The problem, of course, is that it does not resolve the safety issues affecting the 4th and Hall stop. It will still require the line 12 and 44 buses to make the lane change in a congested area with multiple traffic impacts and heavy pedestrian traffic (including one unsignalled but very heavy crosswalk). The 17 and 43 will be required to make a right turn and then make not one, not two, but THREE lane changes in the two blocks between Lincoln and Hall to make the left turn.
And of course as soon as the buses reach 6th Avenue, they will still have to make the extremely difficult right hand turn onto 6th, with all of the pedestrian conflicts. However now they'll be one block short of Harrison, which is the one time on the 6th Avenue mall where vehicles can make a right hand turn (in the #3 lane, just left of the MAX lane, and thus have a dedicated signal). So buses will possibly be required to wait for an extra red light - OR, make a lane change into the #2 lane to get around stopped cars in the #3 lane just to move back to the #3 lane to make their stops.
Now we all know this is all because of a flaw with the Transit Mall - specifically removing the old bus stop at 6th and Montgomery (so that TriMet could use the existing bus stop shelters for a MAX station) without a suitable replacement. TriMet had no problem coming up with the money to then add another MAX station between College and Jackson - two blocks away - but when it comes to funding safe and appropriate bus stops...safety takes a back seat to all other needs.
And let's see how long it takes, until that apartment complex starts complaining about the TriMet riders right at window level.
1 comment:
The turn from 4th would not be a problem. Buses coming from 4th Ave could get into the left lane well before hand since they would have no need to get over to the right in order to serve the 4th and Hall stop. Buses coming from Lincoln St should not have a problem getting over since, if they turn from Lincoln on a green signal, there will be no traffic coming from 4th (or the freeway ramp) as it will have a red signal.
In addition, at 6th the signal for 6th Ave traffic would be red, so there wouldn't be a bunch of traffic to merge into. And merging over into the bus lane north of Harrison wouldn't be a problem since there's no reason for other traffic to be there.
Lastly, this is not quite correct:
so that TriMet could use the existing bus stop shelters for a MAX station
The MAX station is there because there needs to be a station adjacent to the Urban Center and the streetcar stop. The fact that there already were shelters there didn't have a huge effect on the location.
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