhXGu3cmz6Aoj9?g_st=ic at Brookfield road. Theres a distance between the there and the proposed sites of the roundabouts, so I’m curious on the path the tgh will take, given there are houses and farms in the way.

[rthomasd]

I read that they are doing Option 2 - Roundabout Corridor, lots and lots of Roundabouts.

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by rthomasd

I read that they are doing Option 2 - Roundabout Corridor, lots and lots of Roundabouts.

Yeah ... instead of doing it right the first time.
4 lane highway speed ending at a roundabout

If you look at the other options,
2 of them had overpasses for smooth flow into Pitts and Howlett

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by ConundrumNL

I only did a quick glance through the report, but I didn’t see anything about the path of the tgh before the roundabouts. The tgh roadbed ends here:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ugsfhXGu3cmz6Aoj9?g_st=ic at Brookfield road. Theres a distance between the there and the proposed sites of the roundabouts, so I’m curious on the path the tgh will take, given there are houses and farms in the way.

Yeah ... there's no comprehensive map. One of the methods shows TGH west of Brookfield, another shows it east at the melding point with Commonwealth.
The original TGH map (Somewhere back in this thread), shows it proceeding parallel and west of Brookfield with an intersection somewhere around Heavy Tree. I assume the exact route has to be in the RFPs, but maybe not public yet?

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by ConundrumNL

I only did a quick glance through the report, but I didn’t see anything about the path of the tgh before the roundabouts. The tgh roadbed ends here:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ugsfhXGu3cmz6Aoj9?g_st=ic at Brookfield road. Theres a distance between the there and the proposed sites of the roundabouts, so I’m curious on the path the tgh will take, given there are houses and farms in the way.

Just saw this on twitter. Dunno if it has the amount of detail you are looking for?

[IMG][/IMG]

[ConundrumNL]

Originally Posted by jjavman

Just saw this on twitter. Dunno if it has the amount of detail you are looking for?

[IMG][/IMG]

Thanks.

[ConundrumNL]

https://www.saltwire.com/newfoundlan...tes-100860713/ - Article from the The Telegram on why our license plates stay with the vehicle and not the person.

Apparently it's to do with the computer system used to register vehicles, and replacing it would cost millions.

I wonder if it's also a remanent of the British days. In the UK, standard plates also stay with the car.

[rthomasd]

I read that article and thought the reporter didn't quite get the replacement info right. The MRD application is still a Mainframe program running on the OCIO Mainframe computer system at the Higgins Line data centre, I believe Changing the program wouldn't require changing the computer so hard to believe a program re-write or new app would cost $10 million .Maybe time to
move it off the Mainframe computer and onto a server platform anyway. Since every other province
has an MRD system, maybe investigate if there's enough similarity to buy one of theirs.

[ConundrumNL]

Originally Posted by rthomasd

I read that article and thought the reporter didn't quite get the replacement info right. The MRD application is still a Mainframe program running on the OCIO Mainframe computer system at the Higgins Line data centre, I believe Changing the program wouldn't require changing the computer so hard to believe a program re-write or new app would cost $10 million .Maybe time to
move it off the Mainframe computer and onto a server platform anyway. Since every other province
has an MRD system, maybe investigate if there's enough similarity to buy one of theirs.

Yes. The reporter was confusing hardware and software.

This is a software issue not hardware. The app could be rewritten to allow for Personal plates etc... without transitioning to a new hardware platform, but I think it would still be rather expensive. There's a good chance the base MRD app was written in the late 70s - early 80s and just had stuff bolted on to it as time went. They may lack programmers that know the language (probably FORTAN) well enough to start making large changes.

They also could be thinking about ditching all the mainframe apps down the line, and figure making major changes to existing apps isn't worth the expense.

[jjavman]

Don't hold your breath on Uber

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...ming-1.6987647

[jjavman]

https://vocm.com/2023/10/11/airport-heights-roundabout/

[jjavman]

https://vocm.com/2023/10/23/furey-to...-ride-sharing/

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by jjavman

Yeah ... instead of doing it right the first time.
4 lane highway speed ending at a roundabout

If you look at the other options,
2 of them had overpasses for smooth flow into Pitts and Howlett

As frustrating as it is, as long as the ROW for the flyover ramps are futureproofed, it’s better than nothing.

[Crisisnf]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

As frustrating as it is, as long as the ROW for the flyover ramps are futureproofed, it’s better than nothing.

The what now?

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Crisisnf

The what now?

I just read the document. Never mind, this thing had better be built correctly right from the start.

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

As frustrating as it is, as long as the ROW for the flyover ramps are futureproofed, it’s better than nothing.

It's short sighted and like everything else in NL, a cheap political solution to what it should have been.

[Engibeer]

The transportation minister gave updates yesterday on some major road work while revealing the pot of money available for this year’s projects.

John Abbott told the Heavy Civil Association’s AGM yesterday that a minimum of $250 million is on the table to get ‘er done.

That includes completion of the Galway/TCH interchange, and the decades-long delayed Team Gushue Highway.

Abbott says various projects along Pitts Memorial Drive will also clue up this year, with the street lights expected back on by May.

“We’re working with Newfoundland Power to put in a utility line that will connect up the new lighting system,” he said. “Once that’s done, with a few other lighting fixtures, that’ll take another month or two before that’s done. We’re going to continue with the viaduct work this summer and them probably repaved in the following year.”

The minimum $250 million for projects this year is part of a five-year, $1.4 billion plan for highways in the province.

https://vocm.com/2024/02/08/transpor...work-projects/

And then...

Transportation Minister John Abbott told VOCM News yesterday that federal funding to twin the Trans Canada west of Whitbourne has been secured, and the project could get underway in the coming months.

https://vocm.com/2024/02/08/whitbour...ided-highways/

It's VOCM so take this with a chunk of salt. I haven't yet seen an official release on the highway twinning subject.

[Johnny Engine]

Is the idea with Whitbourne that the current stretch of of highway that turns into a stroad with people turning left all over the place is going to become an off-to-the-side business area like Commercial Street in Deer Lake? I would imagine that's the case but I've heard nothing about it. And will there be a second overpass for Placentia, or do they plan to realign the area so Placentia and Trinity Bay traffic gets on and off at the same spot?

[ConundrumNL]

Originally Posted by Johnny Engine

Is the idea with Whitbourne that the current stretch of of highway that turns into a stroad with people turning left all over the place is going to become an off-to-the-side business area like Commercial Street in Deer Lake? I would imagine that's the case but I've heard nothing about it. And will there be a second overpass for Placentia, or do they plan to realign the area so Placentia and Trinity Bay traffic gets on and off at the same spot?

Found this post on reddit. ATIPP letter indicating the TCH will not be divided going through Whitbourne, and will instead start after the Placentia overpass.

https://www.reddit.com/r/newfoundlan...eird_planning/

Can't tell if it's real or not.

[Marty_Mcfly]

Yeah, there was no way they were going to essentially kill all those businesses by twinning through Whitbourne and making access more of a pain in the ass. In the end slowing down and then getting back up to speed at Placentia vs. the alternative will only cost you a minute or two on your commute.