Editor:
I am writing share a recent commute with you. I love working so close to home, however over the last 10 months the traffic has become a major impediment to getting home, despite carpooling with my husband.
At 4 p.m. when I pulled onto River Road the traffic stopped in front of the Canadreams RV center. Travel time from that point was 21 minutes to the entrance to Deas Island Regional Park, a distance of less than two kilometres.
Travel time from Deas Island to the intersection at 62B Street and 60th Avenue took an additional 24 minutes. Travel time from that intersection to the overpass for Highway 99 took another seven minutes.
That's 52 minutes to travel four kilometres.
The entire drive from River Road and 72nd Street I was either at a complete stop or crawling along a few feet at a time on an idle.
This gridlock is not practical, nor safe for anyone trying to get home for an emergency. If there was an industrial accident in the Tilbury area, how would the ambulance transport patients to the hospital in Ladner (or Vancouver?) when the traffic on River Road and 62B Street is not moving and there is nowhere for the cars to pull over?
Clearly the ambulance would have to travel in the oncoming lane to bypass the gridlock, or along the farm roads.
It is making business in the Tilbury park difficult for employers as everyone knows how awful it is to get out of the park at the end of the day. It is becoming more difficult for businesses to find employees for this area. We all fear an accident at either end of the industrial area because then traffic becomes just that much worse.
I have made several complaints to different government levels regarding this problem only to be told the traffic lights are cycling as they are supposed to and the problem is caused by volume.
I find this hard to believe when the right hand lane heading to the tunnel is moving faster than the lane travelling straight across the highway onto Highway 17. Common sense would dictate the traffic headed to the tunnel should be slower due to having to merge into the traffic on Highway 99. Traffic heading straight onto Highway 17 that is clear of congestion should move faster.
The problem is clearly due to the large trucks travelling along this route to the container port that are unable to start moving as quickly and clear the intersection before the light turns red again. This creates a great deal of frustration with the other drivers and they begin to block the intersection at 62B Street and 60th Avenue.
Drivers will also drive in the right lane and then cut in to the left lane to go straight over the highway because the right lane moves more quickly. It creates a chain reaction, causing longer and longer delays before people can drive through the intersections.
If the three lights in this short distance were timed to allow the semi trucks to continue driving rather than having to stop at each one the traffic congestion would be eased.
On a recent morning commute the HOV lane on Highway 17 was at a complete standstill while the two lanes on the highway continued to move at a reasonable pace. The reason? The light for traffic heading towards River Road was red so long the HOV lane was backed up down the highway. The HOV lane is supposed to reduce your commute, not cause longer delays.
Amanda Kinneard
