Area map
My understanding is, if you are working on a problem that is difficult to solve, taking a break and then going back later may help with finding a solution.
I just returned from a vacation, to discover my neighbourhood was different. The rhythmic slap of the car wheels passing over the cracks in the pavement was gone. When I hear that sound it reminds me that the song “Jive Talking” by the Bee Gees. The song was patterned after the chunka-chunka-chunka sound of a car rolling over the Biscayne Bay bridge crossing near Miami.
New asphalt on St. Mary’s Road.
It appears while I was away the west side section of St. Mary’s Road between Normand Road and Burland Avenue was resurfaced with asphalt. It is amazing how problems are solved when you walk away from them.
I suspect the motivation for the resurfacing might be the new living complexes that are being constructed in that area. I also think maybe the taxes the residents of Van Hall Estates and Normand Park pay the city may have had some influence.
No matter what, it nice to be home, refreshed after vacation. I was disappointed to discover I wasn’t getting a refund from the city for a traffic violation. Well actually, I was happy I never got the speeding ticket in the first place.
Photo radar at construction zones seems unethical. Before you hurl rocks at me for my comment, let me explain. I am all in for supporting initiatives that make life safer for workers. The health and safety of workers has to be protected in law or employers would have never stopped using children in coal mines.
I spoke to one of the companies that provides support for drivers who are faced with traffic violations impacting their merits. The company estimates they have received 500 calls regarding tickets at the Kenaston construction site since the zone was established. They are fielding calls about the construction zone tickets every day. Drivers are still being ticketed, the city is just not being generous with a refund since the error was corrected.
The companies that represent traffic violation ticket holders are confused. They have been unsuccessful in getting tickets dismissed for the omission the city is using to refund the tickets. Maybe a prosperous weekend of ticket revenue is am anomaly the city felt it needed to correct. Don’t want to look like were making money off traffic violations, just a steady revenue is fine.
The photo radar was established to deter drivers from exceeding the speed limit in construction zones. Hmm…over two thousand tickets in less than a week; not much deterrence there. Did you notice the dates were over a weekend, and a long one at that.
I’m frustrated by road construction. I see road signs to slow down kilometres before I see any construction workers. I slow down for construction signs and discover not a soul working. I know road crews don’t work weekends, so why are the construction signs relevant. I slow down and it looks like I am parked, as all the other vehicles go whipping by me.
I once believed photo radar was unethical because I was ignorant of the law and the changes introduced in May. In an accidental death of Brittany Murray, a Manitoba road construction worker, no one was held responsible. The judge in the case said the driver’s actions were reasonable.
It can be frustrating
The changes that we should know about were made to ensure the regulations were legally airtight. The enforcement at the moment seems to be on overdrive. Road construction can still be frustrating but the law has changed and I needed to change with it.
My summer vacation was on the island of Newfoundland. I heard a Newfie joke about an undertaker not getting paid for the burial of a mother. He calls the family and tells them, “If I don’t receive payment by the end of the week, up she comes!”
I am relieved to hear the city say photo radar is not a money grab. I feared the city could say, ‘Without the revenue to pay for the asphalt on St. Mary’s Road “Up she comes!”‘ and that song would be back in my head.
