Raise the Hammer

Aaron, thanks so much for this. Especially for the historical context, something that's often lost in the shuffle in just about any discussion about anything. And your retailer's perspective is invaluable. Well done.

Great article! As a non-resident of Hamilton, I do find all the one way streets very confusing and discouraging when in fact I'm looking for a specific destination downtown.

Aaron - Thanks. Best piece yet on two-way conversion. I mean it. Your perspective, insights, and common sense combine to articulate a powerful and compelling message. For me, this will become the foundation for the push to make change happen now, not in 15 years. Councillors, pay attention. This is not going to go away.

'Councillors, pay attention.' ... he's in ward 3 don't hold your breath Graham...

I echo Graham's sentiment 100%. Well done Aaron, and thanks for adding your voice to the discussion. We need as many voices as possible.

Aaron,

Great article - and its great to hear it from the perspective of a business owner (a successful one might i add). I need to get myself into that store of yours by the way... just hope i don't blink while i'm driving, i might miss it!

Aaron, thanks for this ... next time i have a need to look proper i'll be shopping at your store. I'm wondering if you happen to have pictures of your block before these changes took place. It sounds like it was a thriving neighborhood.

I agree with everything you're saying, but how can we take this further and make it happen. The councillors need to know the facts that you just wrote about in this piece.

the councillors already have the facts... they've been presented to them many many times. the problem is they don't see it as a priority

"the councillors already have the facts... they've been presented to them many many times. the problem is they don't see it as a priority"

Right. And without any influence on their trajectory, isn't it safe to say they'll continue this behaviour?

Especially given the fact that it's good-money-bet that all incumbents will be returned to office next election, no matter how badly they don't see certain things as priorities?

Especially when there's nothing in place for constituents to base performance on? Not even amongst the more informed and energized of residents?

I don't believe this 'intractability' is the result of the wrong people being chosen (over and over and over again). I believe it's the result of them not being given clear enough direction often enough, that there's no consistently expressed 'voice of the people'.

So we have a situation where people aren't used to providing input (guidance, demands, whatever), and councillors aren't used to responding to any . (Head over to The Hamiltonian and witness how many on Council have not responded to their 'Perspectives Virtual Panel' on Hamilton being 'the best place to raise a child'. (Here's a spoiler: 3/16.)

And no, comments here and elsewhere aren't enough. I'm talking about a much louder voice.

A little OT, but when visiting Newmans', it would be worth your while to have a meal at Giuseppe's across the street.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/242/1602426/...

These guys moved from Mississauga a year or two ago, and chose that location in Hamilton. Food is great, as is the service.

I've flown by and seen that place a few times...wondered if it was any good. So much potential in that area...once the freeway is gone.

Great article, Aaron. Your store is a much-needed bright spot on a stretch of street that has far too few. I wrote about the problems along King Street East in King Street East: Hamilton's Shabby, Neglected Gateway To Downtown and your shop really stood out as an exception to the general rule of derelict and abandoned storefronts.

It's a disgrace what has happened to what should be one of Hamilton's best streets. King Street East is a clear example of how one-way streets have worked to destroy our economic and social fabric.

Aaron, thanks for sharing your unique perspective, as a business owner along King E and a flower among the weeds. I think we need a grassroots campaign in Hamilton - call it 'Convert Hamilton's One-Way Streets' and get it in peoples faces, like the print and videos done to try and save the Board of Education building. Some bold and LARGE graphic design along King E that drivers can read going 60 kph.

Have no fear, work is well under way!

We would definitely appreciate more suggestions for catchy slogans. "Convert Hamilton's One-Way Streets", while direct, is not particularly memorable. I really mean no offense by that and I am honestly encouraging more ideas - please let them fly!

I came up with a couple ("Two-Ways, Not Highways" and "Two-Ways: Better For People, Better For Business") but I am just as unhappy with those. Graham Crawford's "Heading in the Right Directions" is a bit more memorable, but needs to be a bit more obviously about the one-way/two-way issue.

I'd suggest "Going One Way Is the Wrong Way" with a website listed for folks to find out why, or "Ever Wondered What the Other Side of the Building Looks Like? Think of What You're Missing Going One Way.

One-way is a way to keep pedestrians away... no two ways about it.

Comment edited by ScreamingViking on 2012-05-17 23:23:19

Paul V wrote," we need a grassroots campaign in Hamilton...and get it in peoples faces, like the print and videos done to try and save the Board of Education building. Some bold and LARGE graphic design along King E that drivers can read going 60 kph."

http://www.raisethehammer.org/blog/2443/heading_in_the_right_directions

Bravo, Aaron. Well said.

