Four lanes good, two lanes bad

Re: Cutting Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway lanes would divert hundreds of cars: report, July 4, 2016.

Perhaps I’m getting a bit dim as I age, but I can’t see any logic behind the proposal to cut the Macdonald Parkway by a lane in each direction. So it will divert 550 cars an hour. To where? Richmond Road or Carling Avenue? They’re already clogged with traffic at rush hour. Maybe the Queensway, making that parking lot even longer?

Presumably this is motivated by a desire to get more people to use public transit, a noble thought that has had little effect beyond those good citizens who have already made that choice.

There is even mention in your article that this move would provide more opportunity to fully segregate cyclists and pedestrians on separate paths. Cyclists should not even be allowed on the road on the parkway, given that there are cycle/pedestrian paths on both sides.

I believe the proposed lane closures will contribute to even greater traffic backups than at present. May I suggest that if the parkway is to be narrowed, then the 417 needs to be widened along its full length within the city limits to ease the present and future overcrowding. Michael Braham, Kanata