Winter Weekend Wonderings

As I mentioned last week, I have bought a vehicle and am back behind the wheel after seven years of walking, riding the bus, and bumming rides. It feels great! However…

Watching some of the other drivers leaves me shaking my head. It was bad enough dodging some of these drivers as a pedestrian, but having to share the road with them can be quite the experience.

I’m watching in amazement as people weave through traffic like Dale Jr. at Talladega, at well above the posted speed limits.

I’d like to offer some advice for the impatient drivers.

Riding my back bumper will not make me go faster, especially if I’m already going the speed limit, or a bit over. Please, back off.

Folks… it’s winter! Roads are slush-covered and slippery, lanes are narrower, and stopping distances have increased dramatically. SLOW DOWN! Leave ten minutes early. Even if you can get going fast, you’ll likely not be able to stop as quickly.

And don’t forget, getting caught going 50km/h over the limit will get you a hefty ticket and see your vehicle confiscated. The speed limit on most city streets – including Queen and McNabb – is only 50km/h, so if you’re going 100, this applies to you.

---

Of course, it isn’t actually winter, yet. Winter doesn’t officially begin for about two weeks, but we all know that the seasons don’t precisely follow the calendar here. Spring won’t arrive on the 21st of March, whatever the calendar may tell us.

At least we do have four seasons here. In discussions with friends, when thinking of where else we might choose to live, the lack of four distinct seasons tends to rank some other regions lower on our listing, whatever other benefits they may have.

Some of the regions that have more a moderate climate also tend to have more severe weather fluctuations, including hurricanes and tornadoes. Summers may not be long enough, and occasionally not warm enough, but at least we don’t have Auntie Em calling for us to head into the storm cellar with every other passing thunder storm.

Still, I find the somewhat protracted length of our winter less appealing than I did when I was younger. For me, a winter that consisted of December and part of January would be quite long enough, thanks.

---

Back to driving, and traffic in the Sault.

Carmen’s Way has eased some of the congestion in the downtown area, but it obviously has not done enough to alleviate the tie-ups in the Great Northern Road and Second Line area. The biggest problem is, and has been for some time, a lack of parallel routes through the north-central portion of the city.

Certainly the growth in the north end has exacerbated the problem, but it is not a new a problem. One of the contributing factors has been a lack of foresight on the part of City Councils and Planning Department over the past two or three decades.

I recall when my family moved to the then newly-developed Fort Creek subdivision. At the time, maps showed North Street extending all the way to Third Line. Around that same time, maps showed some streets in the P-Patch extending to Northern Avenue.

Obviously, these extensions never occurred.

The biggest bottleneck is, however, that Northern Avenue is the upper limit to both Pine Street and Willow Avenue.

The new Emergency Services Centre has effectively eliminated the possibility of extending Willow Avenue, as some have suggested is urgently required. I disagree, however.

Extending Willow would only ease a small proportion of the bottleneck by eliminating the need to go out to Gt Northern before turning back onto Old Garden River Road.

The real problem is the northbound traffic that is attempting to go further up Gt Northern or head down Second Line, as well as the southbound traffic coming off Second Line and heading down Gt Northern.

A connection between Willow and Old Garden River would not resolve this problem.

Sackville Road should have helped reduce this congestion, but it was never extended to Third and/or Fourth Line as it ought to have been. As well, the “Grand” street subdivision isn’t an effective thoroughfare, although many do attempt to use it as such.

Unfortunately, I don’t see any quick fixes. Existing subdivisions are obstacles to more efficient routes across the city. Even the long-overdue construction of a bridge over the Third Line gulley will only give partial relief to the congestion problem.

Residents in the Old Goulais Bay Road – Third Line area currently must choose between People’s Road or back-tracking to Fourth Line and down Gt Northern. This will do nothing to alleviate the congestion at Second Line and Gt Northern.

When (if?) the highway by-pass is finally constructed, having it connect to Second Line will only reduce the congestion in the Boundary-McNabb-Black Road area.

My feeling is that the by-pass needs to be routed further north, coming out mid-way between Third and Fourth Line.

Let’s be realistic: it’s another nine hours to Thunder Bay. Most people traveling west on Hwy 17 won’t simply zip past the Sault and keep on going to Thunder Bay. People who want a meal, fuel, or even just a break will head back into the Sault or take the 17-B Business Loop to come into the city itself.

I have never been against growth for the Sault, but I do believe we have not planned for it as carefully as we ought to have.

But… that’s just my opinion.