We were driving in Halifax, where the usual post-vacation traffic was in full swing, and where almost every artery is having some kind of work done on it.
During my driving career, I have experienced many kinds of traffic. As a new driver here in Nova Scotia, I loved nothing better than the 'lure of the open road.' I enjoyed highway driving in almost all conditions: from sunny summer afternoons to winter snowstorms. Even in urban areas, I found traffic to be quite manageable, and there were few traffic reports on the radio, except on those few occasions where there were major accidents.
My first job after graduation took me Ottawa, where I learned what was meant by real traffic congestion: I lived in Centre Town and had to drive about 8 miles (and it was' miles' in those days) to work. It was usually not too bad because I studied maps and found less-travelled routes.
But, the radio traffic helicopter reports always referred to slow rush hour traffic on 'The Queensway,' the major east-west elevated traffic corridor.
Montreal traffic is a different topic, altogether! For one, you were allowed to make a right turn after stopping at a red light. If you hesitated, as folks from out-of-province often did, the car horn behind you spurred you into action. Radio reports highlighted congestion on the East-West 'Boulevard Metropolitain,' as well as the 'Champlain' and 'Mercier' bridges over the St.Lawrence River, and 'Louis-Hyppolityte-Lafontaine Tunnel,' under it, toward the South Shore.(Love those names, unless you are stuck in traffic.)
Today, a 50,000-watt radio station, CKAC-730, features 'all traffic, all the time.' The drivers certainly need the help!
Toronto has its own traffic problems (understatement). Highway 4-0-1, which, in some sections, has 18 lanes, features bumper-to-bumper traffic (as seen on the Internet traffic cameras) for most of 30 km. Most of the vehicles you see are white-box trucks, which were not as plentiful when I was driving there.
In the mid-70s, I got to spend an entire year driving in Boston. Let me tell you that the word survived seems more to the point!
My daily commute was only about 8 miles, a winding route between Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown (scene of the police-terrorist shootout following the Boston Marathon bombing), and the campus of Boston College in Chestnut Hill. Finding a parking space on campus was a nightmare, even with a 'Special' sticker. Legend had it that B.C. sold double the n\iumber of parking stickers than spaces available! I managed the commute okay, but Boston presented a few traffic features I had seldom seen in Canada, up to that time:
-- driving on Route 128 (the circumferential, six-lane highway, a neat semi-circle, 10 miles west of downtown) was an aggressive activity, not for the faint of heart. You had to know your route of travel, and never hesitate in the face of daily construction projects.
-- large potholes were everywhere, even on such main streets as Commonwealth Avenue, and were sometimes not repaired for months.
-- double parking was rampant in business areas.
I began to use that practice to my advantage, especially during school breaks when we had to transport students to/from the bus station downtown or Logan Airport: the school maintained a fleet of large late-model station wagons, with the name of the school on the side doors. The trick was to 'make a deal' with the zealous traffic officer on site, who would graciously allow me to park the wagon (turning on the blinking warning lights) in order to escort the students into or out of the terminal.
It's amazing how many times the rules were 'mellowed' when the officer saw the word, 'blind.'
No comments:
Post a Comment