Editorial: Be-calmed traffic

There’s a proper traffic jam out front, and without a single sheep in sight. 

For readers fortunate enough not to have noticed, construction on Fulford-Ganges Road between Cranberry Road and Seaview Avenue has officially entered its alternating-one-lane-traffic stage, and — at least between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the first week — it’s led to a few frustrations. 

From our vantage point on Fulford-Ganges Road, we’re among those with a front-row seat to the traffic back-ups, and we’re happy to credit both flaggers and drivers as we watched emergency vehicles pass by largely unhindered. 

For those without lights and a siren, however, it’s an exercise in patience. The delays can be long — reportedly adding as much as a half hour to some Salt Springers’ commutes — and just one person needing to turn left off the main road (or worse still, trying to turn left onto it) can make the backup longer still.  

While it looked a little better managed as we went to press Monday afternoon, we’re all going to have to try harder to not block driveways and side streets, or to at least pay close attention and leave enough room between vehicles to sort something out on the fly.  

But, as they say, we’re not really stuck in traffic — we are the traffic.  

It’s easier to believe there are truly thousands of cars using that road every day when a few moments’ pause backs them up to Beddis. Perhaps, living on a small island, we’ve been lulled by the relatively short distances into thinking a quick trip into town, no matter how often repeated, can’t possibly contribute to a traffic problem; perhaps our independent spirits have pushed things like carpooling too far from our minds. 

When construction is finished, we’ll have fresh surfaces, excellent drainage and shoulders wide enough for bicycles and pedestrians to feel a little more confident about their safety. For drivers, at least for the foreseeable future, there’s literally no getting around the road work. Those with flexible plans would be most helpful in exercising a choice to consolidate trips to town and people in vehicle seats, using transit, walking or cycling — the latter with extreme care, of course — until the project is hopefully completed next year.