There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?
Recent Articles
- Justice for Indigenous Peoples is Long Overdueby Ryan McGreal, published June 30, 2021 in Commentary
(0 comments)
- Third-Party Election Advertising Ban About Silencing Workersby Chantal Mancini, published June 29, 2021 in Politics
(0 comments)
- Did Doug Ford Test the 'Great Barrington Declaration' on Ontarians?by Ryan McGreal, published June 29, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- An Update on Raise the Hammerby Ryan McGreal, published June 28, 2021 in Site Notes
(0 comments)
- Nestlé Selling North American Water Bottling to an Private Equity Firmby Doreen Nicoll, published February 23, 2021 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- Jolley Old Sam Lawrenceby Sean Burak, published February 19, 2021 in Special Report: Cycling
(0 comments)
- Right-Wing Extremism is a Driving Force in Modern Conservatismby Ryan McGreal, published February 18, 2021 in Special Report: Extremism
(0 comments)
- Municipalities Need to Unite against Ford's Firehose of Land Use Changesby Michelle Silverton, published February 16, 2021 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Challenging Doug Ford's Pandemic Narrativeby Ryan McGreal, published January 25, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- The Year 2020 Has Been a Wakeup Callby Michael Nabert, published December 31, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- The COVID-19 Marshmallow Experimentby Ryan McGreal, published December 22, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- 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)
Article Archives
Blog Archives
Site Tools
Feeds
By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted December 09, 2010 at 10:42:44
@Kate
They could put in a push-button that gives a no-left-turn window for the pedestrians to cross, or converts the left arrow into a flashing yellow, or put up a warning for drivers, or something rather than simply shirking the problem with a dead crossing. Again, I've said it before: if the city wants to run expressways through the heart of town, it has a responsibility not to cheap out on it. If the one-way network has created an unsafe crossing, then the solution is not simply to remove the crossing but to secure it. If Locke or King were 2-way, that left-turn wouldn't be blind. Notice how the LRT will fix the problem, since it sounds like they're going to run it on the South side... this means that Lock St. drivers will have to pull into the intersection (and thus not be blind) before they can turn left.
We can always see the logic here... the frustrating fact though is that this city is filled with incredibly creative solutions for vehicular traffic, but when it comes to pedestrian traffic their solution is simply "don't cross here".
I can totally understand why there's no crossing at the West side of King and Dundurn. It makes perfect sense - you have drivers filtering onto the bridge from 3 directions all the time, including the painfully overcrowded Dundurn. Fine. I disagree with some of the logic, but I can see where they're coming from. But the city shouldn't throw up their hands and say "screw you, pedestrians". The city should be coming up with a solution, like adding a push-button signalized crossing at Bredalbane (taking pedestrians directly to the pedestrian-friendly part of the Fortinos plaza, rather than across the parking lot) or at the 403 Eastbound ramp (so you could protect pedestrians necessarily crossing the ramp where drivers are going at highway speeds and you have to play a game of "guess which lane the oncoming driver is going to be in"). Hell, we're talking about creative solutions to traffic and uncreative solutions to pedestrians: here's a creative one: 3 crosswalks, 1 red light. Make use of this 1-way mayhem in a positive way. Put a crosswalk across the King St. bridge at the Eastbound ramp, a crosswalk across the ramp itself, and a push-button at each end of those. Any of those buttons gives you a red over the Breadalbane crossing. Boom. Ainsliewood and Bredalbane pedestrians get access to the Cricket park on the overflow tank, Fortinos plaza, etc. with one red light.
To me, the problem with the crossings is self-perpetuating. The city doesn't bother with crossings because it's not worth the time to slow a hundred or a thousand drivers for one hypothetical occasional pedestrian... but at the same time, that means that pedestrians will avoid the crossing (or even the area) and so there will never be more than one occasional pedestrian rather than it being a normal pedestrian pathway.
If the city wants to create these high-speed corridors for drivers... well, that's their decision, and we obviously seem outvoted on stopping them. However, that means the city can't just tell pedestrians "go somewhere else".
Comment edited by Pxtl on 2010-12-09 09:53:53
Permalink | Context