Quote:
Originally Posted by PHX31
The fire angle makes zero sense if true. If there's a fire they'd just close the street and fight the fire. You're right about the increase in traffic.
To the person that asked... there's nothing about a building's height that would trigger the need for a new lane, however, a development's anticipated additional traffic might. More residents/buildings will generate more traffic and improvements may be needed to the existing roadway network to accommodate the additional traffic (no, we're not starting a discussion on cars vs peds vs transit users, etc.). The City has a consultant doing a comprehensive downtown traffic study due to all of the development. They're determining what improvements will be needed to the street network to handle the influx of development. I don't know the details, but I'd imagine this study, or one specific to Astra, has determined an additional lane is needed. There are also going to be additional traffic signals needed at a couple intersections (not sure which ones) in the area.
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I can't speak to this particular structure, but Diablo is right about fighting fires from alleys. In general, it only adds unessessary risk.
As far as just shutting down a street, that happens with every structure fire where any traffic flow impedes firefighting. PD traffic control is the one of the first things addressed in an initial follow-up onscene report.
But that's not really the issue with tight roads in mid-to-high rise firefighting. The collapse zone is one of the overriding concerns. The tighter the access, the more it forces your hand in apparatus placement, rather than you dictating the tactics
That said, I'm not sure if Fire Prevention is involved in this particular situation at this property.