Just out of curiosity...

Recently, I've been spending some time taking a look at the 'Fruitland Road Issue'. You know, the one regarding truck traffic. And an apparently long-promised bypass, turning the road into a cul-de-sac at Barton, quality-of-Life issues (rumbling windows, noise, exhaust fumes), and a –from my perspective– tagged-on 'safety issue'.

I read everything that was available at the Stoney Creek News site, as well as from other online resources. I had some frank conversations with 'people-in-the-know'.

While I don't claim to understand the entire issue, and am in no way declaring myself an 'expert', I sure feel like I 'get it' more than I did before I took the time to do my investigating.

What did I learn?

Hmm...

Well, I learned more about conflation, about how common it is.

I learned about how major a fuel emotion can be when one side of an 'argument' is being expressed, and how this fuel super-charges, making the engine race into the red-zone in no-time-flat. (And, no surprise here: it does nothing for the stability of the vehicle.)

I learned how hard it is for people to retain their objectivity when so much angst- and anxiety- and enmity-infused time passes. (Consider as well just how many administrations on various levels of government have been in power over the forty years in question, not to mention the amalgamations that have taken place.)

I learned how a pet phrase of mine can come to be a huge component of the way in which things unfold, and also how people conduct themselves: 'People want what they want.'

I learned that what I would have expected to be information essential to having a full and in-depth discussion...wasn't part of the process. Some of it hadn't even been considered.

I was also reminded of how true the adage is 'There's three sides to every story: yours...mine...and The Truth.'

(I also felt a small amount of bemusement when I was able to provide some information of my own: I lived 'out there in the late-60s/early-70s, so I remember stuff that many currently in the fray weren't even aware of. tee-hee)

I was speaking about all this with a friend today. And at one point, I think this is what I said/asked/opined:

"Given that it's such a short stretch of road -1000 meters as I measure it from Barton Street to Highway #8- as a short-term measure, until the inevitable bypass is constructed, why isn't the speed limit reduced to 40Km/h?"

I live in the Centennial Parkway area. Trucks (as well as almost all regular traffic) constantly speed in this 50 Km/h zone, so I'd put good money on there being just as much of an incidence-rate of speeding on Fruitland Road.

A speeding truck is:

-noisier

-causes more 'rumbling'

-generally more 'disruptive' in all ways to the quality-of-Life in a residential area.

A truck reduced in speed from 50 to 40 Km/h is:

-not going to find this 20% reduction having any appreciable decrease in profitability over a 1000 meter stretch...and quite frankly, if its driver believes this to be the case, then seriously; remedial training efforts need to be imposed for the trucker and his employer, because this notion is entirely specious, given the breadth of the potential benefits. (For the record, my abacus tells me it tags on an additional 20-or-so seconds to the trip. Wow; that's a profit-margin scorcher. Not.)

Frankly, this stop-gap solution (and let's not pretend this is anything but a temporary measure) to me is so obvious a one that I'm kinda scratchin' my head as to why bigger brains than mine hadn't thought of it and instituted the damned thing years ago. Surely a lot of grief could have been prevented.

So; I'm going to be making a few of the players involved in this issue aware of this post, and my suggestion, because quite frankly, I think it's a hellova lot better a suggestion than having a traffic embargo from 7pm to 7am. I'll be curious to hear their responses...and just how many elements of what I've mentioned above, 'the things I learned', will be reinforced.