Raise the Hammer

You'd think so. This took me about an hour using tools available to the public and I was paid zero dollars. Imagine what should be possible from within the city using ALL of their data by someone actually being paid to do it!

The replacement of the existing bridge deck on King Street over the Kenilworth Access was undertaken as the preferred course of action as there was no previous recommendation for the removal of the interchange or implementation of an intersection or requests for any change to the traffic patterns noted in any current Transportation Master plan approved by Council. The complete removal of the King Street overpass and reintroduction of an at grade intersection would have required the removal of several homes, extensive re-grading of King St. and would have required a full Environmental Assessment study to be undertaken. Given that this is a partial replacement of the structure ( Deck and Pier only), and given that it needed to be done in relatively short time frame due to condition and traffic requirements, it is the more financially feasible scenario. The reintroduction of an intersection type of change in design would also have had a major impacts with the other two over passes, located over Kenilworth just south of King Street for both Lawrence Road and the Canadian Pacific Railway crossings.

A review of the most recent traffic count information available for this area indicates that both Main and King streets carry a similar daily traffic volume of approximately 20,000 vehicles per day across Kenilworth Avenue. However there are approximately 14,000 vehicles per day recorded on Kenilworth at Main Street, compared with approximately 26,000 vehicles recorded on Kenilworth, just north of the traffic circle (Kimberly Drive). This reflect the large volume of turning movements from Kenilworth to King and Lawrence, facilitated by the free flow movement of the interchange configuration. It should also be noted that fewer traffic collisions occur at "separated grade crossings" such as King Street over the Kenilworth Access, compared to "at grade" signalized intersections such as Main Street & Kenilworth Avenue.

Given that we already had the higher level of safety and service provided by the King/Kenilworth Grade separation and that it is more economical and expedient to simply replace the deck, no other options were considered practical or affordable. We trust that this information is of assistance.

Gary Moore, P.Eng Director Engineering Services Public Works Department