2245 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

Just a quick reminder:

 

 

[nagel]

I think that the inbound headed for McKenzie/Pat Bay is well-served by this.  Let's face it, any major increase in traffic over the next decade will be from Westhsore to Saanich/Peninsula, not from Westshore to downtown.  There are no more jobs being created downtown.

Traffic backs up at Glanford currently, and once you get past the Pat Bay underpass, it's a disaster going further east on McKenzie.  This will just get people to these queues quicker.

 

Of course in off-peak hours it will be great to use the cloverleaf.  But to be honest the Helmcken style never bothered me.  The waits there are always quite low.

[nagel]

Just a quick reminder:

 

And it doesn't look so bad from the photo, because they're essentially paving a parking lot and an access road, but then they need a new parking lot which will actually have to go in "legitimate" park space.

[lanforod]

Helmcken doesn't get near the same amount of traffic though.

 

Traffic does not back up at Glanford. All traffic that has to stop at that light will get through - unless there is a backup all the way from the TCH.

[nagel]

Helmcken doesn't get near the same amount of traffic though.

 

Traffic does not back up at Glanford. All traffic that has to stop at that light will get through - unless there is a backup all the way from the TCH.

That's true about Helmcken for sure.

 

If there's a queue at Glanford that is halfway to Carey you won't get through the light at Glanford.  That's my way to my parents and my in-laws.  We get stopped there all the time.

 

Anyways this is just some tire spinning from Saanich Council.  I don't think anyone should be worried that their precious parclo is going to get canned.  If MOTI can ignore the City of Richmond's express desire to have no Massey Bridge, I'm pretty sure this is a cake walk for them.

Edited by nagel, 10 May 2016 - 07:56 AM.

[lanforod]

That's true about Helmcken for sure.

 

If there's a queue at Glanford that is halfway to Carey you won't get through the light at Glanford.  That's my way to my parents and my in-laws.  We get stopped there all the time.

 

Anyways this is just some tire spinning from Saanich Council.  I don't think anyone should be worried that their precious parclo is going to get canned.  If MOTI can ignore the City of Richmond's express desire to have no Massey Bridge, I'm pretty sure this is a cake walk for them.

 

Oh, you're talking about driving east, not west. That's a light timing issue most likely. They really should rework that then, and maybe will when the Glanford complete street is done - assuming that goes all the way to McKenzie.

[nagel]

Oh, you're talking about driving east, not west. That's a light timing issue most likely. They really should rework that then, and maybe will when the Glanford complete street is done - assuming that goes all the way to McKenzie.

That portion is finished already.

 

It's hard to time lights from Burnside, Carey and Glanford all together.  I think that's well over a km of McKenzie.  You could increase the time alloted for McKenzie at Glanford but then that screws over the decent volume of cars that use Glanford either way (including for turning onto McKenzie).  Of course a solution would be another interchange at Glanford, lol.

[VicHockeyFan]

Bill Williamson told council that he was initially pleased with the interchange to address traffic problems until he realized the province was “going to pave the park … for the benefit of a few people who live miles away.”

 

 

Pave the park, give me a freaking break.

[sebberry]

And it doesn't look so bad from the photo, because they're essentially paving a parking lot and an access road, but then they need a new parking lot which will actually have to go in "legitimate" park space.

 

Why do you need a parking lot for the park?  People should be riding their bicycles to it.  Enough with encouraging driving!

[nagel]

Why do you need a parking lot for the park?  People should be riding their bicycles to it.  Enough with encouraging driving!

Greedy dog owners probably.

 

I bike through the park to get booze.  Good thing Cascadia at Eagle Creek opened up, so now I won't have to anymore.

[Mike K.]

The big issue is we don't have a single infrastructure planning body that can plan for the region.

 

Things get ugly when you read comments like "...for the benefit of a few people who live miles away." You'd think our civic leaders could learn to play together instead of the schoolyard protectionism we've got going on. I mean you've got View Royal's Screech complaining about a Victoria casino, you've got Desjardins complaining about sewage treatment at McLoughlin, you've got Saanich council complaining about the interchange, and so on.

 

The millions upon millions of dollars we lose annually over bickering and strife between municipalities could be put to far better use than heating 13 city halls and paying 100's of individuals lottery salaries to maintain a tridecimal of everything.

[nagel]

The big issue is we don't have a single infrastructure planning body that can plan for the region.

 

Things get ugly when you read comments like "...for the benefit of a few people who live miles away." You'd think our civic leaders could learn to play together instead of the schoolyard protectionism we've got going on. I mean you've got View Royal's Screech complaining about a Victoria casino, you've got Desjardins complaining about sewage treatment at McLoughlin, you've got Saanich council complaining about the interchange, and so on.

 

The millions upon millions of dollars we lose annually over bickering and strife between municipalities could be put to far better use than heating 13 city halls and paying 100's of individuals lottery salaries to maintain a tridecimal of everything.

I don't see how you're improving on the process.  This is a provincial project that affects a local area that is now pushing back.  So if you remove the fiefdoms maybe it's an all-powerful CA that brings the pitchforks and not councillors.

 

You can't plan for a region when the central body has zero budget for transportation.  Also, the CRD is pro transit and pro active transportation.  They wouldn't be spending 85 mil on an interchange that de-prioritizes those modes. 

[Mike K.]

Exactly, and those are all problems we face when it comes to regional infrastructure.

While we're great at accomplishing intermunicipal trail networks, we're shortsighted and piecemeal when it comes to our road network. It's literally every muni for itself as far as planning goes unless the province jumps in and pushes something through.

CFAX had an infrastructure expert on the air earlier this year and he was highly critical of the road network in Victoria. He referred to it as poorly planned.

[nagel]

There's actually a simple answer.  Congestion pricing.  It's heresy now but in 15 years it will be everywhere.

[Nparker]

....but then they need a new parking lot which will actually have to go in "legitimate" park space.

Not if everyone bikes to the park in the future.

[Mike K.]

There's actually a simple answer. Congestion pricing. It's heresy now but in 15 years it will be everywhere.

That's political suicide in a tiny enclave like Victoria.

Our infrastructure is sorely underfunded and poorly planned. There is only one proper road north-south (West Saanich is a trail) and no high volume connection east-west other than the TCH, which makes for a very poorly equipped region in the event of an emergency or during road closures. I mean, for a population of less than 500,000 we must have some of the worst traffic in North America. And it's not because our traffic volumes our out of this world, we just have a bad network with no regional road planning whatsoever (Biketoria is a great example of how balkanized planning is, where you've got this AAAAAAA [or whatnot] bike lane in one muni and a dusty curbside in another).

[nagel]

Yes it's suicide. You can't increase road supply in Victoria without going all Robert Moses, never mind that doing so doesn't work and destroys communities. So unless you have real solutions, queue up buttercup.

[Nparker]

CFAX poll:

[nagel]

^ the awesome thing is I voted yes and it's still at zero.

[Nparker]

^ the awesome thing is I voted yes and it's still at zero

Perhaps my "NO" cancelled your "YES" and vice-versa.