From: Kim the traffic reporter
Open house Active Transportation Fleet/Warsaw, 525 Wardlaw Crescent Fort Rouge United Church from 6-8pm.
Arriving at approximately 5:55pm, departing at 8:10pm. Noted that the billboard had no mention of the open house, seems if it's not an electronic board nothing gets mentioned.
There was not a large attendance with 37 signing in to the event.
There was however, a good mix of ages. It is also noted that some of the same people show up for these open houses. Dr. Gerrard made an appearance, however did not see Councillor Orlikow at the open house and neither did any of the consultants.
FLEET: Note there is an existing bikeway from Lindsay to Corydon, Fleet will be used to connect them.
Lindsay to Oxford at this time no loss of parking, there will be curb extensions with a raised crosswalk at Brock, where a crossing currently exists. (The raised crosswalk is virtually the same as a raised intersection which is basically a large speed bump).
Cambridge to Thurso, no changes likely signage will be placed.
At this point Fleet zig zags up to Warsaw.
WARSAW: will see no loss of parking and will remain open (previous plans had closed Warsaw from Thurso to Pembina).
Thurso to Nassau there will be traffic circles with yield signs, some stop signs will be removed. There will be a raised intersection at Lilac, the four way stop will be kept for the school.
The biggest change to Warsaw will be the closure of East bound Warsaw at Nassau to Pembina, however this is being done for the BRT and has nothing to do with any bikelanes.
GROSVENOR:
Lockwood to Cambridge, traffic circles will be in place at Lanark, Borebank, Brock, Waterloo and Waverly.
Centennial to Cambridge, there will be no parking and a bike lane in each direction.
Cambridge to Stafford, there will be curb extensions, bike boxes. Parking will be on the North side with bike lanes in each direction.
Notes: One resident who did not wish to be named indicated that at Grosvenor and Waverly it is to busy for a traffic circle. Another resident who also did not wish to be named indicated that for the most part Grosvenor is not a busy street and three traffic circles were not needed. This resident also pointed out that Grosvenor is heavily used by the Fire Department who will now have to cut across the traffic circles to make the turns, slowing them down.
Another resident Monica thinks that "by and large it's not a bad idea" but doesn't know if it will be a hinderance or a help. Though she does like the bike path near her home.
HARROW:
Wellington to Dromore there will be a bike lane in each direction as well as through lanes in each direction. One parking lane on the West side.
Dromore to Taylor
There will be a bike lane in each direction as well as through lanes. There will be no parking in this area with exception.
Exception: There will be parking available on the west side of Harrow from Corydon to Mulvey (where a school is located)
Ebby to Taylor the East side and Ebby to Jackson on the West side both because of schools at those locations.
Note: Monica is very pleased to see a sidewalk is planned on Harrow the west side from Corydon to the backlane past Warsaw where there currently isn't one it will lead to a local park.
NASSAU:
(Done in two sections North and South as it's a little confusing)
Nassau NORTHBOUND:
From Pembina to Roslyn Rd.
Note: all bikes will be allowed contraflow travel (that is north/south regardless of one way)
Travelling Northbound on Nassau from Pembina vehicles will have the option of turning left (West) at Warsaw or proceeding to Jessie. The Eastbound (right turn) onto Warsaw may be closed down due to the BRT where a possible terminal may be built.
At Jessie vehicles MUST turn left (west) heading towards Hugo.
Therefore on Nassua from Pembina Highway, there will be NO through traffic to Corydon.
At Corydon Northbound traffic will be able to proceed to straight through to Roslyn Rd. Curb extensions from McMillian to Gertrude will be removed as they are no longer required with the exceptions of forced turns.
Nassau SOUTHBOUND:
From Roslyn Rd. to Pembina again all bikes will be allowed contraflow travel.
At Gertrude all vehicles must make either a left (east) or right (west) turn.
Sending traffic westbound to Hugo, Eastbound right in front of Gladstone School and to Osborne.
Therefore on Nassau headed north from Roslyn Road, there will be NO through traffic to Corydon.
Southbound from Corydon to Pembina will be a one-way, becoming two-way travel at Warsaw.
At this point in time no loss of parking is expected from either direction.
Stradbrook to Roslyn curb extensions will put in as well as a sidewalk on the southside. On Roslyn east side a sidewalk is planned. There will be no loss of parking and will be a through route.
Notes: Concerns were raised by one resident about the speeding on Gertrude, however the AT consultant did state that with the new traffic calming measures it should no longer be a problem.
My thoughts:
- I was disappointed that Councillor Orlikow did not attend this open house particularly as he had taken responsibility for the lack of consultation in his area.
- Ok it's official I'm confused. I looked at the maps, spoke with the consultants and I'm still confused. I just don't understand why the planners would not have made the street a one-way from Stradbrook to Pembina, then turned perhaps Hugo a one-way in the other direction. These block at a time one-ways are very very confusing.
I did ask that question, the reply was they wanted to reduce the amount of pass through traffic down Nassau to Corydon.
In other words, don't cut through Nassau to get to Corydon, go down Osborne which is already a mess at both rush hours.
- Trying to get across Corydon during peak times can be a challenge if there isn't a traffic light, so instead making a couple of one-ways that would allow traffic to pass easily through the area and would still allow for bike travel would seem logical. BUT...
The series of one-ways will end up being confusing for motorists and that includes couriers, taxis, delivery trucks, Handi-transit vehicles etc. many of which will end up going onto residential streets trying to find their way to their destination. This will be like a maze for new drivers especially.
- Not to mention the additional traffic down residential streets -- did someone even notice Gladstone School and the park and kiddie pool on the south side of Gertrude? Were these residents (or the PTA) even told about this effect of the bike lane plan?
There will be traffic jams of vehicles waiting to get from Gertrude onto Osborne (another traffic jam) at afternoon rush hour. It'll be lined up down the block, right when kids get out of school.
- Along from Gladstone, McMillan and Jessie also already see heavy use, good for the cyclists, not so much for cars and what about the residents? All I can say boy am I glad I don't live in that area.
- I have to wonder how the residents around Nassau are going to react should they get extra traffic down their streets, though the consultants assure us that motorists will only travel those routes once before they learn. (Are the consulants psychologists or clairvoyant or...? - ed.) The idea being to cut down on through traffic.
And then of course extra traffic will be funneled down Corydon and Pembina -- making an already heavily congested area (especially at peak times) even more crowded.
Won't those residents and businesses near Corydon be surprised - were THEY told about this consequence of bike lanes??
And what effect will this have on Osborne? Another area which sees heavy traffic.
- Fire trucks could end up being a concern for some areas if they can't get through the traffic circles or the down the one way areas. Though as an emergency vehicle the fire department is allowed to by-pass that problem. Another problem though with traffic circles and the fire department is having to cross a circle instead of going around. This could potentially lead to collisions if on-coming traffic doesn't give way. We have all seen that sometimes people don't pay attention and don't yield the right of way.
- I would have to agree with the resident Monica about the sidewalks. Particulary in areas around parks. This will go a long way to reducing potential conflicts with not only cyclists, but also vehicles. I personally think it's a great idea. Though as I'm a pedestrian..I'm somewhat biased.
Final thoughts: The turnout for this open house at 37! was minimal. Is it a good representation of the community?
My advice to all those who travel Nassau... don't. I'm afraid you are going to have to find another street to travel and won't those residents be happy...SURPRISE!
