I needed to go to Toronto today, and had to cross King Street in Waterloo at the start of my trip. But there was a run of some sort going down King, and cars weren't allowed to cross. I tried two intersections before I found one that even had a possibility of crossing, but even then the cop directing traffic only let a car through when there were no runners nearby. It took forever.
Waterloo talks the big talk about getting people to move downtown and create density nodes and all that, but then there is no respect for downtown residents. Any sort of traffic obstruction is okay on Sundays because businesses are closed. But hello! We live here, and we need to get around on Sunday too.
What would happen if you put a marathon through a suburb, blocking people from getting out of their neighbourhoods in their cars? Or past the big box stores or in the mall parking lot? We'll never know because nobody would ever do it. But downtown seems fair game for any kind of disruption. It sucks.
7 comments:
Find a marathon that doesn't go through a major part of a city.
So drive north to northfield or south to union, life is rough when your in your car.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more silly your complaint seems. In any city you deal with events on the main streets. Parades, runs, markets, buskerfests etc. If you want to never be disturbed by civic activities, don't live in a downtown.
Hi Anonymous,
Parades, buskerfests, carless Sundays all have some major differences. One, they provide entertainment, not just an obstruction. Two, provision is made for cars to get across intersections.
In this case I was picking up a handicapped person who was waiting for me in a parking garage. I gave myself 10 minutes more than I needed to get there but I was still very late. Once I got stuck in the traffic jam I couldn't move to find another route. I live uptown but I received no notice that the streets would be obstructed.
Actually, I find parades to be pretty boring. Buckerfest sometimes entertaining, but not often.
Races I find more fun, and they have the advantage of encouraging healthy activity.
Then again, I accept that not everyone finds the same things enjoyable that I do.
Perhaps next time they should seek your approval?
I didn't see any spectators on King Street in uptown Waterloo. There were cops directing traffic and there were runners: that was it. Presumably there was a finishing line somewhere... I could see putting that in a central location. Having the route go through the uptown - esepcially with no notification to residents - is the problem.
Yappa 1, Anonymous 0
Post a Comment