101/102 Interchange Remake

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Tbh, I must admit that connecting 33 to 101 and keeping 1 separate from the freeways are a good look and that I never think it possible. Lol, mine’s gonna pale in comparison and may mean that the rifle range has to go (unless Bridge Street is extended under the 102 to link it).

That said, I’ll still share mine. I just need to be humble about it lol.

That rifle range is very important to leave it there. So, if you think it needs to go, you'd better have a suitable idea for it. BTW, there is an additional 3km beyond it that i also part of it. Wouldn't want a stray bullet hitting a house.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

Yep pedestrian and cyclist access along Trunk 1 has been my top concern in this area.

I agree. reconnecting Route 1 Bedford directly with Route 1 Sackville is a great idea. It's a bit of a dog's breakfast to get there now, and I certainly wouldn't want to walk or cycle it, you would be taking your life in your hands.

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

I’m even thinking that Bedford Bypass can be demolished since Burnside Connector more or less replaces it.

I disagree with this for the following reasons:

1) There needs to be a more direct route between Windmill Road and Sackville, without having to snarl through Burnside traffic to get there.

2) Bedford Bypass is currently a traffic bottleneck. Adding the 107 extension practically doubles the capacity between valley/Sackville and Burnside/Dartmouth/MacKay bridge, which should alleviate the bottleneck/rush hour backups. Eliminating the Bedford Bypass would just exchange one bottleneck for another while increasing the traffic through Bedford/route 1.

IMHO.

[Dengler Avenue]

Good point about the bottleneck issue. Anyway, this is like N.S.‘s version of Turcot Interchange.
As a reminder, 4 drawings are in on page 1. (EasternFreeway has produced 2.) I imagine that this mimics the first part of a P3 process.

[Franco401]

swimmer_spe, as I mentioned in a previous comment, there is not enough room for a safe stacked interchange there. The aforementioned 400/407 junction in Vaughn, ON has about twice as much land to work with as exists here. The ramps in your concept would certainly be a bit more functional than mine, but they'd require a dangerous amount of slowing down (400-407 already goes down to 70km/h, and the point of flyover ramps is to keep things moving quickly). I think having 80km/h collector lanes (pretty much exactly like on the 118) accomplishes the same thing.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Franco401

That official map of the 107 extension is exactly what's happening right now. The main considerations for my idea were:

1. No new land acquisition. All of this ROW should already be there, as plans are already in place to bump the 102 up to 6 lanes.

2. The cloverleafs coming off 102 have got to go. This isn't like other cloverleaf interchanges that can stay safe another 50 years. These ones are tiny, as opposed to the 2/15 in Moncton which was enlarged when Route 2 was twinned. The concepts here which show large stacked interchanges would require vehicles to slow down more than they already do. The scale of a stacked interchange is considerably larger than what can be done without buying up countless properties here.

3. The 107 connector is already including a collector lane, all we need is to add one on the other side and extend them.

4. The Bedford bypass is useless unless there's direct access to and from the 102.

5. Cost. My idea involves minimal landscaping (a huge expense in an area where rock blasting is necessary) and only four overpasses (two of which are existing overpasses that need to be replaced anyway) and one large flyover that as I mentioned is optional.

6. A continuous Trunk 1 between Sackville and Bedford, with actually sidewalks giving access to the handful of properties and park along what will now be a straight road, allowing pedestrians and cyclists to pass between two commercial areas without risking life and limb or using the circuitous greenway.

As somebody who regularly drives these routes, this proposal seems like the most functional/practical one to me.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

As somebody who regularly drives these routes, this proposal seems like the most functional/practical one to me.

The only thing that bugs me is that Franco401 leaves the flyover from 102N to 101W optional though. I get the cost part, but I think it’s essential.

[Citizen_Bane]

The rifle range could be an excellent spot to site a parkade/LRT station... a collection point for commuters/traffic off of the 101, 102, 103 (via the soon to be built connector to the 101), and the 107. A parkade with an exit ramp right onto a 100 series highway could/would be innovative.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Franco401

swimmer_spe, as I mentioned in a previous comment, there is not enough room for a safe stacked interchange there. The aforementioned 400/407 junction in Vaughn, ON has about twice as much land to work with as exists here. The ramps in your concept would certainly be a bit more functional than mine, but they'd require a dangerous amount of slowing down (400-407 already goes down to 70km/h, and the point of flyover ramps is to keep things moving quickly). I think having 80km/h collector lanes (pretty much exactly like on the 118) accomplishes the same thing.

Well, the fact that exiting to the 101 can cause traffic to back up due to this mess means that the slow down, if it were it's own lane for a km or so should prevent the issue. Besides, NS loves people to yield, not merge on to their highways.

Originally Posted by Citizen_Bane

The rifle range could be an excellent spot to site a parkade/LRT station... a collection point for commuters/traffic off of the 101, 102, 103 (via the soon to be built connector to the 101), and the 107. A parkade with an exit ramp right onto a 100 series highway could/would be innovative.

Where do you move it? Although it may not seem it, its over 3kkm long.

[Franco401]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

The only thing that bugs me is that Franco401 leaves the flyover from 102N to 101W optional though. I get the cost part, but I think it’s essential.

