Comment 99811

By kevlahan (registered) | Posted April 04, 2014 at 11:04:31 in reply to Comment 99810

I knew the design speed is higher than the legal speed: having some margin is prudent. However, there is a huge difference between having a design speed of 10km/h over the limit (20%), and a design speed 40 or even 50km/h over the limit (up to 100%). I doubt many non-experts knew how large these margins are!

The shocking points are:

  1. The design speed can be up to twice the legal limit. There is no excuse for this.

  2. Even the expected average speeds are well over the legal limit, up to 60% higher for major arterials. This is irresponsible.

I wasn't intending on doing a detailed review of this report, I was pointing out some shocking, and little known, assumptions that guide our road design.

All the nice words in the world about pedestrians, cyclists, traffic calming, low speed local roads mean nothing compared with the basic design philosophy and the fact that minor- and major-arterials are clearly intended as sacrifice zones as far as pedestrians, cyclists and those living along these streets are concerned.

I'm not impugning all traffic engineers, there are some very good ones out there, and the culture seems to be changing. But I will not hold back when I come across this sort of dangerous and irresponsible "advice" on the behalf of consultant we've paid for.

Comment edited by kevlahan on 2014-04-04 11:12:15

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