Roads: Traffic catch all

[nfitz]

There should be crews working in shifts for a full 24h until the repairs are done. You cannot close lanes on this highway for 2.5 years, you cannot.

To do the work without road closures, would cost significantly more money.

Voters, and particularly car owners, have made it very clear to council, that they are no prepared to pay extra money for work that can be done cheaper.

Etobicoke voters also made it very clear that they aren't interested in dedicated transit lanes along Lakeshore, into downtown.

You asked for it. You got it!

what we didn't know is the closure of the WB onramp

That was only for a day or two isn't it?

 

[Filip]

I think you are letting your personal anger inject things into statements that just aren't there. Someone pointed out how well the Gardiner flowed westbound last night....and they were right......all I did was point out that in addition to the lane closure on the Garidner, yesterday we had the closure of the ramp from WB lakeshore to WB Gardiner.......that no longer exists and today will be a truer test/example of how the Gardiner will flow.

If anything, you should see some positive in what I said. The Lakeshore took the brunt of that double closure yesterday and since you have said:



Improvements on the flow on the Lakeshore (as people are now able to get back on the Gardiner now) should improve (and I don't know by how much) your trip.

please try to keep the inappropriate references to anal sex to a minimum.

It's convenient for you to say, but for me and my neighbours, we are now stuck with no way of getting to work or from work within any reasonable time frame. Coming home at 8PM after catching a bus just after 5PM is a problem, especially if you can see your home clearly from your own office building.

Please take a map and look at Humber Bay Shores (Park Lawn/Lake Shore area) - there are only two ways in and out of this neighbourhood. Those two roads are now at 1/3 capacity with the Gardiner overflow traffic in it as well. What complete degenerate jackass came up with this scenario?

 

[Filip]

To do the work without road closures, would cost significantly more money.

Voters, and particularly car owners, have made it very clear to council, that they are no prepared to pay extra money for work that can be done cheaper.

Etobicoke voters also made it very clear that they aren't interested in dedicated transit lanes along Lakeshore, into downtown.

You asked for it. You got it!

That was only for a day or two isn't it?

Umm, there was never any talk for dedicated transit lanes on Lake Shore... lol. There was a WWLRT that was cancelled in 2008 (or more accurately, delayed to 2028; read cancelled).

Btw, that whole voter shtick is particularly distasteful, the dreck that comes out of your mouth is not very encouraging and is exactly why Ford got elected (and possibly reelected).

 

[newearthling]

I wear a suit to work, so no.

Agreed, it's a wonderful ride and I do it often - just not for commuting.

I know quite a few men, especially, who cycle, then shower and change at work. If your workplace doesn't have the facilities, then you could do it at a gym close by.
I would try it if I were you. You would be getting exercise, as well as avoiding any traffic concerns.
You will be so much fresher, clearer and more focused when you start work.

 

[ehlow]

Interesting that you mention that now. I was speaking to a friend of mine who interned for Google earlier today. He was telling me about how incredibly flexible the work hours were. You could get away with coming into work at 11 if you wanted and take breaks whenever time you want. Of course you started slacking you'd be terminated.

I can confirm this . Not just Google, but any company where most people wear t-shirts & hoodies (tends to be the newer companies). It's great. I'm not sure I could do a job where I had to come in at 9 and wear a dress shirt, I never have. You obviously are expected to be productive however, but a programmer's productivity isn't always tied to the # of hours they work.

It's a creative job where you can create something that you and others will use and be able to see what you've created within a few minutes of writing it.

Anyways this is clearly off-topic so feel free to private message me if you'd like to talk more about it.

 

[salsa]

Filip, why not take the 66 bus to the BD subway?

 

[Filip]

Filip, why not take the 66 bus to the BD subway?

That bus is one of my favourite gripes with the TTC/city.

I've stopped using it at rush hour because I had the bus TWICE leave me and people at the platform because it was packed to the gills. Now they've increased frequencies by a whopping 3 minutes (14 minutes vs 17 mins) on the 66D, as that is the only bus that goes down to Lake Shore. I've written to the TTC asking them to look at rerouting the two branches down to the Lake Shore (66A currently terminates at Humber Loop, which means terminating it at Park Lawn and Lake Shore would serve the same purpose). They told me they would bring it to the route supervisor (ie: no action) and this was a solid 2 years ago.

Otherwise, going north, then east and back south is a bit counter productive. At this point I'm thinking of finding a creative way of making GO work for me (which means I'll contribute to congestion and pollution because I have to drive!!!) The TTC in its infinite wisdom never ceases to make me laugh.

There's rumblings of a class action lawsuit from residents in the area against the city. We contribute $36MM in MPAC tax revenue (this is for Humber Bay Shores only) and I doubt we receive even a fraction of that amount back in services. In addition to this, we take on many services that lighten the load for the city such as private road maintenance, superior fire prevention, self-policed properties, snow removal and other things we all pay for through our condo fees. In other words, we barely burden the system while receiving substandard service levels across all municipal departments. I mean this area is a compact cluster consisting of approximately six km of city streets. That's it! $36MM in tax revenue for such a tiny area is STAGGERING.


At least the city figured it out.. There hasn't been a condo in the area they haven't approved...

 

[salsa]

Is the 501 any better?

