[PinkLucy]

Currently when you look at the street markings it looks like one big one way street. I guess it will eventually be turned back to two way. One lane in each direction. Better hope nobody stops illegally or breaks down or the entire Queens Quay grinds to a halt.

Yes, two way traffic is coming. This has been in the plans for years. There are lay-bys built in for people to pull over.

They tried this out as a pilot project a few years back and it worked well -- that's one of the reasons they went ahead with this major undertaking. I was living on QQ at the time, and I loved it. I'm looking forward to seeing this all done, it's been a long time coming.

Like anything new, there will be some adjustment.

 

[ttk77]

This is a Toronto standard for certain streets (I am unclear on which). There have been (lengthy and inconclusive) discussions on the purpose on other threads on UT but they MAY be simply aesthetic or may have some technical reason or even both! I suggest you try searching for earlier discussions.

Thanks. I'll take a look. I haven't seen that elsewhere in the city before, but I could have just not been looking hard enough. Still curious why they'd cheap out on a single row like that when the entire sidewalk and all the curbs have been done in granite. That's what got me wondering if it actually had a functional purpose.

 

[Kitsune]

one thing too is that a lot of people aren't realizing that the interlock layby's are well.. laybys. I've seen cars parked next to them, but never in them.

 

[smallspy]

Of course it has to do with drainage. It's a traditional solution. As a cyclist, I've never had any problems with those bricks. No one should be riding that close to the curb.

Sure, they were used for drainage - in the early 1900s. Once again, with modern paving they are solely there for decoration.

How is the width of a single brick a nuisance to a cyclist - unless the cyclist is far to close to the curb? Bikes should be one metre from the curb to aviod curbside hazards according to the Ministry of Transportation - http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/pubs/cycling-guide/section3.0.shtml Even if they stay more than 10 centimetres from the curb, the bricks won't be a problem!

In both cases, yes, you are right - no cyclist should be riding on them. I can't count, however, the number of times I have either seen someone hurt themselves because they were pulling up to the curb and didn't notice a couple of missing bricks and thus fell, or the number of bikes I've had to repair because of pinch flats or dented rims.

A paved, lipped curb is a much safer - and perhaps cheaper - option that accomplishes the same thing and with less likelihood of portions of it going missing.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[GrandSlam]

Thanks. I'll take a look. I haven't seen that elsewhere in the city before, but I could have just not been looking hard enough. Still curious why they'd cheap out on a single row like that when the entire sidewalk and all the curbs have been done in granite. That's what got me wondering if it actually had a functional purpose.

My understanding is that brick is used in that situation because it's somewhat sacrificial. Paving deteriorates quickly in a gutter and the brick is cheap and easy to replace.

 

[DSC]

My understanding is that brick is used in that situation because it's somewhat sacrificial. Paving deteriorates quickly in a gutter and the brick is cheap and easy to replace.

While this MAY be true it never actually seems to happen. When the City makes utility cut repairs that involve brick-banded roadways they never seem to replace the brick.

 

[nfitz]

My understanding is that brick is used in that situation because it's somewhat sacrificial. Paving deteriorates quickly in a gutter and the brick is cheap and easy to replace.

There was a bit of discussion in Spacing about this a few years ago:

http://spacing.ca/magazine/issue/issue6/the-gutter-report/

If you want to read how it's built, here are the construction specifications.

 

[JasonParis]

Despite it being under Matthew's name I actually wrote that piece in Spacing (I've just emailed Matthew to fix it). And from what I gathered talking to Public Works, the bricks are most definitely used to channel rainwater. There are other means of doing it too, but those are more common in suburban areas. Bricks are still mostly used in the old city as they still work very well while also retaining a certain look/feel.

 

[nfitz]

And from what I gathered talking to Public Works, the bricks are most definitely used to channel rainwater. There are other means of doing it too, but those are more common in suburban areas. Bricks are still mostly used in the old city as they still work very well while also retaining a certain look/feel.

Perhaps if they'd have replaced the bricks that used to be on my street when they rebuilt the sidewalks a couple of years ago, there wouldn't be water pooling where they failed to get the asphalt 100% graded properly in the gutter ...

 

[Zeiss]

No comment !!!

 

[salsa]

That wall of glass

 

[Uncle Teddy]

Love those pics. Great to see parts of the street pretty much done and open to traffic.

 

[DSC]

Love those pics. Great to see parts of the street pretty much done and open to traffic.

Yes, things are now moving ahead quite quickly; almost all the complicated below-ground work is completed and we are now pretty much onto 'regular' road building. Let's hope for a dry fall and a late start to winter so most of it can actually be finished (as planned) by Christmas.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

It would look so much better when the double row of trees go into the side south of the LRT tracks. That, and the removal of the Gardiner off-ramp should improve the feel at the foot of York significantly.

AoD

 

[DSC]

According to G&M the City bureaucrats are pushing hard for a full waterfront LRT. Toronto bureaucrats bypass politicians to make waterfront transit pitch See: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/city-leaders-push-for-waterfront-lrt/article20269853/ The proposed route includes the East Bayfront LRT, which was dangled as a possibility in the province’s last budget but remains far from certain. And it adds the Waterfront West LRT, which last saw the light of day as part of the Transit City plan championed by former mayor David Miller.

The Waterfront West LRT has had several variations. After Transit City was cancelled, though, the proposal sank into obscurity. The line has played no role in the fantasy transit maps produced by the various candidates for mayor.