Now that most of Courtenay's 17th Street bridge traffic flow improvements are nearing completion, consideration needs to be given to tackling the growing traffic congestion downtown. This became very evident by the long delays and lineups when Cliffe Avenue was confined to less than the normally available three or four lanes.
Whatever the historical reasons are, we are now in a situation where much of the the regional traffic (that needs to go from one side of the Courtenay River to the other) finds itself crossing one of the two bridges. Now, the 5th Street bridge seems as busy as ever. For practical purposes those are the only two options:
- Adding additional lanes to the 17th Street bridge
- building another bridge in downtown Courtenay
We need to look at ways to divert traffic away from the downtown Courtenay area. I am talking about traffic that is "just passing through."
For example, an environmentally-sensitive causeway or tunnel could be built connecting the Courtenay Connector (29 th street) to Comox Road and with a road extending up to MacDonald.
Also, there is no easy means to by-pass downtown Courtenay in the area north of the city. For example, consider the Inland highway exit at Strathcona Parkway to Mt. Washington and Dove Creek Road or the Piercy road exit. There a bridge could be built over the Tsolum River giving good traffic flow east-west linking Merville and area to both of these exits.
Most growing urban areas allow traffic to bypass their core areas because a good portion of the traffic has no intention of stopping and that is the case with Courtenay: otherwise there would need to be many more parking spaces built. More traffic congestion results in more fuel being burned, higher risk of accidents, more time wasted. Emergency vehicles would have more difficulty responding. Public transport, cyclists, electric bikes would all be affected too.
Thus it becomes an environmental issue as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment