OP/ED: Rage against the commute
By Nik Green
The benefits of living in a major centre such as Vancouver are dwindling in my mind. I realized this as I just gave up on a typical "city like" day today and simply went home to stream this column out into the net with a light dusting of road rage sprinkled over top. If it's between this harmless little pocket of the internet and seeing me drive over construction workers on CBC News tonight, I think I'm making the right choice to vent my rage through this innocuous forum.
Today started out like most any other day with one simple goal: to go to work. It should have been an easy task. That is of course unless you live in Richmond. The wizards at the City of Richmond (who already owes me four tires) seem to really enjoy messing with traffic patterns just to make your commute a little more of an adventure.
To get out of south Richmond and head north you are left with a couple of major arteries. The No. 6 road and Highway 99/91. Someone must have thought it'd be just hysterical to have both roads undergo road works simultaneously. Even better it's arranged so you can't tell that you have missed the turnoff to head east until you are on your way to Vancouver.
In most municipalities it would easy enough to re-route, but Richmond streets are a lot like a game of Snake and Ladders where you will make progress only to regress past your initial start point. The fact that 90 percent of side roads dead end into a sea of address free, Mandarin worded signage does not help navigation whatsoever.
I certainly don't bail on entire days just because of traffic mind you. Today it took the addition of some painful attempts at texting my co-workers that failed and sent me from the frustration of Office Space to the heightened rage of Falling Down, which I might add deserves a repeat visit if it has been a few years since you watched this fantastic Michael Douglas flick.
Since skewering all of the major cities on my recent trek across Canada, I have been far less tolerable of the unacceptable system of roads we endure daily down here. Toronto handles its massive flow of traffic with ease, and even Halifax, which has the most bizarre roadway structure I have ever seen, functions well in comparison to Vancouver's labyrinth of mayhem.
The frequency in which three lanes will funnel into one, and one will fade into a deer path, and a deer path will merge into a piece of Hot Wheels track is far too high to be ignored. Reasonable excuses for our inept roads fell by the wayside a decade ago. The bloating population has been an issue for the majority of my lifetime and should be handled more effectively than this. Any rationale utilizing the "tax base" excuse can be totally disregarded. Anyone who makes the drive from Richmond to Vancouver will see more quality German cars than they would on the Autobahn. I don't buy finances as viable excuse.
A simple re-appointment of some higher-ups in the road works departments would certainly be a step in the right direction. Simple common sense concepts such as timing lights to ensure flow have been used in every other major centre to great effect. Planning construction to not barricade people in the butt-end of Richmond would be a heck of a novel idea.
The next time you are sitting at one of the four traffic lights in Grand Forks please think of how nice you have it. Meanwhile think of me as I am likely trying to make a left from Granville onto Smythe while chewing through my cell phone and rationalizing Michael Douglas' actions.
