Comment 77858

By Ryan (registered) - website
Posted June 02, 2012 at 09:39:28 in reply to Comment 77854

Your objections have already been addressed in other comments, but here goes:

I don't think it would, or could work. That's not to say it shouldn't, but I forsee problems.

You mean you don't think it would work for you.

Turning a stretch of Main St into 2 way with 1 lane going either way just isn't feasible. It would cause a lot of backups and congestion.

The evidence does not support your predictions:

Many cities, either not provided with dissuasive modelling forecasts, or disbelieving them [emphasis added], have introduced measures to reallocate road space away from cars.

In general, they reported that there has often (but not always) been a fairly short period of traffic disruption, but that 'gridlock' or 'traffic chaos' are rare, and never last longer than a few days, as traffic adjusts relatively quickly to new conditions. Sometimes there has not even been a short-term problem.

Two characteristic comments from local transport planners are: 'it'll be all right by Friday', and the ubiquitous 'the traffic has disappeared and we simply don't know where it has gone to'.

That's what is actually observed to happen when cities reduce lane capacity. It's what actually happened in Hamilton on James North, John North, James South and John South when they were converted to two-way - despite the widespread predictions of doom.

There's no turning lanes.

It's easy to put in turning lanes at intersections. Between them, there's no reason that space can't be used for curbside parking.

There's plenty of businesses along this stretch, but nothing I would ever shop at.

It's not all about you. Nevertheless, as the street becomes more livable, the mix of businesses would expand and change, making them appealing to a wider variety of people.

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Common sense is that which tells us the world is flat.
-- Stuart Chase

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