Quote:
Originally Posted by wave46
The median would be the tricky part to implement.
I could see the case for an undivided, median-free 4-lane highway - you get a lot of the benefits of a freeway (don't have to wait to pass), which cuts down on the redneck-style passing stupidity without the costs of trying to accommodate the many properties that need access.
The downside being that you still have the problem of crossing traffic and the potential for someone losing control and crossing over to the opposite side of the road, which usually means fatalities.
I don't know where the MTO falls on the spectrum of risk vs. benefit for the case.
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That’s a good question. The RIRO part of Highway 11 as we know it today used to be undivided like the others that we mentioned. Somehow the traffic was too high for any left-turn movements, so MTO divided the 2 directions and converted every intersections to RIRO, with overpasses to turn around. It didn’t even bother with a median turn lane like there is on the 10 and 6. (By the way, 3 between Port Colborne and Fort Erie, which I forgot to mention, doesn’t really have that.)
That said, left turning traffic can still be a concern if you don’t add a median turn lane or divide the highway. Do anyone wanna pass someone at 120 km/h just to have someone stop dead in front of them waiting to turn left into their home sweet home?
As for crossover collisions, the recent fatality on 6 near Flamborough seemed to be suggesting that rumble strips wouldn’t help. I don’t remember the cause (or whether OPP has released a report about it). So far, it seems to me that if there’s a car out of control, it’s pretty much game over on undivided highways.
We definitely need someone like Bartolucci to tirelessly advocate this. Maybe Yakabuski (PC) and Oriazetti (former Liberal) at a provincial level? Fideli has other priorities on his mind right now.
Edit: I noticed that a lot of the federal electoral districts that 17 traverses went red. Maybe that helps?