ganjavih
Senior Member
Ed, stop being so negative. There's clearly someone inside that black car.
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MCC: Confederation Parkway Bridge
- Thread starter vistaway
- Start date
Ed, stop being so negative. There's clearly someone inside that black car.
Observer Walt
Senior Member
Just quoting vistaway, who claims to be seeing pedestrians.
doady
Senior Member
Just because there are no pedestrians in the photos doesn't mean the bridge has no pedestrians at all.
Look! A picture of Port Credit GO station without any people! The station must be unused. Perhaps it should be shut down.
Look! A picture of Port Credit GO station without any people! The station must be unused. Perhaps it should be shut down.
drum118
Superstar
Not surprising since this is car city.
Most people don't know this bridge is open yet.
As we head into the winter months, next to no one will walking across that bridge let alone to MCC. Rathburn is not a great road to walk along in the first place.
There are 2 more bridges to be built over the 403 with one to start in 2009/10 for Ridgeway and the other is the Duke of York. The Duke will only connect to the north service road if it gets built.
It would be nice to see the pedestrian bridge built to the north regardless if a road bridge is not built. Duke of York and the south service rd would have to be raise to get the traffic to the bridge elevation. This will have an impact on the theater and the other plaza for access to DY to the point that the current entrance would be remove.
That start of service for PC and no GO train has arrived/depart. I have picture of the the station during the day with nothing in the bus bay or on the platform.
khris
Senior Member
Of course no one is really using the bridge yet. Have you seen what is on the north side of that bridge? Houses, and more houses. All with garages and cars.
You're not going to see a huge amount of people walking on it for a long time, I'd think.
You're not going to see a huge amount of people walking on it for a long time, I'd think.
vistaway
Active Member
LOL...yeah, one could be hauled away to an institution for saying such things about pedestrians in the MCC, I suppose. But I am in the area as a pedestrian daily, and I can guarantee that there are others like me. Crossing the new bridge, I have noticed a lot of seniors...didn't think there was anything on the north side in terms of retirement homes, but that's the demographic I have seen.
khristopher, you're so right - that north side is sad and pathetic...and the bike lanes and nice trees disappear once you enter it, if only to emphasize the point.
drum118, Rathburn isn't a bad walk from Playdium west, but east of there the sidewalk actually disappears at one point and forces you to cross the myriad of ramps at Hurontario. Then it's a nice walk once you get past there.
Anth
Active Member
With all the condo projects going up in the area, pedestrian traffic has increased substantially over the last couple years, especially on weekends. I have to say MCC has been surprisingly lively this summer and the city's efforts to draw people out to events seem to be working.
Solaris
Senior Member
is this bridge supposedly lit up in blue LED at night? photos anyone?
doady
Senior Member
I agree, there are a lot pedestrians this year in MCC than in previous years. I have always said the main problem with MCC is the lack of development. It is just ridiculous to expect a lot of pedestrians along a brand new road that was built through empty fields!
It just shows how out of touch the city is, that they could allow typical detached housing development to be built along an arterial right beside the city centre near the 905's busiest transit terminal during a time of record high gas prices.
It just shows how out of touch the city is, that they could allow typical detached housing development to be built along an arterial right beside the city centre near the 905's busiest transit terminal during a time of record high gas prices.
nfitz
Superstar
Doesn't look particularly useful for Pedestrians. There is nothing on the north side except a hydro-alignment, and no way to access the houses that I can see without walking west to Confederation Parkway or East to Hurontario - so I don't really see the point. Am I missing something?
khris
Senior Member
Well I'm not sure if they knew they were going to build the bridge when the houses were built or not. When the houses were built, it wasn't an arterial.
drum118
Superstar
They knew it was going to be an arterial from day one with a bridge over the 403. They even had the timetable when the farm was to disappear. Right on schedule.
I made my pitch to planning and development years ago that theses homes were a mistake and the street should be line with 6 stories building to support the transit line. Council said there was enough unites in the core to allow these home.
Council has never had a real vision for the city let alone a city with real transit. The same thing happen to Mavis and Winston Churchill.
Every major road was plan poorly for density.
Let's hope this can change with the start of Hurontario redevelopment.
All these new homes allow for 3 cars.
vic
Senior Member
Cycling and the Confederation Parkway bridge
I wrote an article about this bridge on I Bike TO:
http://www.ibiketo.ca/node/2477
I wrote an article about this bridge on I Bike TO:
http://www.ibiketo.ca/node/2477
vistaway
Active Member
I noticed that - nice article. I agree about all the points you mentioned.