Edit: looks like it's buses for now until May 11 (west of humber loop)

 

[Filip]

Is the 501 any better?

Haha.. If you know my postings you know that I have a major aversion to anything rail based running on city streets; all due to the beauty that is the Queen car. The 501 is a running joke.

30-40 minute waits and then 5-6 show up in the span of 5 minutes.

 

[nfitz]

Umm, there was never any talk for dedicated transit lanes on Lake Shore... lol. There was a WWLRT that was cancelled in 2008 (or more accurately, delayed to 2028; read cancelled).

Which has dedicated transit lanes for LRT. And was still in the 2013 revision to Metrolinx's Big Move. Not sure where you get the 2008 cancellation date from. It was part of Transit City, that was still being promoted by City of Toronto and TTC until you guys voted in the wife-beating crack head for mayor.

That bus is one of my favourite gripes with the TTC/city.

I've stopped using it at rush hour because I had the bus TWICE leave me and people at the platform because it was packed to the gills.

Only twice ... the shock, the horror, the tragedy.

 

[M II A II R II K]

Don't know if this is significant or not but yesterday I heard the recording for pedestrian crossing at Bloor and Dufferin intersection.

 

[Dandy Horse]

I wear a suit to work, so no.

Agreed, it's a wonderful ride and I do it often - just not for commuting.

There are a few tricks around going full nasty while biking. When you get your shirts from the cleaners, put half of them in your office, that way on hot days you can wear a t-shirt while commuting but switch when you get in. keeping your whole suit at work and changing there is ideal, but just the shirt does wonders, as you can get those little velcro straps for your pant leg so it doesn't get greased.

Also, if you have a road style bike, switch your road bike handlebars into the more comfortable sit-up-and-beg style you find on Amsterdam bikes. Lots of people ride these with suits, and its a lot less work, so you wont get as sweaty. My old mountain bike used to always leave me very sweaty, but now with a more european style i can go much farther and look the same as if I had just walked out of the house. Not getting gross is important for the work place, but there are ways around it!

 

[James]

I heard about an interesting study by TomTom this morning on the radio. They analyzed traffic congestion in terms of increase in delay as compared to off-peak hours. The worst congested cities in Canada were ranked as follows:

• Vancouver – 35 per cent; 87-hour delay per year
• Toronto – 27 per cent; 83-hour delay per year
• Ottawa – 26 per cent; 81-hour delay per year
• Montreal – 26 per cent; 78-hour delay per year
• Calgary – 22 per cent; 71-hour delay per year
• Quebec – 22 per cent; 81-hour delay per year
• Edmonton – 20 per cent; 57-hour delay per year

Link: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/vancou...dlock-in-canada-traffic-study-finds-1.1850311

The one finding that really piqued my curiosity was that avoiding highways and using secondary roads or shortcuts actually adds more time to your trip. In heavy traffic jams, I've experimented with either (1) staying on the slowly moving highway or (2) hopping off the next exit and taking local roads. I've always found that primarily due to traffic lights, the local roads really didn't seem to be faster than driving slowly on the highway. Interesting that the TomTom study now quantifies this as true.

 

[TOareaFan]

I heard about an interesting study by TomTom this morning on the radio. They analyzed traffic congestion in terms of increase in delay as compared to off-peak hours. The worst congested cities in Canada were ranked as follows:

• Vancouver – 35 per cent; 87-hour delay per year
• Toronto – 27 per cent; 83-hour delay per year
• Ottawa – 26 per cent; 81-hour delay per year
• Montreal – 26 per cent; 78-hour delay per year
• Calgary – 22 per cent; 71-hour delay per year
• Quebec – 22 per cent; 81-hour delay per year
• Edmonton – 20 per cent; 57-hour delay per year

Link: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/vancou...dlock-in-canada-traffic-study-finds-1.1850311

The one finding that really piqued my curiosity was that avoiding highways and using secondary roads or shortcuts actually adds more time to your trip. In heavy traffic jams, I've experimented with either (1) staying on the slowly moving highway or (2) hopping off the next exit and taking local roads. I've always found that primarily due to traffic lights, the local roads really didn't seem to be faster than driving slowly on the highway. Interesting that the TomTom study now quantifies this as true.

As my normal 1hr15 minute commute turned into a 2hr45minute nightmare this morning I had a chance to hear lots of conversation about this.

In the end, I think what they are actually saying is that "on average" you are better off staying the course with the main routes.....you may "hit a home run" one day with a detour but, over time, it is not a successful strategy.....something, as I listened, I proved a few times this morning

 

[James]

As my normal 1hr15 minute commute turned into a 2hr45minute nightmare this morning I had a chance to hear lots of conversation about this.

In the end, I think what they are actually saying is that "on average" you are better off staying the course with the main routes.....you may "hit a home run" one day with a detour but, over time, it is not a successful strategy.....something, as I listened, I proved a few times this morning

I can totally believe it. I've tried many times and have simply come to the conclusion that even though the highway might be very slow, at least you're moving. If you're on a secondary or local road, one traffic light will set you back a minute or so. This is a whole minute where you could be crawling along smoothly. The detours are usually complete with random driving behaviours and unexpected maneuvers which add to the stress. I've since surrendered to the fact that slow and steady is better than driving quickly a whole block only to idle at a red light.