Hamilton Set to Open its First Multi-lane Roundabout

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by adam

Its a well accepted fact that overall supply of oil will decrease every year for the remainder of our lifetimes and well beyond. If we get out of this economic slump, gass prices will have to shoot up unbelievably, then what?

we repeat the cycle over and over.

[HackD]

Originally Posted by adam

Its a well accepted fact that overall supply of oil will decrease every year for the remainder of our lifetimes and well beyond. If we get out of this economic slump, gass prices will have to shoot up unbelievably, then what?

Then the economy will tank yet again, in a state of chronic stagflation, until we have a solution in place for our energy short-falls. Somethings gotta give.

We've seen that the good times are now past.. you either have to be pretty dense or in denial to not know that King Oil is a finite resource. Yet now that price of gas has 'dropped' temporarily, a lot of people consider that the peak pricing we just experienced is just another artificially induced Oil Crisis '73-74, and continue to drive their single occupant monster SUV's without a care...

And yet, our society is built around the car. No easy solutions in sight unless they close a lane or two on the QEW both ways for a radical high density LRT remake using the existing automotive commuter routes..

[Hammer Town]

The way some people go one about gas i think I might be taking my horse and buggy about the roundabouts. As much as that is sarcasm maybe it iwll happen. Although i am sure they will find some other way to run auto mobiles. Im pretty sure 100 years ago nobody thought they would even see the Horse and buggy no longer needed.

Seriously there are some pretty intelligent people out there who will come up with something. anyway you talking about this round about like they built a new road or something. Man maybe they should just shut down wilson st since apparently we are running out of gas in 11 years.

Also if we do run out of fuel in 11 years atlest for the next 11 years there will be a reduction in accidents! I guess its worth it.

We'll find out in 11 years or so.

[adam]

The electric car has been around since the 1900's. In the 1990's electric cars were produced by GM and available for lease only. They easily went 80+km/h and were available in California. When people wanted to purchase them at the end of the lease, they were refused. GM took all the leases back and demolished them. Do some internet research and find out more.

The solution has been around for a long time. It just hasn't been in the interest of people who are in charge.

[raisethehammer]

A good movie to watch too:

'Who Killed the Electric Car'.

[markbarbera]

I see the Binbrook Road/ RR56 improvement study identifies three new roundabouts as part of the intersection improvements in this study area. IMO the adoption of roundabouts as opposed to traffic lights is a step in the right direction for suburban development improvements. It's also refreshing to see bike lanes as part of the improvement mix.

The study can be viewed at this URL:
www.hamilton.ca/binbrook-RR56-EA

[realcity]

bottom line
Roundabout cost less then a stop light controlled intersection.

A second bonus to the city is that cars don't have to stop. Sometimes I believe there is an electric shock attached to brake pedals when pressed.

RE: Quebec Right on Red
I agree people don't obey the rule that one can make a right turn through an intersection, ONLY if the vehicle comes to a COMPLETE stop and it is clear to proceed. We know this never happens, Drivers are only looking left to see if they can slot into the traffic, and then look to the right for a pedestrian, but by then the car is moving forward with the belief that it's clear to go.

So banning Right on Red won't do anything because people will still turn right on red even if it it's illegal? I disagree, it's much easier to enforce. Just try to do it in Quebec, you might make once, twice but almost certainly the third turn you will hear a cop siren. It's enforced and so nobody does it, except Otario drivers.

The other thing worth noting. Quebec traffic lights have no lag between red lights. That is, as soon as the light turns red, the other direction light turn green. You would think that this would cause a lot of accidents. But drivers know this and never run red lights. Watch an intersection in Hamilton when the light turns red at least two/three vehicles will speed through because they know there is a lag time before the other light turns green.

My opinion. Get rid of Right on Red and remove the lag time between red lights.

[adam]

Keep the roundabout out of the downtown. People like to walk to destinations (i know it sounds wierd and unnatural! )

[SteelTown]

The City is suppose to build a roundabout at Stone Church and Omni next year.

There's a bunch of proposed roundabouts for Corktown and the North End.

[Hammer Town]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

The City is suppose to build a roundabout at Stone Church and Omni next year.

