Bronson today Example of an after diet road: two through lanes, centre turn lane, bike lanes, usable sidewalks. Could be improved by adding trees to the boulevard. If you are keen on reading more on putting “four lane” roads onto a two lane diet, start reading here: (note that some references take you to same key documents, but there are references to new sources at each of these) http://www.contextsensitivesolutions.org/content/reading/road-diets-3/ http://www.congestion.kytc.ky.gov/roaddiets.html http://www.walkable.org/assets/downloads/4%20Lane%20Conversion.pdf http://www.walkablestreets.com/diet.htm  http://publications.iowa.gov/2888/ http://www.mnltap.umn.edu/Publications/Exchange/2008-3/ResearchAnalyzes.html http://www.urbanstreet.info/2nd_sym_proceedings/Volume%202/Knapp.pdf http://www.iowadot.gov/crashanalysis/pdfs/ite_draft_4to3laneconversion_papersubmission_2005.pdf There is lots more literature out there. Google “the conversion of four lanes”, or “road diets” to get started, and follow the links and … Continue reading The Bronson diet literature

Wonderful Bronson today. In the first post of this series, I tried to show that Bronson only looks to have two through lanes in each direction, but functions as two turn lanes with lane-swerving through traffic, the speed of which is set by the fastest driver. The engineering literature abounds with case studies and policy recommendations on what to do with this type of bad road condition: narrow it to three lanes. The most likely approach that the literature recommends for the section from Laurier to Somerset (given the traffic volumes, number of side streets, driveways etc) is to narrow it … Continue reading Bronson: getting the diet started

Wonderful Bronson today. In the first post of this series, I tried to show that Bronson only looks to have two through lanes in each direction, but functions as two turn lanes with lane-swerving through traffic, the speed of which is set by the fastest driver. The engineering literature abounds with case studies and policy recommendations on what to do with this type of bad road condition: narrow it to three lanes. The most likely approach that the literature recommends for the section from Laurier to Somerset (given the traffic volumes, number of side streets, driveways etc) is to narrow it … Continue reading Bronson: getting the diet started

Bronson north of Somerset is busy — at rush hours. Outside the peak commuter hours, the street is not all that busy. But the wide street with four lanes makes pedestrian crossing unsafe. Landscaping is minimal. The housing and apartments suffer from high tennant turnover because of noise and dust. A classic case of urban street in decline. Thus far the city’s idea for this street is to widen it. Looking at the section from Laurier (top of the hill) to Somerset, the traffic volumes are 16-20,000 vehicles per day (the AADT or Average Annual Daily Traffic count). Volumes have … Continue reading Bronson: the choices are stark

Bronson north of Somerset is busy — at rush hours. Outside the peak commuter hours, the street is not all that busy. But the wide street with four lanes makes pedestrian crossing unsafe. Landscaping is minimal. The housing and apartments suffer from high tennant turnover because of noise and dust. A classic case of urban street in decline. Thus far the city’s idea for this street is to widen it. Looking at the section from Laurier (top of the hill) to Somerset, the traffic volumes are 16-20,000 vehicles per day (the AADT or Average Annual Daily Traffic count). Volumes have … Continue reading Bronson: the choices are stark

Bronson from Queen Street to Somerset Street is up for reconstruction in 2011 and in the following years the stretch from Somerset to the Queensway. The April proposal from the City consultants was to widen the street and narrow the sidewalks. This was to make the lane sizes match the city’s standard lane widths. The problem with the City’s current approach is that it assumes Bronson is a four lane street. And that it is congested. And therefore, the solution is to widen it. I don’t think Bronson IS a four lane street, and there is a whole pile of traffic engineering … Continue reading Bronson: the clogged artery

Bronson from Queen Street to Somerset Street is up for reconstruction in 2011 and in the following years the stretch from Somerset to the Queensway. The April proposal from the City consultants was to widen the street and narrow the sidewalks. This was to make the lane sizes match the city’s standard lane widths. The problem with the City’s current approach is that it assumes Bronson is a four lane street. And that it is congested. And therefore, the solution is to widen it. I don’t think Bronson IS a four lane street, and there is a whole pile of traffic engineering … Continue reading Bronson: the clogged artery