Want to solve gridlock? Put brakes on red tape

Traffic congestion is the biggest issue facing major cities as 2017 draws to a close. Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock knows about the problems trying to move cars around Toronto and other large urban centres. There are simply too many cars jammed onto roads designed to handle less than half of today’s volumes.

In the Big Smoke the answer seems to be experiments that make the situation worse from the get-go.

One of these is to tighten the space where cars may travel in favour of bike lanes. On some streets the lanes replace parking spaces so nearby businesses face an uncertain future.

Don’t get me wrong here, I’m all for the use of bicycles if they help move people in congested areas. But if you commute to Bay Street from Orangeville, your trip is a tad long for biking.

Another new tactic is to greatly reduce car travel in favour of street cars on a major thoroughfare. Early reports say public transit is moving better, but I’ve yet to see a report on the congestion in nearby streets.

Smaller cities are dealing with their own traffic problems, including one where improvements are clear but can’t be implemented for months because of red tape.

Owen Sound (pop 21,341) has traffic congestion on one east-west artery, particularly at the intersection with the main north-south drag. The traffic tie-ups could never be mistaken for those in Toronto but during what local wags call the “rush minute,” you’d be forgiven for thinking this intersection had been transplanted to Mississauga or Barrie.

The latest in a long series of traffic consultants suggested some simple changes at the intersection. Although simple, the changes apparently constitute a major undertaking in the bureaucratic wonderland in which we all are condemned to live our lives.

The city plans to eliminate split phasing of lights, which allows vehicles travelling in one direction to go through or turn left during an entire green light cycle.

Obviously split phasing leaves a lot of vehicles heading in the opposite direction sitting and spilling pollution for an extended period while drivers fidget and fume.

The split phasing will be replaced by the more common advance green lights.

In addition to the traffic lights, the plan will ban left turns during peak hours. How’s that for a no-brainer?

These improvements were approved by city council a few weeks ago, but drivers won’t see the changes until well into the spring. The city has a lot of its own and provincially-dictated red tape to wade through, such as approval of appropriate bylaws, etc.

Then the kicker: Because the east-west street is deemed a highway connecting link, the changes have to be approved by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.

One official described that step to a reporter this way: “That’s a fairly lengthy process. It’s not something that will happen overnight.”

So here we have a provincial government that gives lip service to environmental causes while allowing i-dotting and t-crossing to keep more cars idling for longer periods at one intersection in one small city.

No wonder the province is in trouble. This relatively minor issue carries a big message. It’s about streamlining traffic flow, which is no small matter. But it illustrates a much greater need; the need to streamline the bureaucracy. jimmerriam@hotmail.com