I started shopping at Bill Newman's when I got out of school in the early 90s and have been an on-and-off customer ever since.

Much of the reason I'm "off" more than "on" is because Newman's is hard to get to from the West end, just as Aaron says. I never remember which street to turn down off Main West and sometimes end up looping the block - it's a pain. And that's in my truck. On my bike, that sort of nonsense feels at least twice as off putting.

It's astonishing, but getting to an established shop with a corner location on the city's main commercial street is an effort. Not a huge effort, but just enough that I don't go most of the times I think about it. And if I just happen to be passing Newman's when I'm heading East? Well, I've usually whizzed past before I can think about stopping.

I have to know where I'm going and why before I'll shop on either King or Main near downtown - I don't just drop in my favourite shops on those streets (Newman's, Tundra Leather, Denninger's) for no good reason the way I do on James St. North or Locke. Or Westdale. Or Dundas.

This needs to be reprinted for a wider audience - the Spec, cbc.ca/hamilton, Urbanicity (if that has an audience yet, that is).

Comment edited by moylek on 2012-05-17 11:35:00

From the Spec August 8, 2008:

"Councillor Terry Whitehead, who opposed the next stage of two-way conversions, said: "For the constituents I represent, two-way streets are a complete waste of money."

So there you have it. This is what all those who support conversion are up against. Good old fashioned ward heeling politics. The conversion of Wilson Street in Ancaster to one-way would have sure solved the traffic flow problems for a lot of people in Ancaster but, as it should have been, was a non-starter.

Why do those who live in Wards 1 - 3 have to live under a completely different set of rules than everyone else. What is good for one ward is good for the entire city.

One way streets on their face aren't always a bad thing. Sometimes, in the right circumstace, they make perfect sense. But a 5 lane one-way urban freeway with narrow sidewalks only benefits those who are looking to drive right through downtown; no one else.

C'mon, the QEW with it's new HOV lanes isn't 5 lanes wide. Anyone who opposes one-way conversion is only doing so for their own selfish reasons. They would never accept one-way streets where they live. One should expect congestion and delays when moving through the core of a top 10 Canadian urban metropolis. That is what is NORMAL.

Very nice Aaron,

I live in word 3 and i totaly arre on everrything you said .. it whould be nice if you can send this to city hall .

I agree it was an awesome commentary Aaron. I forwarded it to every councillor with the hope that they'll read it and consider acting on it.

I was looking at a 2008 report on operational improvements to James and John (PW08141, if you're curious) and it contains a map of proposed two-way conversions under 2001's Downtown Transportation Master Plan. King is earmarked; Main and Cannon are not.

The conversion of James and John North, the first of the downtown two-way conversions, was completed in October 2002. The southern conversions of those streets was completed in November 2005.

The report notes: "Under the requirements for an Environmental Assessment, projects not completed within a five-year time frame must be revisited." I imagine that this is part of the reason why the conversion of York/Wilson was delayed.

While we're talking delays, since this is a perennial itch of critics, PW08141 notes: "The magnitude of the extra delay in rush hour for the major directions is in the range of one minute and twenty seconds to three minutes and fifty seconds. On a percentage basis, the additional delay is an increase from 32% to 90%. These delays are longer thab predicted by the original DMTP report, for which there may be two reasons. First, there was an expectation that the slower speed and added congestion of the two-way conversion would cause a diversion of traffic away from the downtown streets, but the data above (sic) shows that diversion has not occurred. Second, while the consultant used a sophisticated, micro-level model, it is still not possible to capture all of the effects, such as illegal parking, or vehicle breakdowns, which cause congestion. When a street system such as James/John is operating close to, or over, its maximum ability to carry traffic, it becomes very sensitive to minor effects such as this. It can be seen that the'new' directions of travel created (northbound James, southbound John) are typically between 30 seconds and one minute slower to travel than the parallel streetwith the original movement in the same direction."

Three minutes and 50 seconds? For this we are killing our core?

Percentage-based increase figures mean little when the original delay is near zero. A million percent of zero is still zero....

The 3:50 is the maximum north-south delay, and it's measured post-conversion, so I wouldn't really apply it to potential delays on other routes of any direction (all streets are unique and the system's dynamic should also be taken into account). Even so, it's a bit tweaked. I'd have to guess that the cumulative delay on a street the length of Main or King might seem larger still but then again it might not. In any case, it's amazing that people get so worked up over delays. (Even pointing to a Solomon-era study got me down-voted.)

Thankqs H+H and I agree whole heartedly.