The lack of cyclists in the MCC still perplexes me. Sure, there aren't many bike lanes, but you can get around without having to ride on the 6-lane arterials pretty easily. Given that there's got to be 100,000+ people within an easy ride away, where are they? I do notice that the facilities, even basic ones like bike racks, suck. Each building seems to have one, but they are old and run down, and hidden out of the way. Even city hall has theirs hidden at the back entrance, rusting away (and usually empty). As far as I can tell, Square One only has racks at one entrance (although covered in the parking garage). And as you noted, more often than not, I see cyclists riding on the sidewalk...
But baby steps, and the new bridge and associated lanes are ones in the right direction.
One question for you, Vic, actually: does Toronto embed loop detectors within the bike lane area at intersections? I noticed that the lane along Confederation Parkways did not appear to have these.
The lack of cyclists in the MCC still perplexes me. Sure, there aren't many bike lanes, but you can get around without having to ride on the 6-lane arterials pretty easily. Given that there's got to be 100,000+ people within an easy ride away, where are they? I do notice that the facilities, even basic ones like bike racks, suck. Each building seems to have one, but they are old and run down, and hidden out of the way. Even city hall has theirs hidden at the back entrance, rusting away (and usually empty). As far as I can tell, Square One only has racks at one entrance (although covered in the parking garage). And as you noted, more often than not, I see cyclists riding on the sidewalk...
But baby steps, and the new bridge and associated lanes are ones in the right direction.
One question for you, Vic, actually: does Toronto embed loop detectors within the bike lane area at intersections? I noticed that the lane along Confederation Parkways did not appear to have these.
vic
Senior Member
Hi Vistaway,
I usually see more cyclists just outside of the MCC, on my way to/from work (I live in the Bloor/Lansdowne area, and ride to the MCC most days). Occasionally see cyclists on the Burnhamthorpe Trail, and sometimes riding on Burnhamthorpe itself, or kids riding on the sidewalk on Bloor St. in eastern Mississauga. I also see a fair number of cyclists (again, on the sidewalk) around the Square One Wally World, and the bike racks there seem pretty well used.
Bike parking around the MCC sucks, as you mentioned. I went to the Ben Gomberg (Chicago's bike planner) talk at the Mississauga Public Library, and had to walk all the way around the building before I found the racks, which weren't even bolted to the ground. The racks at City Hall are hard to find too....way out back.... but they also have some right by the main entrance now, though you wouldn't know this without going up to the square first.
City Centre Drive should be a sort of main drag around the downtown. It often feels more like the MAIN DRAG STRIP, or as I have nicknamed it, City Centre Speedway. The traffic is calmed around City Hall, but the rest of it is pretty hostile.
I'm very comfortable riding on the roads, and I do it all the time.....but I can see why there are so few cyclists around here. It's all a big network of big, fast, heavily-trafficked roads.
Yes...Toronto has loop detectors at various intersections, when needed. I've heard that some don't work, but the City will fix them when people complain. I actually complained about one in Mississauga (left turn lane from Central parkway to Bloor), and they followed up with me and fixed it within a couple of days.
Now...don't get me started about the sidewalks around here...
I usually see more cyclists just outside of the MCC, on my way to/from work (I live in the Bloor/Lansdowne area, and ride to the MCC most days). Occasionally see cyclists on the Burnhamthorpe Trail, and sometimes riding on Burnhamthorpe itself, or kids riding on the sidewalk on Bloor St. in eastern Mississauga. I also see a fair number of cyclists (again, on the sidewalk) around the Square One Wally World, and the bike racks there seem pretty well used.
Bike parking around the MCC sucks, as you mentioned. I went to the Ben Gomberg (Chicago's bike planner) talk at the Mississauga Public Library, and had to walk all the way around the building before I found the racks, which weren't even bolted to the ground. The racks at City Hall are hard to find too....way out back.... but they also have some right by the main entrance now, though you wouldn't know this without going up to the square first.
City Centre Drive should be a sort of main drag around the downtown. It often feels more like the MAIN DRAG STRIP, or as I have nicknamed it, City Centre Speedway. The traffic is calmed around City Hall, but the rest of it is pretty hostile.
I'm very comfortable riding on the roads, and I do it all the time.....but I can see why there are so few cyclists around here. It's all a big network of big, fast, heavily-trafficked roads.
Yes...Toronto has loop detectors at various intersections, when needed. I've heard that some don't work, but the City will fix them when people complain. I actually complained about one in Mississauga (left turn lane from Central parkway to Bloor), and they followed up with me and fixed it within a couple of days.
Now...don't get me started about the sidewalks around here...