The Times Colonist running a series on traffic in the CRD this week.
After living in London and Vancouver, it is amusing to me think that people think that there are traffic issues in this city.
In London I worked just off of Oxford Street. Our office had about 50 staff. There were 2 parking spots for the whole company. You had to drive the car into an elevator to park it in the basement. At Elan Computing everyone commuted via public transit - everyone.
I also remember one very early morning having to drive my parents from North London to Heathrow. It was about 6 am in the morning and there was no traffic. It was amazing, the trip to the airport took 20 minutes instead of an hour to an hour and half.
The traffic in London was stunningly clogged. There was really no point in owning a car.
In Vancouver in the 1994/95 I spend some time working as a truck driver for a company. The traffic in the city is much less problematic than London, but still it had its moments.
Here in Victoria, I have seen almost nothing that I would call a traffic issue. Yes, there is a some backup along the number 1 during rush hour, but nothing very dramatic, nothing that takes any long time to get through. I do not see the issues of traffic here.
There are some changes that could be made to make things flow better.
1 - Make Mackenzie from #17 to #1 a freeway and make a proper freeway interchange at Mackenzie and #1
2 - look at how to deal with the traffic flow over the Bay Street bridge. Also look at the traffic flow along Craigflower
3 - Craigflower and Admirals - this needs help, but short of twinning the Old Island Highway and Admirals through to #1, I am not sure what one would do.
Really, all the issues are things people could live with.
1 comment:
The traffic around Mayfair at busy times (for example, rush hour late in December) is as bad as anything I see in Vancouver. Douglas Street can get seriously clogged from Bay Street right through to Town & Country. You're making decent time and then all of a sudden it takes you 15 minutes to go three or four blocks.
But the problem isn't there all day and even when it is there it's only for a distance of little more than a mile, so you're right when you say it's no big deal, really. And much of the congestion could be eliminated simply by prohibiting left turns off of Tolmie and also by making it illegal to cut across Finlayson between Nanaimo Street and Mayfair's parking lot. Even if only during busy times.
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