There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?
Recent Articles
- The Year 2020 Has Been a Wakeup Callby Michael Nabert, published December 31, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- The COVID-19 Marshmallow Experimentby Ryan McGreal, published December 22, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- All I Want for Christmas, 2020by Kevin Somers, published December 21, 2020 in Entertainment and Sports
(1 comment)
- Hamilton Shelters Remarkably COVID-19 Free Thanks to Innovative Testing Programby Jason Allen, published December 21, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- Province Rams Through Glass Factory in Stratfordby Doreen Nicoll, published December 21, 2020 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- We Can Prevent Traffic Deaths if We Make Safety a Real Priorityby Ryan McGreal, published December 08, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(5 comments)
- These Aren't 'Accidents', These Are Resultsby Tom Flood, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(1 comment)
- Conservation Conundrumby Paul Weinberg, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Defund Police Protest Threatens Fragile Ruling Classby Cameron Kroetsch, published December 03, 2020 in Special Report: Anti-Racism
(2 comments)
- Measuring the Potential of Biogas to Reduce GHG Emissionsby John Loukidelis and Thomas Cassidy, published November 23, 2020 in Special Report: Climate Change
(0 comments)
- Ontario Squanders Early Pandemic Sacrificeby Ryan McGreal, published November 18, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- A Rundown of the Lunacy That Is Council's Vendetta Against Cameron Kroetschby Martin Zarate, published October 13, 2020 in Special Report: Council Conduct
(0 comments)
- Councillor Threatens Integrity Commisioner Complaint Against Charity, Private Individualby Ryan McGreal, published October 02, 2020 in Special Report: Council Conduct
(0 comments)
- City Already Published Unredacted Motion Central to IC Reportby Graham Crawford, published October 02, 2020 in Special Report: Council Conduct
(0 comments)
- Councillors, Listening to Angry People is Your Jobby David Harvey, published October 02, 2020 in Special Report: Council Conduct
(0 comments)
- Low Hospitalization Numbers Today Are No Cause for Complacencyby Ryan McGreal, published September 23, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(7 comments)
- Silence is Acceptance for Colleagues of Bullying Councillorsby Ryan McGreal, published September 14, 2020 in Special Report: Council Conduct
(1 comment)
- One Resident's View of Safe-Sizing Aberdeen Avenueby Graham Crawford, published September 09, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(0 comments)
- Erin O'Toole's Climate Policy is Insincere and Unseriousby John Loukidelis, published September 08, 2020 in Special Report: Climate Change
(1 comment)
- Predictions of Chaos and Doom for Herkimer, Charlton Bike Lanesby Ryan McGreal, published September 08, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(0 comments)
Article Archives
Blog Archives
Site Tools
Feeds
By j.servus (registered) | Posted October 20, 2014 at 19:41:59
Thanks for your remarks, which I appreciate. One-ways have their merits. They are not, by themselves, the problem. The problem arises from a constellation of factors, taken together. Let me give two examples.
There is a reasonable argument for one way streets when there is a very heavy traffic volume. Industry standard for urban thoroughfares is 8000 vehicles per lane, per day.
What is the argument for Wentworth being one way? Each day, it carries a paltry 1800 vehicles per lane, or 5400 vehicles for the entire three lane street. Who wants to stand up and say it is good use of our resources--of our space, of our money, of our snow clearing equipment, etc.--to maintain three lanes for less than one lane worth of traffic? That is silly. It is a waste of money. It is a waste of space.
But it is also a waste in other ways, because it has bad side effects. If Wentworth (and Victoria, and Wellington, etc.) was a two-way street, you would have much better communication between King and Main. Traffic could move back and forth, without cutting through neighborhoods. It is not only silly but positively stupid, dangerous, and destructive for the city to have traffic incentives for cutting through neighborhoods.
Speaking of dangerous, the speed limit of 50 km/h is way too high for neighborhood side streets. But I digress.
What about Main? Right now, East of downtown, it is carrying just over 4000 vehicles per lane, per day. On five lanes. That is a total waste of money. We are maintaining lanes we do not need for the volume of traffic we have. We are paving them. We are clearing them of snow. It is like building a five car garage for two cars and a motorcycle. And then discovering that you don't have any space left for a patio and can't buy a grill because you spent all your money on the garage and you can't afford to put a new roof on it. Who would do that? It's ridiculous.
For all those lanes, all that money, all that maintenance, all that snow clearance, we are getting nothing, zero, nada. Because the street would function just fine with three lanes. Keeping five lanes is just more money "wasted downtown."
In fact, we are getting less than zero. We are getting negative. We are destroying value. We could have wider sidewalks that people might like to walk on. I bet the shopkeepers on Main would dig that. We could have trees lining the street. Hey, it adds value in Ancaster. Maybe it would add value downtown, too! We could have a place to ride a bicycle. Right now there is nowhere for that. A lot of people ride on the sidewalk, but the sidewalk is single file already. It is easy to complain about people riding on the sidewalk. It would be much better to give them a little space. There is plenty of space. But right now, we are wasting it. In fact, we are destroying it.
The point is not one-ways. The point is the mix.
Permalink | Context