They Need A Roundabout On Baffin Island, Not A Traffic Light

[aman12]

Iqaluit is very spread out and a vehicle is very needed especially in winter. Also there is a 9KM road to the community of Apex. Rapid expansion after separation in 1999 did not allow for urban planning. Permafrost gives unique difficulties and a traffic light is probably the best solution. PS, Nunavut has a special class of drivers license which only allows you to drive in Nunavut.

 

[AnnaG]

Apparently I am wrong about Summerland not having a set of traffic lights. They now have one. It's the one at the highway that separates the upper part of S'land and the lower part. Makes sense too, otherwise sometimes in the summer, you could sit there waiting for traffic to clear for a week before you got to cross the road. lol
A 4 way stop would be a nightmare as would a roundyround.

 

[Tonington]

My hometown, Yarmouth NS has about 8000 people, and there are 10 traffic lights...

 

[SirJosephPorter]

SJP you're talking about pros and cons about cities with some population, in this instance, in the middle of nowhere, we're not. It's another example of bureaucrats playing fast and loose with taxpayers money. They have already spent money on a consultant! thousands of dollars have been wasted already.

This is no longer funny. Supposedly this part of the world has serious social problems to deal with such as alcoholism and kids sleeping outside.

But if it is in the middle of nowhere, why do they even need a roundabout? They are expensive to build. Why not just put up a stop sign?

 

[Zzarchov]

Roundabouts are a far inferior mechanism once traffic picks up. Routinely got stuck in them in Kitchener, there is a reason they fell out of favour. also:

400k for a traffic light? what the hell? Are they plating it in gold?

 

[Kakato]

The urban fabric is too tight to suit a roundabout. Sounds like whining. Show me some pictures of said intersection and let's see some dimensions. I checked google earth and it seems to me they have space to put a roundabout in. Might be plan to indulge in some urban planning before they start building expensive big city technology in a burgh.

This is theatre of the absurd. An example of how Canada is poorly governed and overgoverned. Give them five more senate seats.

You checked google?:roll:
Did you take into account snow removal,permafrost and frost heaves?
Maintenance or space available?
We got rid of our only stop light in my small town(10,000) and most other towns also replaced them with 4 way stops.
Theres an engineering reason behind it,traffic flow is one thing,it keeps the traffic spread out which is a good thing in a small burg.
Traffic circles take up lots of useable space and is extra road you dont need.

 

[karrie]

$400 000 for lights.

In Calgary it costs apprx. $250 000 to put in a traffic circle (Traffic Circle To Ease Glenmore Congestion | beyond.ca Car Blog) and I'm willing to bet it will cost nearly double for road building up north.

Traffic light seems like a more workable solution, if a 4 way stop isn't cutting it.

This kind of reminds me of my sister and her husband moving to Weyburn, and my b-i-l getting a written warning from police for making a left hand turn at a green light. Apparently, Weyburn doesn't allow left hand turns at traffic lights, because traffic can back up, up to 5 cars deep!! Such congestion! lol.

 

[Tonington]

$400,000 isn't that much for a traffic light. Check out the cost of this one in Massachusetts:
$450,000 traffic light cost eyed for Holyoke | Breaking News - MassLive.com - - MassLive.com

 

[SirJosephPorter]

Roundabouts are a far inferior mechanism once traffic picks up. Routinely got stuck in them in Kitchener, there is a reason they fell out of favour. also:

400k for a traffic light? what the hell? Are they plating it in gold?

Quite so, Zzarchov (incidentally, haven’t heard from you in a long time). Roundabouts can cause traffic congestion. That is why in some places in Britain they have put a traffic light right inside the roundabout circle.

The only sensible way to avoid traffic jam is an overpass, the most expensive solution of them all.

 

[AnnaG]

$400 000 for lights.

In Calgary it costs apprx. $250 000 to put in a traffic circle (Traffic Circle To Ease Glenmore Congestion | beyond.ca Car Blog) and I'm willing to bet it will cost nearly double for road building up north.

Traffic light seems like a more workable solution, if a 4 way stop isn't cutting it.

This kind of reminds me of my sister and her husband moving to Weyburn, and my b-i-l getting a written warning from police for making a left hand turn at a green light. Apparently, Weyburn doesn't allow left hand turns at traffic lights, because traffic can back up, up to 5 cars deep!! Such congestion! lol.

I wish the gov't would do that here in the central Koots. I think it's Nelson, or maybe Creston where one single vehicle turning left can hold up 3 blocks of traffic. Man, talk about pollution and aggravated drivers. It's a lot faster sometimes to just make 3 rights than one left, but it's the usual thing, people don't think about driving when they drive.

