Raise the Hammer

I am one of those apparently irrational people who has lived in a lot of other cities before coming here, and regards the one ways as absurd. The absurd consequences are not restricted to unusual occurrences; they are every day. In 2001, the city decided it would normalize Wentworth. In 2015, it has yet to allocate any money to that end. Wentworth is three lanes southbound. It is mostly empty, which is a waste of space, a waste of money, a waste of opportunity, and encourages fast driving. I live on Grant Avenue, which is a two way residential street running parallel to Wentworth a block west. Because King and Main are also one way, anyone who wants to go west has to get down to King. They can't go north to King on Wentworth; it goes the wrong way. They come down Grant instead. Every day. Truck traffic on your neighborhood street is one of the perks of living downtown. They don't get that in Ancaster. Grant is relatively narrow for two way traffic and curbside parking. That's not really a problem, because it encourages people to slow down, which is good public policy in a residential neighborhood. On the other hand, Wentworth is mostly empty. Why is Wentworth mostly empty? Because it is one way. Why is Grant, a narrow residential street, used as a through street? Because Wentworth is one way (together with King and Main being one way). Now, it would be good public policy to disincentive through traffic on residential side streets. But the policy enjoyed by residents of the inner city actually encourages through traffic on residential streets, by making it impossible for people to use the empty lanes on the thoroughfares. Did I mention that the city decided to normalize Wentworth in 2001? That's before I moved here, but I think it's more recent than 1950.

Comment edited by j.servus on 2015-04-25 11:03:41