TravellingChris
Active Member
Apples and oranges. The LRT will be running down the middle of streets with no bollards or crossing gates. Cities which have had this same type of system for years, like Denver and Houston, are STILL having accidents caused by the alignment. A flawed design will always be a flawed design.A lot of people were over reacting to the accidents with the new LRT saying they should put gates and bells everywhere etc. People will get used to it The AHD has been open for years and people are still running into the infrastructure. You can’t fix stupid.
The Valley Line has had a plethora of accidents already and the line isn't even in revenue service. This doesn't bode well. And responsible transportation management means fixing designs which are inherently flawed or accident-prone, rather than telling the public to "get used to it." There are plenty of intersections around the capital region where city administrations have had to perform tweaks or change the designs because of an overabundance of crashes or near-misses.
Look at the 23 Avenue overpass at Calgary Trail. At one time that was an at-grade intersection which had racked up so many crashes that it was listed as the deadliest intersection in the city. Municipal administration didn't just launch an awareness campaign and nag people to "drive better!"--they invested a lot of money and performed a proper fix at that intersection.
Major infrastructure like the 23 Ave interchange and the LRT lines should NEVER be built on the cheap. They are supposed to be legacy projects that serve the community for decades. Investing the proper amount of money and building them right the first time should be a no-brainer.