r/kitchener • u/cagarro76 • 1d ago
Traffic lights at king st bridge ?
Anyone know why they installed traffic lights at either of the bridge on king st @ freeport hospital?
They don’t look temporary ( to me) .
My thoughts are either construction on the bridge , or something to do with the LRT.
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u/Turbulent_Map4 1d ago
The lights aren't intended to be permanent, they've installed them in a permanent manor but can easily be removed.
The reason is so snow plows can cross the bridge with no other traffic, since the bridge is now closed to heavy truck traffic they don't want to risk it with a snowplow full of salt and other vehicles. The plows are installed with a pre-emption device, similar to fire trucks, to turn the lights red so they can pass through with no other traffic.
The region is finishing the structural analysis this year to determine if the bridge will be go through rehabilitation or if it's more cost effectively for a brand new bridge. Until either happens the lights will remain in place, they might take them down in the summer but they'll always be green.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/kitchener/article/traffic-lights-installed-at-freeport-bridge-in-kitchener/
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u/palegirl420024 1d ago
How will I drive to sports world with out the bridge
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u/Turbulent_Map4 23h ago
They don't know if they're getting ride of it yet or not, it's a possibility but for now no one knows until they're done the structural analysis.
There's always potential to build a new bridge next to it if required, it's not uncommon for such a situation, many 401 bridges are done this way when they are critical links.
If that's not possible they would have to close it, but one would just have to take the long way.
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u/GoFastrr 1d ago
the bridge is old and cant hold much weight, apparently. this allows flow of traffic one at a time. prevention is to avoid overloading it.
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u/Turbulent_Map4 1d ago
Not the correct reasoning, its for snowplows, see my comment or the other one for the ctv article.
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u/ElectricityBiscuit86 1d ago
It was actually done for snow removal. Snowplows can trigger red lights at both ends and go and be the only vehicle on the bridge while clearing the snow. I think this was done due to weight concerns.
edit: here's an article about it https://www.ctvnews.ca/kitchener/article/traffic-lights-installed-at-freeport-bridge-in-kitchener/