Quote:
Originally Posted by supafamous
|
I don't know how the numbers are arrived at, but the viaducts are more often than not backed up to the merge point of where Main Street ramp comes on.
The Viaduct itself is rarely ever the problem, but instead it's the feeders and exit that causes the issue.
Venables cannot flow that many cars, with it being single lane, set to 30km/h (not that anyone observes this), the extremely broken pavement, and the multitudes of lights flowing on and off.
Dunsmuir is regularly backed up because of the lights and the lack of a dedicated right turn lane which many times ends up limiting it to a 1 lane road as well, and also the taxis/ubers that insist on boarding and unboarding where they aren't supposed to.
Georgia and out is the only route which it can sustain the rate that the viaduct can flow, and that side also has 3 lanes unlike the constricted 2 lanes on the entry side. The bike lane is cool, I've used it a few times, but I don't know if it actually flows that many commuters.
You are probably right that it may only add 5-10 mins to the commute. But my commute to DT is only 15-20mins if I drive, 5-10min is a lot of time. Call it NIMBYism, but due to pick up and drop off, I would tend to drive if I commute into DT.
The whole pickup and dropoff issue is also very many societal and city planning problems all rolled and compounded into one where it makes more sense for me to just drive.
EDIT: just briefly skimmed that PDF, it was penned a decade ago, and the data gathering is older than that. The viaduct now is definitely busier than back in 2013.