Amelia Bellamy-Royds 

Ah, man...

Improvements to bus routes on Whyte Ave are being implemented in such a way that they're going to eliminate the "scramble" crosswalks (light-controlled crosswalks where all pedestrians in all directions walk at the same time, meaning walking diagonally is allowed).

(In order to keep moving the buses express, they don't want them ever waiting for a cross-traffic cycle plus an extended pedestrian cycle. They are adding sidewalk bump-outs & turn restrictions to help with the safety issues about drivers turning into the crosswalks.)

https://www.edmonton.ca/projects_plans/roads/transit-priority-measures
https://www.edmonton.ca/sites/default/files/public-files/transit-priority-measures-whyte-ave.pdf

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Edit: I originally referenced "bus lanes" on Whyte Ave, but the current plan doesn't include proper bus lanes. The buses will travel in the middle lane, mixed with cars, and stops will be at sidewalk bump-outs into the parking/patio lane so that the bus doesn't have to pull over. (There's still future plans for an express route, though?)

#YEG #YEGtransit

Transit Priority Measures | City of Edmonton

Planning and design to implement new transit priority measures are underway for 7 key corridors in Edmonton.

Mar 28 at 7:49pmWeb
Show threadkeithzg1d ago
@AmeliasBrain @HyL Yeesh, the City can't seem to ever come up with any plans that don't undo some previous one
Show thread🇨🇦 robyn 💜1d ago

@AmeliasBrain @HyL I heard about this on the Speaking Municipally podcast, and here's live footage of what my face did while I was listening:

🤔 🤨 😳 🤦‍♀️ 🤬

Show threadLikely Jan Lukas23h ago

@robyn @AmeliasBrain @HyL

Perfect expression cycle for many things I learn about locally via radio! 😐😀

Show threadMeg1d ago

@AmeliasBrain @HyL so... I think I'm in the minority here but i... Kinda don't like the way scramble walks are implemented on whyte or Jasper anyways. It's good if you actually need to go diagonally, but you have to wait *so long* on average to cross, no matter which way you're going, because no crossing is possible for two whole long car through cycles.

So a lot of the time when I'm trying to get somewhere on whyte I end up wishing it was a normal crosswalk.

Show threadTerry Bray1d ago
@megmac @AmeliasBrain @HyL not here i hate them
Show threadAmelia Bellamy-Royds 1d ago

@megmac @HyL For me, the wait is worth not having turning cars trying to cut you off, especially if you arrive at the intersection after the walk light has started. But yes, it is a long wait if you just miss the cycle.

Still not as long a wait as for the perfectly normal crosswalk one block south on Calgary Trail, though. That one just feels like it's part of a social research experiment to see how long people will wait until the jaywalk it.

Show threadMeg23h ago

@AmeliasBrain @HyL that's fair. And you spend a lot more time on whyte when it's normal than I do I think. I'm mostly there during the fringe when it's basically permanent gridlock and pedestrians are so numerous they kind of own every crossing lol

I think globally banning right turns on red would also help this though, and I'm very in favor of that.

Show threadDr. Young-Leslie 🇨🇦22h ago

@megmac
@AmeliasBrain

Agreed - the scramble phases are long to wait, but it's not an unreasonable wait. Yes, it's very important that we get rid of the right-on-red. If I had my will, it would be no right on red across the city. That would go a very long way to helping us with vision zero. The number of times I've been in the right hand lane, on my bike, looking at the "No right turn on red" sign in front of me, then looking to my left just as someone in a car or truck slides through the intersection in a right turn... 🤨😬😱

Show threadAmelia Bellamy-Royds 19h ago

@HyL "right on red" is an issue because of the unpredictability, yes, but I was talking about cars turning when they have the green light but so do the pedestrians going parallel to that car's original direction. Sometimes that's worse because it's a car coming up behind you.

@megmac