What cars? I see maybe one every other week and I've never seen one attempt to overtake a bus. Most drive slowly and look confused, and a good proportion pull over and ask for directions.

I don't think most people care too much about the change, but I think a lot of people think its pretty pointless. I have never seen someone get almost hit by bus except at corners. Even if I accept it might make people ever so slightly safer that's balanced by the handful of cyclists that WILL go up on the sidewalk to avoid a bus (and it WILL happen, not all cyclists cycle correctly) and the increase in crossings at intersections. It's really a minor inconvenience (although it kinda will suck for the mac 5-0 if they want to check up on someone on the other side of the road, or if they have to escort a lost car off campus) but considering it doesn't really improve overall safety, why would you do it?

Anyways, I'm pretty sure this median will get wrecked up every weekend when drunk students are wandering around. Speaking of that though, mac has made some pretty bad choices in terms of improving aesthetics. This over cleaning up the path from the crosswalk to MDCL? And also between JHE and BSB... I can't believe they're trying to stop people from walking on the lawn, rather than fixing the problem (making the walkway actually go where people want to go rather than 20 feet in the other direction).

Why do I get a feeling that this divider is going to be a really bad idea when winter comes. I mean wouldn't it be difficult to get the snow off the road when there's a divider.

Originally Posted by mahmoosh

As well, I from your disgust of this petition I can tell you don't really use a bicycle on campus. It's very tight and that's unsafe. Cyclists will have to go on the sidewalk, which is dangerous. You left out the biggest con which is there is no consideration for those forms of transportation and favours motor vehicles.

Actually is my primary means of transportation as I don't have a car; on average I bike 5 to 25 km a day. Which is exactly why I think this is ridiculous, it takes me a couple seconds to bike past that median, and thats when I'm going slow. By the time a bus turns the corner and gets up to speed you'll be near the end of it.

And even during the day there minimum 15 minutes between each bus and the occasional mac vehicle.

Originally Posted by mahmoosh

Simply, to create more cross walks because of the mass of students that 'jay walk', one cross walk is simply NOT ENOUGH!

You obviously haven't been on campus and actually looked at the construction. There is more than one cross walk. There is a cross walk where the path between life science and the divinity college (the shortcut to MDCL) and the median ends in front of life science building.

All of the pathways in front of JHE/BSB come to the road at a cross walk, and all the pathways on the east side come to a cross walk. So the only inconvenience is if you suddenly change your mind and decide to go to a different building, and even then it will only take you a couple seconds.


Funding
I think a lot of people misunderstand how funding works at McMaster. Each department is allocated a certain amount of McMaster's working budget each year. Within the department they decide how to spend the money. This construction project is a part of a couple projects that the parking office is doing; as such it's coming out of their budget. So yes the each department has received less funding this year because of McMaster's budget problems, but it's still up to the individual department to spend their funding as they see fit.

Other Projects
Once again it seems that many of you haven't actually been on campus recently. This is one of a number of construction projects the parking office is doing. They are also adding raised cross walks in front of the student centre as well as repaving the roadway, repaving sidewalks at various locations through out campus, resurfacing of ramps at Cootes Dr. and Parking Lots N &M, installation of pedestrian railings at Student Centre.

The University noted that the reasoning for requesting the removal of all HSR service from campus was that they were attempting to make the area more pedestrian friendly.

What this median does is limit pedestrian mobility to sidewalks and crosswalks. This essentially means we're going to have a very ascetically pleasing campus with little to no practical functionality. Soon, we'll have no busses to make campus safer for pedestrians and no chance of pedestrians crossing where a bus could possibly hit them.

Another case of misplaced priorities on behalf of university admin.

Originally Posted by kimzy

everyone is opposed to change at first ..give it time and you will all fall in love and take grad pics on campus with the nice flowers and trees.

We will have those flowers for around 2 months in spring (Sept/Oct) then probably 1 more month (april) but even then the weather was terrible and it was still snowing.

I don't understand for those 2 months is it really necessary to have those flowers and median when we have so many more beautiful areas at mcmaster (university hall, the arch, mdcl atrium)?

You obviously haven't been on campus and actually looked at the construction. There is more than one cross walk. There is a cross walk where the path between life science and the divinity college (the shortcut to MDCL) and the median ends in front of life science building.

The cross walk to the hospital has always been there. The cross walk to the mdcl shortcut has always been there.