 

[AnnaG]

The only sensible way to avoid traffic jam is an overpass, the most expensive solution of them all.

:roll: Well, then it ISN'T the most sensible way then, is it?
4-way stops work like a charm for what it costs to install them and if everyone follows the rules. If people don't want to follow rules, then install a cam and send them tickets when they don't. They'll get the drift of the idea eventually. It's 100s of thousands cheaper than overpasses.

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

You checked google?:roll:
Did you take into account snow removal,permafrost and frost heaves?
Maintenance or space available?
We got rid of our only stop light in my small town(10,000) and most other towns also replaced them with 4 way stops.
Theres an engineering reason behind it,traffic flow is one thing,it keeps the traffic spread out which is a good thing in a small burg.
Traffic circles take up lots of useable space and is extra road you dont need.

Traffic circles don't take up a great amount of space, they have plenty of them in east Vancouver on narrow side streets. How about some facts here, how wide are the streets in this Baffin Island burg?

Puh-lease, snow removal is a problem in Canada? In a town in the middle of nowhere?

 

[taxslave]

I wish the gov't would do that here in the central Koots. I think it's Nelson, or maybe Creston where one single vehicle turning left can hold up 3 blocks of traffic. Man, talk about pollution and aggravated drivers. It's a lot faster sometimes to just make 3 rights than one left, but it's the usual thing, people don't think about driving when they drive.

So the simple thing is a left turn lane with an advanced left. Simple. Your welcome.

 

[Machjo]

Looking at the picture in the article, it would seem that there would be plenty of room to build a roundabout. But th ether issue that comes up when looking at the picture is: where's the traffic?

 

[Machjo]

Or what about just designating some roads as one-way?

 

[dumpthemonarchy]

Or what about just designating some roads as one-way?

Because a simple solution has been decreed inadmissable by the imperial bureaucracy. They want their light and they will get their light come freezing kids or not.

Traffic signals get bureaucrats all a-twitter. It's been done a million times before, and yet the cost must be high, or it's not a viable solution. Tougher than filling potholes. Low tech, low brains.

 

[Machjo]

Because a simple solution has been decreed inadmissable by the imperial bureaucracy. They want their light and they will get their light come freezing kids or not.

Traffic signals get bureaucrats all a-twitter. It's been done a million times before, and yet the cost must be high, or it's not a viable solution. Tougher than filling potholes. Low tech, low brains.

Amazing, but you might be right.

Imagine, you make that road one-way, and a parallel road one-way in the opposite direction. Then you make two other parallel roads intersecting these two designated one-way roads one-way in opposite directions, and you have your roundabout, and a big roundabout at that. You have circular traffic, all flowing one-way along these four roads, causing efficient traffic flow. Problem solved.

Oh,wait, we might need to buy a few one-way signs, possibly costing a few hundred dollars, and then hire someone to place them. Oh my, that's not much of a stimulous package now is it. We need some road construction happening here, or some industrial traffic light production. Oh my, I'm ruinging the stimulous package with this recommendation of just redesignating already existing roads as one-way.

 

[AnnaG]

So the simple thing is a left turn lane with an advanced left. Simple. Your welcome.

Not so simple. It'd be fine if you have the room. It was Nelson I was referring to, BTW, and their main drag has two lanes plus parking. You can't eliminate the parking because Nelson is a joke for parking anyway, especially in summer. So that leaves two lanes. No room for a third lane. Besides, it'd still be cheaper just to ban left hand turns from 6 AM till 7 PM.

 

[Machjo]

Not so simple. It'd be fine if you have the room. It was Nelson I was referring to, BTW, and their main drag has two lanes plus parking. You can't eliminate the parking because Nelson is a joke for parking anyway, especially in summer. So that leaves two lanes. No room for a third lane. Besides, it'd still be cheaper just to ban left hand turns from 6 AM till 7 PM.

Add a bus route or two?

 

[AnnaG]

Add a bus route or two?

They have buses. Perhaps more might come in handy, but try to convince those hoity-toity Dippers to quit driving their Hummers, Toyota Hummer, Ford F-350 supercabs, Cadillac Escapes, etc. wannabes around all by themselves. I think I've seen more than half dozen Hummers in that dinky little town of 7 or 8000.

lmao 15 minute rush hour? Sounds like Nelson. 15-minute rush hour too much for Iqaluit

Anyway, I hope they get what they want.