Raise the Hammer

Thank you -Hammer-! Appreciate you making the positive arguments. I don't think they are very compelling, though.

Keeping it intact and flowing, and not clogged like it is around Queenston is a way to get people going through the city, instead of around it via the Red Hill.

Why are you so eager to sacrifice downtown Hamilton to Southern Ontario through traffic? Wouldn't it be great if people actually used King and Main to access the downtown, not speed across it?

Second, it is the only effective east west thoroughfare through lower Hamilton.

I gather by "effective" you mean super fast. Why does there need to be a super fast east/west thoroughfare through lower Hamilton? If getting from Stoney Creek to Dundas or Ancaster is your goal, why not take the Linc or the 403? Isn't that what they're for?

Third, several of the most successful major urban areas this site so frequently espouses have similar configurations that have large, car centric through fares right through or near their downtown cores

As jason points out, most of those cities are struggling with how to constrain or dismantle their downtown thoroughfares, and they're a lot further along than we are.

four. Cycling and pedestrianization initiatives are more successful on streets which boast smaller amounts of car traffic, particularly on smaller three lane roads and not four/five lanes. Also traffic isn't going to be eliminated through two-way conversion.

Traffic adapts. It isn't a constant. You can definitely reduce traffic volume and speed on King and Main by narrowing them, converting to two-way, widening sidewalks, building a tree barrier, and adding bike lanes. Wouldn't that be great?

Five, congestion is a real economic problem that needs to be avoided. Toronto is crippled by it right now, and they have an incredibly efficient mass transit subway system.

The Toronto subway is woeful. It's an international laughingstock, really. The entire TTC is suffering from massive, chronic under-investment. But you're right, we need to avoid congestion in the core. The way to do that is to develop public transit, not accommodate cars. So hey, let's get moving with LRT. It's only years away if we decide we don't want it now. And why in heaven's name would we decide that?

Sixth, traffic conversion in Hamilton has not been as important initiative to recovery as increased density has been.

Two-way conversion encourages density. If you really want density, you should support two-way conversion.

Seven, public opinion needs to be heeded in a democracy. The majority of Hamiltonians want King/Main left alone.

Like traffic, public opinion adapts. It can be influenced by facts, arguments, and especially appeals to rational self-interest. It can take a long time to hit critical mass, but when it changes, it can happen really fast. You certainly don't get there by sticking to what's prudent and politically possible, or acquiescing to a ponderously slow bureaucracy. Why have you allowed your expectations to be reduced so dramatically?

Comment edited by AlHuizenga on 2013-06-04 08:28:58