The deal is with the one by divinity college and in between the bus station. That's just one more cross walk. That's three rather than two, because buses come every 15 minutes whereas students are always crossing, it makes a huge difference. you will notice it when we actually have to go to class.

As well, in terms of feasibility at UofT they have a 15 km/h-20km/h road right by there big library (robarts) and still have a bike lane, it doesn't matter how fast you go. accidents happen and as a university it has to be taken into account before action is taken.

We can't change the median being made but can change the awareness of taking other forms of transportation into account.

Originally Posted by mahmoosh

We will have those flowers for around 2 months in spring (Sept/Oct) then probably 1 more month (april) but even then the weather was terrible and it was still snowing.

I don't understand for those 2 months is it really necessary to have those flowers and median when we have so many more beautiful areas at mcmaster (university hall, the arch, mdcl atrium)?



The cross walk to the hospital has always been there. The cross walk to the mdcl shortcut has always been there.

The deal is with the one by divinity college and in between the bus station. That's just one more cross walk. That's three rather than two, because buses come every 15 minutes whereas students are always crossing, it makes a huge difference. you will notice it when we actually have to go to class.

As well, in terms of feasibility at UofT they have a 15 km/h-20km/h road right by there big library (robarts) and still have a bike lane, it doesn't matter how fast you go. accidents happen and as a university it has to be taken into account before action is taken.

We can't change the median being made but can change the awareness of taking other forms of transportation into account.

Thats a good point although there are still a lot of students there in the summer to see the pretty flowers. But for most it will be a snow pile.

I'm not convinced it will be an inconvenience to get to class, we might have to (god forbid) take right angles to get to buildings like any other street.

I work just off of Sussex (north side of Robarts) and St.George is a 30 km/h road and is in downtown toronto so there is substantially more traffic then on University avenue at mac. You also don't see u of t students blocking off the whole street to cross over from robarts to the front campus.

They aren't doing this merely to create a median. They had all the tunnel lines marked out and have been doing work on pipes and such as well. Just take the entire lane like we (yes, I am cyclist) are supposed to. Most people can out ride a bus with the speed they go on campus regardless.

Sweet, single lane means buses won't be able to skip stops. Hate it when an empty 51 races away when a nearly full one is loading (or sometimes a different bus# entirely) and then I feel stupid for having to run to catch it at the next stop ._.

Anyone know what happened to getting rid of buses entirely and making it an emergency-vehicle-only campus?

My biggest concern is getting from building to building between classes when buses aren't on the road. This seems like it might funnel traffic that has to get across. If you needed to cross from LSB to the general science building, it would be easier to get across in a straight line vs using the crosswalks which could taker longer than 10 minutes in the snow

I hope this petition actually works =(

Originally Posted by richardysm

Why do I get a feeling that this divider is going to be a really bad idea when winter comes. I mean wouldn't it be difficult to get the snow off the road when there's a divider.

Thats a really good point.

Originally Posted by julianface

Cyclists wouldn't have to go on the sidewalk or squeeze in the lane they should do what cyclists should do in tight spaces and that is to take up the whole lane. A bus isn't going to rear end a bike when it's going 20 km/h in the middle of a busy campus. Ideally a bike lane as well as the median is the right call you are right. I bike a lot in the city and even on a 50 km/h road taking up the whole right lane if there isn't space is perfectly fine and just a standard safety measure. Cyclists need to take more responsibility they aren't babies they can look after themselves. Sorry I forgot to bold something in a while: A bike lane is far from a student NEED.

This.

Sorry to be frank, but silly petition is silly petition.

If we pretend that road is busy or fast enough to warrant a bike lane, which it is neither, a "bike lane" does nothing to make the road any safer. Spray painting a white line with a couple cartoon bikes is just to make people feel safe, like a comfort blanket. The only safe bike lanes are segregated from traffic by parked cars or a median. Biking on the road and treating the bike like any other vehicle is safer than a sprayed on bike lane (the dutch have studied this).

McMaster students don't even know what side of the road they should be riding on and the OP expects them to squeeze into a tiny bike lane.

Was down on campus and noticed three things. 1) Why on earth does the divider carry on north of sterling? There is no regular traffic there and people are crossing through there all the time! 2) The part south of sterling isn't horrible. The crosswalk opening is huge enough to turn a car around through and the two lengths of the divider are pretty short. 3) Noticeably absent was people almost getting hit crossing the road except at Sterling and University. (First time I'm on campus in weeks and I see someone get almost run over at the intersection!)