Every action has a reaction, particularly when it comes to traffic.
I certainly don't envy the task facing engineers these days when they're continually asked to devise ways to keep more and more vehicles flowing along roadways that can only accommodate so much traffic.
Last month, in an effort to help Crescent Island farmers get in and out of their fields in a timely manner during harvest season, Delta implemented a series of traffic measures to keep Tilbury area commuters out of the farm zone.
It's hard to argue with initiatives that are implemented to ensure farmers' livelihoods are sustained, but the moves meant long lines along River Road and 62B Street during the afternoon rush became even longer.
The understandable frustration voiced by those inching along in that congestion on a daily basis resulted in a change to the signal lights at the approach to the George Massey Tunnel. That low-tech action, which keeps the light green longer for 62B Street drivers and has improved their plight to some degree, has created, you guessed it, a reaction with others that also use that interchange.
Now drivers heading north on Highway 99 that take the Highway 17 exit to get to Ladner, Tsawwassen and the ferry terminal must wait longer to make their left turn. This, in turn, backs up traffic down the off-ramp and onto the highway, a procession so lengthy and so slow moving that it can make your wife a half-hour late for a bank appointment on a Friday afternoon.
Even the Highway 10 exit from northbound Highway 99 can now back up as drivers look to circumvent the inhospitable situation that awaits a few kilometres away.
Pushing traffic congestion from one spot to the next is obviously not the answer, so hopefully the opening of the South Fraser Perimeter Road late next year can provide some relief.
Tilbury traffic will be able to access the new highway from its back door, providing many with an easier exit. Drivers headed to Tsawwassen and the port should be able to bypass the tunnel congestion completely, while those bound for Ladner should find far less traffic to battle.
Those needing to go northbound through the tunnel, well, you'll have easier access to Highway 99, but with one lane through the tube, I don't see that commute getting any better.
It's by no means perfect, but at least the SFPR offers engineers some additional asphalt in their ongoing struggle to keep vehicles moving around this region.
