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Originally Posted by MonctonRad
Regardless of whether there is a classist struggle between peninsular and non-peninsular Haligonians, the stifling of vehicular access to the peninsula will still ultimately strangulate continuing growth of the downtown commercial and business core. It is inevitable. The proliferation of bicycling lanes at the expense of vehicle lanes (and on street parking) is part of this.
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Do you have any examples of this doom & gloom prediction actually occurring? This conclusion seems to jump over a lot of information.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MonctonRad
Most streets on the peninsula have sidewalks on both sides. Is this truly necessary? Maybe we should have a pedestrian sidewalk on one side and a bike lane on the other. There are several streets in Moncton like this.
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I hate to say this, but Moncton can’t really serve as an example for Halifax, the same way Halifax can’t be an example for Vancouver. Even your average Ontario suburb built in the last couple decades has a sidewalk on each side of the street. Those streets you mentioned with a sidewalk on one side and bike lane on the other are in the far suburbs of Moncton, and are perhaps acceptable in such a place but completely unacceptable in a semi-urban neighbourhood.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MonctonRad
Regardless, the physical geography of Halifax (a narrow necked peninsula) will always serve as an impediment to vehicular access. I strongly concur with other opinions in the thread that it is high time for commuter rail in Halifax. There is nothing that would do more to decompress the situation than by having a well designed and planned commuter rail network in the HRM. Even a single line using the rail cut and extending along Bedford Basin would have a huge impact. I have less faith in an expanded ferry service in that I think there would be significant limitations in the volume of passengers than can be moved, but a thoughtful stepwise expansion of this service might still be beneficial. I also cast a jaundiced eye towards BRT as the city's road network really isn't designed for such a service.
In any event, I think the breaking point has been reached. Something needs to be done to keep the peninsula and the outer reaches of HRM interconnected. My vote is on commuter rail (supplemented by LRT/streetcars on the peninsula).
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I would have liked a commuter rail too, but past proposals haven’t been able to go anywhere, largely because of freight priority. The ferry is supposed to be more feasible because it doesn’t have the same problems in securing space for a line. Even if it was the compromise, it’s not necessarily a worse option.
For example, if you want to go from the Hong Kong airport to Guangzhou, roughly the equivalent of Halifax to Sheet Harbour, here are the options:
1: High speed rail (60 minutes)
2: Fast ferry (100 minutes)
3: Train (120 minutes)
4: Bus (3-5 hours)
The ferries aren’t our slow cruising boats, catamarans are standard there in different sizes. You could run several small ones for more frequency, but they can get fairly large if you’re in places with high demand.
An LRT or streetcar service on the peninsula is also going to receive the same scrutiny any BRT or bike lane does for the same reasons, so I don’t understand the exception there.