There's a bunch of proposed roundabouts for Corktown and the North End.

I ha'ven't herd of the ones in the lower city this might be difficult to do since they do take up a bit more space then a controlled intersection. Maybe plan to get some of the surround land for this. It would be interesing to see how this would work.

[SteelTown]

Here's the Corktown traffic plan, you can see two proposed roundabouts - Ferguson/Charlton and Walnut/Charlton. Not sure if Council has approved this traffic plan yet.

http://www.myhamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyre..._FinalPlan.pdf

[SteelTown]

For North End a proposed roundabout is for James and Strachan St. This I believe Council did approve.

[raisethehammer]

Walnut/Charlton and James Strachan I wouldn't mind having a roundabout since currently there is no stop sign or anything.
They'd be smaller roundabouts meant to have people do 25-30km or so, not these 70km ones in Hamcaster.

[markbarbera]

The Wilson Street roundabouts' speed limits are posted as 30km/h at the approach to the roundabouts' entry points. Wilson Street itself for the most part has a posted speed limit of 50 km/h.

[Millstone]

I really wish Hamilton would improve its standards for road building. An example of a crappy road is Rymal in big-boxville with its bumpy, jarring ride, non-reflective lines (where they even exist), lines that are messy and not even straight, dirt shoulders out of f*cking nowhere. Compare it to when it turns into (former) Hwy 20 and leads past the RM Niagara limits, the road instantly gets better. Another is Upper Wellington south of the Linc. Yeah let's put new subdivisions on a rollercoaster.

[adam]

those roads are suited to the area and built in the style of the development: disposable and cheap.

[markbarbera]

Rymal Road and Upper Wellington south of the Linc are on the short-term road improvement list. And they certainly do need the work.

Adam, new developments are certainly not my personal preference, but lets not paint with wide brushstrokes here. There are some quality neighbourhoods to be found in the south mountain. Besides, given recent and current projects in the city core, disposable and cheap are now the city-wide standard for deelopments. The mountain is just as cheap and disposable as the lower city.

[go_leafs_go02]

Originally Posted by Millstone

I really wish Hamilton would improve its standards for road building. An example of a crappy road is Rymal in big-boxville with its bumpy, jarring ride, non-reflective lines (where they even exist), lines that are messy and not even straight, dirt shoulders out of f*cking nowhere. Compare it to when it turns into (former) Hwy 20 and leads past the RM Niagara limits, the road instantly gets better. Another is Upper Wellington south of the Linc. Yeah let's put new subdivisions on a rollercoaster.

The cheapness is city wide. I notice instantly when i cross over into Ancaster from Hamilton that you could tell things were built better. Wider roads, actual curb and gutters. Space for snow to be stored in the winter (meaning a gap between the sidewalk and the road)

Rymal used to be a provincial highway, you can tell that it used to be a great road..in a RURAL setting. Now it's been slapped together in spots to make it a urban road..with crappy shoulders, inconsistent paving patches to make a quick-fix, when a proper full rehabilitation should be been done.

[adam]

Originally Posted by markbarbera

Rymal Road and Upper Wellington south of the Linc are on the short-term road improvement list. And they certainly do need the work.

Adam, new developments are certainly not my personal preference, but lets not paint with wide brushstrokes here. There are some quality neighbourhoods to be found in the south mountain. Besides, given recent and current projects in the city core, disposable and cheap are now the city-wide standard for deelopments. The mountain is just as cheap and disposable as the lower city.

Believe it or not Mark, the houses in the new subdivisions are built with the same poor quality as the roads. It wouldn't make sense to build roads that will last longer than the houses.

The lower city on the other hand is seeing quality upgrades to match the quality of the buildings (many have been standing for 100 years or more). Look at Ferguson, the plan for York Blvd., etc. Even the concrete coating on city hall, while I think it tinkers with the heritage value of the building, is going to last a long time.

[raisethehammer]

Rymal road was always a country road. The city refused to curb sprawl and focus on rebuilding the city's infrastructure, so now you have both poor urban and suburban/rural infrastructure since the costs of sprawl make it impossible to keep up.
The city allowed development in an area where it never should have been allowed - some of the best farmland in Canada. Rymal is simply still the country road it was supposed to be.