Quote:
Originally Posted by Millstone
Would you like to see two-way traffic return to downtown? On what streets?
Would turning King two-way between Wellington and Bay be a good idea?
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My "master plan" would be based on the mixed one-way, two-way model the city has proposed, but with some changes. It's a little like Calgary's setup, with a wide one-way pair and a transit corridor down the middle. The short version:
- Main remains one-way eastbound, but only four lanes with off-peak parking, and traffic lights re-synched to slow the speed of the "green wave".
- King's one-way traffic gets shunted onto Cannon at Scott Park. King becomes a two-way street all the way through Westdale. The LRT line uses King from Wellington to McMaster (eastward routing TBD). This becomes
the people street in the core. It would also be a safer route for cyclists. The ramps to the 403 would be removed.
- York/ Wilson goes two-way from Hess to Sherman. It becomes a local street except around Copps, where it's more of a destination street.
- Cannon goes one-way westbound from the "shunt" at Scott Park to Sherman. Sherman to Queen stays basically the same. However, extend Cannon across the 403 and tie in to Paradise or Longwood. Highway 403 crossings are a vulnerable point in the lower city network, and it would be more so with the "downsizing" of King. Ramps to the 403 would have to be built to replace the King St ramps. While an expensive undertaking, it would be hundreds of millions of dollars cheaper than building the Perimeter Road.
There is some flexibility. Main and Cannon could also work as two-way streets in this plan. You could keep the Cannon extension, but allow access to/ from Hwy 403 for both streets. Through traffic would not have to cross the core north-south.
As for the Perimeter Road corridor, hang on to that for a future LRT line. There are people here that would love to see a Barton LRT line someday. While Barton is a little narrow, the Perimeter Road strip is only two short blocks away.
I like to be different. This way, I can draw fire from the one-way
and two-way advocates.