Right-hand lane isn’t an option

The recent letters to the editor arguing the pros and cons of driving in the lefthand lane, particularly on Whitemud Drive, fail to take into consideration the unique circumstances which force drivers to use that lane for long distances, unable to switch to the right lanes even when it is probably safer to do so.

I refer to the awkward configuration of the off-ramps to Terwilliger Drive and the northbound on-ramp to Whitemud.

I live in southwest Edmonton and I am forced to use these ramps. We have to use the left lane to get off the Whitemud and, when traffic is heavy, we need to be in the left-hand lane as soon as we can so that we don’t miss our exit.

I loathe having to drive the Whitemud and only do so when absolutely necessary. I avoid West Edmonton Mall because of it and I still wonder, after 25 years of having to use that darn freeway, why the powers-thatbe chose to build those offramps the way they did.

I’m sure they had their reasons — technical and practical — but it still rankles, and I only wish and hope that the impatient drivers gnashing their teeth at us slowpokes trying to get off the Whitemud would realize that we do it of necessity and not from a desire to teach other drivers a lesson in following the speed limit.

So, if someone is travelling in the left lane of the Whitemud around Terwilliger Drive, please give them a break. They just might be hapless residents of the otherwise pleasant southwest region of the city, trying to get home safely.

Ruth B. Hempsey, Edmonton