Plans to reduce traffic lanes on 3 Avenue South a poor idea
By Lethbridge Herald on January 25, 2023.
Editor:
For those of us who went to the January 2023 Community Conversation at the Enmax, many were in shock to once again see plans of a rejected plan to further reduce traffic lanes on 3 Avenue South right to Mayor Magrath Drive, adding more traffic lights/pedestrian crossing lights, completely destroying the flow of traffic to downtown.
3 Avenue South is a primary traffic corridor and is the only one on the southside going from Scenic Drive all the way to Mayor Magrath which is not in residential areas. It is used by many transport trucks delivering supplies to the various businesses, not just on 3 Avenue but the downtown area.
This lane reduction was completely rejected in 2020, but once again, here it is.
Once again, they didn’t listen!
The dedicated city employee I spoke with stated that the Crowsnest Trail can now facilitate the traffic!
He obviously doesn’t drive in the area and is unaware just how hard it is to find a ramp entering/exiting the trail due to poor planning and lack of the number of on/off ramps.
Tell me how it is a good idea in this city putting bike paths alongside what will be compressed traffic flow?
Pedestrians are being hit often in this city in crosswalks and when a young family is out biking, they don’t always have control of their children.
Add to that more traffic lights, and delayed drivers now in a hurry becoming more aggressive in their driving.
Bad idea! We have other options for bike lanes such as a very wide 2 Avenue which can connect easy with north/south flow, but the best picks are residential areas such as 4/5 Avenues, 5 Avenue South being very wide.
Has a proper study been done on how many actually use the designated 7 Avenue South lane? I have rarely seen people biking on it.
How many will use this in the winter – three or four? I heard costs of over $40 million just for the first phase of the project.
Vehicles and transport trucks need roads and are not going anywhere soon; they are going green, not disappearing. That is a business area and not a park!
Can we even add trees/shrubs since many were removed due to the addicts?
NO to this plan!
Barry Ewing
Lethbridge
19-18
They want to destroy downtown! Nothing more to say!
Kind of appears that way, but I think something else is driving their choice!
A planner in City Hall trying to justify his existance by coming up with new ideas. So much of this happening in City Hall, all departments, but especially waste management.
You may not like the idea regarding 3rd Ave, but this is far from a new concept in urban planning. The idea of reshaping spaces previously dedicated to and dominated by automobiles can be traced back to the work of Jane Jacobs and her most famous book published in 1961.
I remember in the 1970’s Calgary bringing in a very expensive US firm to try to fix the mess they had made to their downtown and other commercial areas which had brought chaos and traffic jams to the growing city. That was 50 years ago and they paid millions for the consultant firm.
Everyone seems to think that vehicles are coming to an end! They are not and almost everything in your home has been on a truck at some point, including the chemicals in your tap water.
The businesses on 3rd avenue and downtown need trucks and a safe corridor that isn’t restricted by many traffic lights
With all the lights planned, it is very easy to believe that many cyclists will be going from the bike lanes to pedestrian crossings to avoid having to wait for their light to change.
This is a very bad idea that could cost taxpayers tens of millions in the future to fix!
Before a space is reshaped, one must have a considerable knowledge of the area, Lethbridge has too many transplants from other provinces or cities making plans who are not aware of the city, and too many major thoroughfares are being impacted.
Reading the plans from 2020 it is easy to see changes to impede traffic flow, including lights were not wanted!!!!!! Why is it that peope want to compress traffic, impede traffic flow just for a 100 or so people at a high cost to taxpayers? I was told over $44 million in bike trails is planned!
Is there no one that understands that this is the money from the taxpayers pockets?
This response, and others, provide clear evidence that the Cultural Gradient concept, re the transmission and adoption of ideas, has application beyond the European context.
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