After you, Alphonse

We don't see much of this in our part of Canada anyway - a two-lane road with one lane closed for road repairs, and a traffic light allowing traffic to use the one remaining lane taking alternating turns.

Usually, our roads are wide enough to allow a detour onto the shoulder. This practice is however common in Europe, where they don't typically have that luxury.

This shot was taken on Highway 25, north of Milton. The accompany sign says the construction is for "culvert repairs" and the installation of a left turn lane.

The coincidence that it is a left-turn lane from northbound 25 into Chudleigh's Apple Farm and that our local MPP is Ted Chudleigh shouldn't worry anyone unduly - the Glencairn Golf Course just north of here got its own left-turn lane, Chudleigh's has been here a lot longer than the golf course, and there's more traffic going into it as well, especially now as apple-picking season has just begun. Not sure it will be finished in time for this season though.

Another sign shows that you should expect a 3 minute wait at this red light, but of course that doesn’t take into account how long the light had been red before you got there.

Here's how they do it in Newfoundland. They have a count-down timer which tells you exactly how long you have to wait. It's showing 51 seconds here. Clever, that.

Oh, and please - WAIT! One of my kids was in the line one evening, when some yo-yo in a pick-up truck either was unclear on the concept, drunk, or both. He pulled out of the line and started roaring down the single lane, right into the face of on-coming traffic. Only emergency manoeuvres by quick-thinking drivers avoided a very ugly situation.

Comments

[James]

Maybe if construction/road work areas were more clear, this "yo-yo" wouldn't have pulled such an idiotic move. Sure, your article doesn't exactly prove my point (how hard can it be to interpret such a scenario?). However, take, for example, my personal experience: Driving home in East York on a Thursday morning, I noticed a road crew parked on the side of the road. Their purpose was unclear, however their true motives became known after stepping out of my vehicle: They had been painting the road lines, and unfortunately for me, the paint had been strewn across the side of my van after I drove over them. Luckily I drive a 13 year-old Mercury Villager (being 17 years old myself, I don't have much of a budget), but what if I piloted a $80,000 Mercedes-Benz? I'm sure I wouldn't take the situation quite as lightly.