11779 replies to this topic

[rmpeers]

I suspect that once the two people are hired their departmental manager can assign them to whichever projects he/she wants.

Fair enough. In any case, it's good to see the mayor turning her attention to roads.

[Nparker]

...A speed bump on a side street will do nothing to prevent pedestrians being hit on Cook or Douglas unless the plan is to start restricting traffic there as well.

I would imagine the ultimate goal of this council is to restrict vehicular traffic throughout the CoV

[Nparker]

...In any case, it's good to see the mayor turning her attention to roads.

That depends whether her attention results in better roads. Doing nothing might be better than doing the wrong thing.

[Victoria Watcher]

Not sure how many pedestrians are getting hit on side streets, but I see people driving way too fast on sidestreets, so I think it's worth a try.

 

who would object to these complete closures?

 

 

i'll confess to whipping up moss to fairfield when coming from oak bay.  when I could have stayed on dallas until cook.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 February 2019 - 10:31 AM.

[Nparker]

who would object to these complete closures?...

For $250,000 of my tax dollars I hope we get some honest answers.

[rjag]

who would object to these complete closures?

 

 

 

i'll confess to whipping up moss to fairfield when coming from oak bay.  when I could have stayed on dallas until cook.

 

The argument is that these are public roads and by closing them they become effectively private roads. Like all the roads Saanich closed around Landsdowne and Shelbourne. I dont have a problem with closing a few of those ones you show in your picture but not Moss. Anyway it wont stop the 'speeder' as more often than not its the folks that live on that street who are most familiar with the road. 

 

Talking with OB Mayor a few weeks back about the OB Speed Study and why its not implemented and he was very clear, there is so much emotional pushback that isnt interested in hard data. He gave an example of Granite St and the residents complaining about all the 'speeders' OB Police did a study on the road and found the 85th percentile was about mid 30's and average speed was just above 30, the residents didnt believe it. So they changed the speed limit to 40 and put up speed limit signs saying 40. The average speed increased to 40 and the 85th percentile increased to 42 as now drivers had a reference point that they didnt have before.

 

He would like to put Foul Bay, Cadboro Bay (sections of) and Henderson up to 50 as recomended in the study as they are arterial, and blanket reduce the rest of the Muni to 40 and really come down hard on enforcing the 50 zones....even OB Police want to do this so we will wait and see.

[Nparker]

... there is so much emotional pushback that isn't interested in hard data...

I would imagine the 2 new staffers whose jobs it will be to gather neighbourhood information on traffic calming will also be given the desired outcome by council before they ever step foot onto any local street.

[exc911ence]

The argument is that these are public roads and by closing them they become effectively private roads. Like all the roads Saanich closed around Landsdowne and Shelbourne. I dont have a problem with closing a few of those ones you show in your picture but not Moss. Anyway it wont stop the 'speeder' as more often than not its the folks that live on that street who are most familiar with the road. 

 

Talking with OB Mayor a few weeks back about the OB Speed Study and why its not implemented and he was very clear, there is so much emotional pushback that isnt interested in hard data. He gave an example of Granite St and the residents complaining about all the 'speeders' OB Police did a study on the road and found the 85th percentile was about mid 30's and average speed was just above 30, the residents didnt believe it. So they changed the speed limit to 40 and put up speed limit signs saying 40. The average speed increased to 40 and the 85th percentile increased to 42 as now drivers had a reference point that they didnt have before.

 

He would like to put Foul Bay, Cadboro Bay (sections of) and Henderson up to 50 as recomended in the study as they are arterial, and blanket reduce the rest of the Muni to 40 and really come down hard on enforcing the 50 zones....even OB Police want to do this so we will wait and see.

 

Another big issue with closing roads and adding "traffic calming" is that it impedes emergency vehicles responding to calls. It's all well and good to stop traffic driving down your street until your house burns down.

[Cassidy]

You can't block roads like that ... mid-block or intersections and creating a dead-end.

You have to block only portions of intersections, thus always providing a route to travel, albeit perhaps not the direction you originally intended on going.

You are in effect not blocking the road as much as redirecting all of the traffic such that high speeds and use of the roads as thoroughfares are stopped altogether.

 

See Vancouver's masterful (if a bit off-putting for drivers just trying to get somewhere) anti-hooker and streetwalker road blocking techniques for details, West End and Mt. Pleasant specifically.

[Victoria Watcher]

victoria has dozens if not hundreds of dead ends. the cul de sac with the turn around at the end is a new thing.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 February 2019 - 02:25 PM.

[mbjj]

The way I see pedestrians step out, even when in a marked crosswalk, with traffic coming along and the pedestrian giving the driver very little chance to stop, I'm surprised more people aren't hit. Cook St. at Richardson makes me shake my head. People amble out without looking half the time but seem to think that because there's a crosswalk they will be safe.

[mbjj]

who would object to these complete closures?

 

screenshot-www.google.ca-2019.02.07-13-23-23.png

 

i'll confess to whipping up moss to fairfield when coming from oak bay.  when I could have stayed on dallas until cook.

I would object to some of those closures, Oxford St. in particular as I often drive to Oxford foods along Oxford St.

[aastra]

 

victoria has dozens if not hundreds of dead ends.

 

In Victoria city? That seems very high. Somebody should could how many "natural" dead ends there are.

[Victoria Watcher]

clover and point streets on that map. i meant greater victoria.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 07 February 2019 - 05:13 PM.

[Mike K.]

Good grief the City of Victoria’s roads are in terrible condition.

I’ve never seen patch jobs on patch jobs to the degree that I’m seeing them. Eventually you just need to resurface the road, CoV.

[Hotel Mike]

Everywhere Mike. The streets are patched and pockmarked, pothole plagued all around town. To the dogmatic Councillors, resurfacing streets for nasty cars, is a low hanging fruit when it comes budget time. Just put it off another year.

[shoeflack]

Wait, I thought roads were supposed to look like they have 10 different lane options because of old paint.

 

Can someone explain to the road constructors of the world that if you roll black tar over white lines to realign the road, you can't tell the difference when there's sun or rain reflecting off the road surface. It still just looks like road marking lines, except now, you can't tell which is the correct option!

 

+1 for more resurfacing budget, for sure.

[Nparker]

...+1 for more resurfacing budget, for sure.

I have yet to see much evidence that the CoV has a resurfacing budget. Maybe road maintenance is something the Youth Poet Laureate could do in their spare time.

[rjag]

I have yet to see much evidence that the CoV has a resurfacing budget. Maybe road maintenance is something the Youth Poet Laureate could do in their spare time.

 

Hehe well done!

 

Considering it took 6 months for them to finally reopen the travel lane that collapsed on Johnson at Cook I dont think there is any urgency to accommodate vehicular traffic. The only way these politicians will change is if the people start calling their hypcrisy out all the time and kep on them....right now they are feeling invincible since Lisa and Ben were re-elected....they are only playing to their core support

[FogPub]

who would object to these complete closures?

 

 

i'll confess to whipping up moss to fairfield when coming from oak bay.  when I could have stayed on dallas until cook.

I would object to every single one of those.

 

Roads are owned by everyone, not just those who happen to live on them, and are there for people to use to get from A to B.

Edited by FogPub, 08 February 2019 - 06:47 PM.