King Street Pilot - transit options for King Street - GARMENT DISTRICT NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATION

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King Street Pilot - transit options for King Street

2/23/2017

A King Street Pilot Study Public Meeting was held on February 13th.
To access all the slides presented at that meeting, click HERE.
The crux of the meeting was the staging of three creative options designed to achieve these goals:

Improve the transit experience
Provide safe, comfortable and accessible sidewalks, road crossings and streetcar boarding facilities
Transform the public realm experience for pedestrians
Reinforce King’s diverse neighbourhood identities

The "Separated Lanes” option dedicates the centre lanes to streetcars, and gives the remaining one lane in each direction to car and truck traffic, forbidding left turns and stopping, but allowing through traffic.
Analysis:

Where would delivery/trade/service and taxi/Uber/Wheeltrans/EMS vehicles stop?
Right hand turning vehicles can back up traffic
Nearside boarding of streetcars from street level could endanger/challenge passengers
Cyclists would share vehicle lanes with cars and trucks

The “Alternating Loops” option allows a single lane of one-way car traffic, to facilitate local access to driveways and deliveries, with the direction alternating each block, preventing through traffic. Only right hand turns are permitted with the right hand turn lane isolated from the streetcar lane. Centre lanes prioritize streetcars but permit moving vehicles to circumvent delivery vehicles. The fourth lane can be used either as public realm space (option A) or as a dedicated bike lane (option B). Streetcar patrons board from height of curb rather than height of roadway.
Analysis:

Streetcars can be blocked by vehicles circumventing stopped or waiting vehicles
Cyclists would share lane with cars and trucks (option A) or with boarding streetcar riders (option B)

The “Transit Promenade” option sees the sidewalk extended into the road on both sides for public realm improvements and accommodation for delivery/trade/service and taxi/Uber/Wheeltrans/EMS vehicles. Moving vehicles share the centre lanes with streetcars except at farside boarding zones they are forced to turn right and prevented from driving straight through intersections
Analysis:

Streetcars are given “priority” but how is that possible given that moving vehicles share the same lanes?
Cyclists would share public realm space with pedestrians and boarding streetcar riders
After making accommodation for stopped or waiting vehicles, how much public realm remains?

2 Comments

Sylvia

2/23/2017 10:07:49 pm

I prefer the Alternating Loops option with the dedicated bike lane. I think it allows for the most efficient flow of traffic (streetcar, bikes, cars/trucks) while expanding the space for pedestrians. I really like the idea of a dedicated bike lane on King -- perhaps cyclists make up 1% of users of King Street because the current infrastructure is not safe nor conducive for cycling. It also prevents King Street from being used as a thoroughfare which may help to reduce overall congestion. However one consideration is it may result in an increase in vehicle traffic on arterials close to King (such as Wellington, Adelaide, Richmond and Queen).
Separated Lanes would only improve streetcar travel while creating bottlenecking in the curb lane. This option works best for wider streets like Spadina and St. Clair where vehicles have the option to go around traffic stopped in the curb lane.
Transit Promenade would likely improve the amount of sidewalk/pedestrian space but at the cost of forcing streetcars and vehicles to share one lane, resulting in inefficient flow of traffic.

Ann Marie

2/26/2017 01:01:02 pm

I prefer the 3rd option, although it still requires more thought to work out all the traffic implications. This is the most balanced option in that it offers the best opportunity to evenly distribute green space/soft-scaping with which to maintain a degree of humanity within this corridor. It also is more equitable in how it treats storefront businesses in their access to walk-by traffic (and the commercial viability that comes with it). Increasing sidewalk widths and protective overhands for them, plus maintaining street-tree coverage will be critically important to the future of this street.

If this option is implemented - there needs to be a simultaneously upgrading of the bike lanes on Adelaide and Richmond Sts. to safely syphon-off bike traffic in this area.

Not addressed in any of these options are local solutions for the public storage of visitor bikes/car parking; the absence of which will seriously compromise whichever option is chosen. Have you looked at the Netherlands for solutions to this?

King Street Pilot - transit options for King Street

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