Dan416
Senior Member
Spadina needs more lights? Doesn’t the Spadina streetcar move slowly enough already?
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Roads: Traffic Signals
- Thread starter reaperexpress
- Start date
robmausser
Senior Member
The crazy part is there is little evidence that traffic lights lower accidents and fatalities. Our over reliance on them actually encourages people to be distracted drivers.
nfitz
Superstar
A traffic light 50-metres south of Bloor wouldn't effect the streetcars, as it's in the tunnel and portal all the way to Sussex Avenue, about 240 metres south of Bloor. And there's already lights at Sussex.
Looks more like 100 metres to me to where I'd think they'd put a pedestrian crossing. Which isn't particularly short downtown. Of all the spots on Spadina, I haven't really seen much traffic congestion between Bloor and Sussex. It gets far worse once you are south of College.
Towered
Senior Member
But it's not even an intersection where they're putting them. It's completely bizarre.
lenaitch
Senior Member
I don't know about this particular location but I am seeing a trend of replacing pedestrian crossovers with signalized crossings. I'm of the opinion that the new crossing configuration is not as safe as the old one, and it seems some road authorities agree. The replace a backlit overhead sign plus two flashing lights with curb mounted signs and lights that can get lost in the visual clutter.
adys123
Active Member
nfitz
Superstar
I'm not quite sure where it is - presumably just north of the portal - where you can see people crossing the street even on Google streetview.
The ideal place would be Washington Avenue, but the portal is in the way. Though you do have that odd piece of sidewalk along the Spadia median from Washington up to the U-turn location.
Towered
Senior Member
It's going where that driveway is just south of that green space over to the Sutherland-Chan clinic...
nfitz
Superstar
Odd - that still leaves people encouraged to cross further south, where the city placed that sidewalk in the median!
lenaitch
Senior Member
Yes. I was surprised that the configuration in the first image is still described in O/Reg. 402/15; I thought it was grandfathered (can I still say that?) because I haven't seen a new one installed in a few years.
I can't say I've seen a crossover installation like the second image - just signs and road markings (no lights). Any installation I have noticed has flashing lights. The way I read the Regulation, lights and over-lane signs are optional. I've only seen over-lane signs on multi-lane roads.
Subjective observation only but I find the visibility of the lights can be impacted by roadside clutter, foliage, etc. and simply by the fact that they are at the side of the road vs. overhead like they used to be. If they had mandated over-lane signs + lights they would have been better.
Off the top of my head, I can think of two, maybe three installations around here that were initially 'new style' crossovers but have since been replaced by full signals.
Subjective view only, but I think they would have been improved if theover-lane signs were the flashing lights were repeated on the over-lan
Megaton327
Senior Member
I live in York Region, a popular jaywalking spot near me had one of the new-style zebra crossings without lights installed as in that 2nd image, then presumably due to noncompliance by drivers (which I witnessed on multiple occasions) it was changed to a zebra crossing with push buttons and lights as in that 3rd image, then presumably due to continuing noncompliance they went straight to upgrading it to an actual traffic light (just for the crosswalk, there is no road intersection). The road is one lane each way, I'd probably call it a minor arterial, very wide lanes and 50 km/h (aka, textbook suburb).
MisterF
Senior Member
The provincial pedestrian crossover standard is missing a crucial element - the crossing being raised, resulting in a speed hump for drivers. That's a standard part of the design in other jurisdictions. It forces drivers to slow down and makes it more likely that they pay attention to people trying to cross the street. It's no surprise that our watered down version results in non-compliance.
allengeorge
Senior Member
I definitely feel sketchy about those crosswalks with overhead lights that are triggered by a beg button. There have been multiple times where drivers have just blown past; guess their need to get somewhere outweighs my safety. It’s quite worrisome because while I can quickly course-correct, others in my extended family cannot.
Undead
Senior Member
Still better than being forced to jaywalk in the dark.
reaperexpress
Senior Member
It's actually not a beg button. Pedestrians always have right of way as per the sign, the flashing lights are just a tool they can use in an attempt to get drivers to obey the law.
Which illustrates another issue with the actuated lights, that some people think that pedestrians need to press the button in order to receive priority.
In the Netherlands lit PXOs are always on (solid, not flashing), which avoids this potential misconception.
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