OK, it’s rant time.
I’m a big proponent of many things that make Chatham-Kent so special. From the people, to the events, to the weather and our geographical location, I love it here.
But other things make me laugh, shake my head and at times ponder road rage. The issues I’m about to rant about aren’t isolated to C-K, but it appears we have done our best to perfect these imperfections.
Are the turn signals in half the cars, vans and trucks in this municipality broken? Because they are used too infrequently. These things aren’t optional additions on your vehicles, folks. They’re there for a reason.
Whether it’s a lane change or a turn into a driveway or onto another street, please flick the lever and let drivers around you know your intentions.
Too often, I’m greeted by sudden brake lights in front of me, followed by a sharp turn.
And then there are the folks who think their vehicle is the only one on the road, or at least the only one that matters.
These are the people who apparently view driving laws and parking bylaws as applicable to everyone else but them. I’m talking about the wide-left and wide-right turn people, the garage sale addicts who park on the wrong side of the road or right at a corner just to check out a possible bargain, the parking-lot ignoramuses, and the drive-thru addicts.
I’m told that if you turn left onto a four-lane road and illegally cross immediately to the far lane, that’s called a “Chatham Left.” The correct way of turning left is to turn into the left lane. If you want to get into the right lane, then establish yourself in the left lane first and then move over when it’s safe to do so, not immediately.
The same goes with a right turn onto a multi-lane road. Don’t go straight into the left lane.
The crazy nature of some of our roadways doesn’t help, I must admit. Many cities in Ontario have a “crazy corners,” a point where the roads just don’t intersect well. In Chatham, mention “crazy corners,” with a group of friends and chances are they’ll each be thinking of a different intersection.
There’s Richmond-Queen-Park streets. It may actually be the least “crazy” of them all, as it is pretty straight forward, or so it seems.
Raleigh-Wellington-Second-Third streets. About every third or fourth driver has no idea who has the right of way where Raleigh and Wellington collide.
Emma-Dover-St. Clair-Third streets. This one’s downright chaotic on a Friday afternoon, especially with the Fifth Street Bridge out. We are located on Dover and I have NEVER tried to turn left onto Third from our street, let alone now. Yet some people do.
And I’ve seen some folks come out of Emma Street looking to head across Third and down Dover. That’s a blind corner.
Dover-Thames-Victoria. One of my biggest pet peeve corners when the Fifth Street Bridge is open. Victoria Avenue drivers think their exhaust doesn’t stink. If you are heading north on Thames Street after crossing the bridge and put your signal on (yes, some of us do use them!) to turn left onto Dover Street, almost everyone I’ve ever encountered heading south on Victoria assumes you are turning onto their road and pull out in front of you.
Driving habits in C-K are questionable at times, but we can’t forget parking efforts as well.
Yard sales are great ways to clear out clutter for the homeowner, and fine opportunities to discover a deal on used items, but they invariably lead to horrible parking.
Most of our streets only allow for parking on one side. To some people, such bylaws aren’t suddenly suspended because of a yard sale!
“Tex” and “Edna” are out for their Saturday morning yard sale spectacular – hitting dozens of yard sales. And when they arrive at a busy sale, rather than find an open legal parking spot, they will do one of several things: park on the wrong side of the road, park across the driveway itself, or both.
And how about the folks who ignore the painted lines on parking lots? You know, the ones that show you where to park and where to drive.
The worst place is the Real Canadian Superstore parking lot on St. Clair. I have no idea who designed the lot in that plaza overall, but that certainly is part of the problem. Still, drivers need to work with what they are given, not blaze their own trail.
Because the “roadways” within the parking lot don’t line up, some people just opt to drive across parking spots rather than follow the roadways. When you have some of us who actually follow those roadways, and you add a lot of traffic on a busy day, it can be confusing and dangerous.
Those yellow lines are in place for a reason, folks.
As I have mentioned, the design of some of the parking lots and intersections only augment the problems. It’s the same in neighbourhoods, where the urban planners appear allergic to straight lines. Oh, you may have nice straight roads running east and west, but are greeted by short jaunts north and south. Every block or two, you have to jerk the wheel to go around one corner, only to have to jerk it back the other way to resume your intended direction.
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, Mr. or Mrs. Urban Planner!
Don’t even get me started on unnecessary stop signs. That rant is for another day.