If it's essential it's essential. I wanted to keep the cost down, but I personally have never had to go from 102 NB to 101 WB.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Franco401

If it's essential it's essential. I wanted to keep the cost down, but I personally have never had to go from 102 NB to 101 WB.

Commuters tend to need to do just that.

[Franco401]

Originally Posted by Citizen_Bane

The rifle range could be an excellent spot to site a parkade/LRT station... a collection point for commuters/traffic off of the 101, 102, 103 (via the soon to be built connector to the 101), and the 107. A parkade with an exit ramp right onto a 100 series highway could/would be innovative.

The rifle range is best left where it is. The current access to it off the ramp is dangerous, but no matter how you build it a direct access for actual commuters will greatly complicate the area. I think a better solution for LRT in Bedford and Sackville (and this is a whole other discussion and something I may try to draw up) is a station for Bedford on the existing CN line behind Sunnyside Mall and for the line to depart from CN somewhere east of the Bypass with a station for Bedford perhaps at the vacant piece of land on Glendale Ave behind the Cobequid Rd Irving station.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Franco401

If it's essential it's essential. I wanted to keep the cost down, but I personally have never had to go from 102 NB to 101 WB.

I agree with the others that it should be included. That tricky little on/off ramp leading to the decreasing radius half cloverleaf is currently the best way to go from Halifax to the valley area and is frequently very busy. Not including it would probably cause unintended consequences of a backup elsewhere when people figure out that the best route from 102N would be to go to the 1 and then onto the 101W.

IMHO.

[Citizen_Bane]

Originally Posted by Franco401

The rifle range is best left where it is. The current access to it off the ramp is dangerous, but no matter how you build it a direct access for actual commuters will greatly complicate the area. I think a better solution for LRT in Bedford and Sackville (and this is a whole other discussion and something I may try to draw up) is a station for Bedford on the existing CN line behind Sunnyside Mall and for the line to depart from CN somewhere east of the Bypass with a station for Bedford perhaps at the vacant piece of land on Glendale Ave behind the Cobequid Rd Irving station.

I note that there is a vacant 57 hectare site that appears to border an existing rail corridor in the area. The site is beside the Bedford Bypass and south of the #2. There appears to be nothing immediately this side of the bypass. There seems to be direct access to the rail corridor next to Lily Lake. This area is not congested as you rightly pointed out as an issue for the rifle range site. This site is still close enough to the 100 series highways as to allow speedy and unencumbered access for commuter vehicle traffic to a LRT station/parkade. Also, the existing Bedford Bypass ROW could serve as a corridor for rail down to Windmill and on to the MacKay.

[Dengler Avenue]

After spending 3 hours on this, I’m finally done! Picture’s coming soon.

Disclaimer: I didn't draw this to scale, so you guys would need to deduce some locations for yourselves. Oh boy drawing those 3-lane roundabouts was painful.

[swimmer_spe]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

After spending 3 hours on this, I’m finally done! Picture’s coming soon.

Disclaimer: I didn't draw this to scale, so you guys would need to deduce some locations for yourselves. Oh boy drawing those 3-lane roundabouts was painful.

... when did you get hired with the NSDOT?

I thought we were trying to make it better.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by swimmer_spe

... when did you get hired with the NSDOT?

I thought we were trying to make it better.

I improved the connection between 102 and 101 and sacrificed Bedford Bypass. Plus this was my initial idea.

When I saw Franco401’s, I was like, “The man had the right idea.”

Edit: Whoops I forgot that I was supposed to "force" people coming from Sackville onto Burnside Connector. Okay that loop from 101 E to 102 N may be too tight, and I actually need a proper lane there. I was trying to model it after this interchange: https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.26251...7i16384!8i8192.

[Keith P.]

Way too many roundabouts. Traffic will come to a standstill as NS drivers are terrified of them.

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Way too many roundabouts. Traffic will come to a standstill as NS drivers are terrified of them.

I've always thought that Nova Scotians are good at navigating them. Yea, if I ever get to it, I will do a new one based on Franco401's. The Ontarian in me simply wants to correct that left-hand exit.
By the way, the first 4 drawings are on the first page.

Ps: If you guys ever notice, I've technically drawn the ramp from 107W to 102S wrong, lol, but I just imagine that an express-collector system means no median.

[mleblanc]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

I've always thought that Nova Scotians are good at navigating them. Yea, if I ever get to it, I will do a new one based on Franco401's. The Ontarian in me simply wants to correct that left-hand exit.
By the way, the first 4 drawings are on the first page.

Ps: If you guys ever notice, I've technically drawn the ramp from 107W to 102S wrong, lol, but I just imagine that an express-collector system means no median.

I like to think we're half decent at them. I mean I travel through multiple a day and rarely see anyone who doesn't know what they're doing. Some people like to exaggerate though

[Antigonish]

Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue

After spending 3 hours on this, I’m finally done! Picture’s coming soon.

Disclaimer: I didn't draw this to scale, so you guys would need to deduce some locations for yourselves. Oh boy drawing those 3-lane roundabouts was painful.

>You missed the scale bar
>You missed a north arrow

In the trash it goes!

But in all seriousness that looks incredible! Do you think this area should include DDIs? I'm not fond of roundabouts in high traffic volume connectors with higher speeds. Although I'll admit this entire area is a complete shitshow