Canadian Urban Canyons

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by isotack

so says the guy who called a traffic light "aggressive"...lol

???

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

Toronto = Chicago

No. This seems to come up on SSP now and then for some reason. And every time pedants like me come out of the woodwork to quash the lazy comparison.

The only similarities Toronto and Chicago share are that they're on Great Lakes and their skylines look similar from certain far-away angles.

Nothing else.

[Acajack]

From the "You-can't-make-this-up" file, Westmount used to have an Ontario-style yellow traffic light housing they'd use, but looking at Google Streetview it seems like they may have phased it out.

I only see very dark green or black - similar to what you have in the rest of Montreal.

[kool maudit]

I always thought the black traffic lights were elegant.

They are similar to the ones here:

[Acajack]

The yellow traffic light housing is quite garish IMO, but it's consistent with how automobile infrastructure tends to be overbearing even in dense urban settings in the Americas.

Oddly enough we were discussing this very same topic one year to the day in this thread:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...179482&page=55

[kool maudit]

The yellow fixtures can have a kind of 70s splendour of their own, though.

The apotheosis of that look was the 1970s yellow NYC street signs. That Sesame Street/Taxi Driver nexus.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

The yellow fixtures can have a kind of 70s splendour of their own, though.

The apotheosis of that look was the 1970s yellow NYC street signs. That Sesame Street/Taxi Driver nexus.

Yeah, but that's a New York thing. Like numbered streets and avenues.

It still works to some degree in Buffalo and Chicago, but by the time you get to Val-d'Or it's lost almost all of its charm.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/3e...!4d-77.8216432

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by Acajack

The yellow traffic light housing is quite garish IMO, but it's consistent with how automobile infrastructure tends to be overbearing even in dense urban settings in the Americas.

Oddly enough we were discussing this very same topic one year to the day in this thread:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...179482&page=55

If, like me, you don’t have the best vision, the black ones look like they would be too easy to miss. They would be hard to see during power failures as well, so you’d lose an important mental cue that you were about to enter a busy intersection. I imagine that that’s the thinking behind the garishness, at the expense of their not looking like they came from a trendy designer lighting shop. Maybe I said that last year, though.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Andy6

If, like me, you don’t have the best vision, the black ones look like they would be too easy to miss. They would be hard to see during power failures as well, so you’d lose an important mental cue that you were about to enter a busy intersection. I imagine that that’s the thinking behind the garishness, at the expense of their not looking like they came from a trendy designer lighting shop. Maybe I said that last year, though.

I won't disagree.

In older parts of Montreal they're often green-grey and blend in with the surrounding buildings:

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.5008...7i13312!8i6656

[kool maudit]

The actual light part is more attention-getting than the housing, though. So long as that is in effect, it should be fine. There are a lot of cues when an intersection is present, as well, even without the lights.

I really don't think it's a matter of "good old yellow lights that should be good enough for everybody" vs. "mr. foo-foo la-di-da fancy lights". A lot of places have the dark housings.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

The actual light part is more attention-getting than the housing, though. So long as that is in effect, it should be fine. There are a lot of cues when an intersection is present, as well, even without the lights.

I really don't think it's a matter of "good old yellow lights that should be good enough for everybody" vs. "mr. foo-foo la-di-da fancy lights". A lot of places have the dark housings.

As has been stated (this week or a year ago), it also might encourage some people to ease off the gas and be more attentive at intersections - at least a little bit.

[niwell]

Never been a big fan of Ontario's yellow traffic lights, though they are certainly more visible. It works fine in the suburbs but in slow moving areas it would be nice to have some more aesthetically pleasing options. IMO they are still preferable to the massive light standards with horizontal banks of lights you see in parts of Western Canada.

I will admit to almost running a light the first time I drove in Montreal... And yield=merge took me for a spin too.

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by kool maudit

I really don't think it's a matter of "good old yellow lights that should be good enough for everybody" vs. "mr. foo-foo la-di-da fancy lights". A lot of places have the dark housings.

Without that analytical framework I’d only have about six posts, though.

[megadude]

Me too. Almost ran a couple lights in Montreal. Being blackish was one thing with it blending into the urban environment, but how low they were is what threw me off more. Also, if driving too close behind a truck (God damn there's too many tailgaters out there), that truck is going to obscure the line of sight ahead.

When I spent 12 days in Manhattan I left the rental car in a valet parking garage where you call ahead and they go retrieve the vehicle that is four deep behind other cars and have it waiting for you.

One time I didn't do that and just showed up because I made a last minute change of plans. It was going to take a while but I could see the car in the back so I thought I'd grab the GPS and punch in the address while I waited so I didn't have to wait for it to acquire the satellite as soon as I came out of the garage.

Well one of the guy said SIR, DON'T GO BACK THERE. DON'T YOU SEE THE SIGN? I said what sign? I walked to the side and said you mean that sign posted so low that it's now blocked by that SUV? Who's the genius that decided to install it there instead of higher up?


But ya, I can see the point of drivers adapting and being more cautious around intersections knowing the lights aren't going to be sticking out like a sore thumb. Kind of like how if you took away helmets in football, guys would be more cautious when tackling so as to not damage their own heads.

[TorontoDrew]

The yellow lights make more sense, they're are more visible even in a power outage. The black ones look much nicer. The majority of them are horizontal not vertical and you woukd have thought there should have been regulation follwed so the layout is the same across all states and provinces.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by TorontoDrew

The yellow lights make more sense, they're are more visible even in a power outage. The black ones look much nicer. The majority if them are horizontal not vertical and you woukd have thought there should have been regulation follwed so the layout is the same across all states and provinces.

Regulation? Across all provinces?

[Denscity]

We're all yellow vertical here.
Ive always thought the dark horizontal ones are cool. Some in Spokane Wash. and maybe Calgary?

[Rico Rommheim]

Originally Posted by isotack

Aggressive? You're joking right? Now traffic lights (thinks safety) are aggressive? WOW!

Originally Posted by isotack

Montreal wants to be Paris in the worst way. They pattern those stupid lights after those in Europe

So much bitterness. So much anger. Bleh.

[GreaterMontréal]

Too many yellow lights and you end up with visible pollution.

[Martin Mtl]

Originally Posted by isotack

Are you comparing Montreal's size to Toronto in your argument? Because you are going to lose. Other than that...one reason for less fatalities is due to no right on red on the island. Other than that, those lights along Sherbrooke are ...as I said, just stupid.

You could not have pick a worst exemple since Sherbrooke street is one those streets in Montreal where there are actually overhead yellow trafic lights all the way through downtown and beyond. Maybe you are just a bad driver.