Life im the slow jane LYNN Valley resident Rishi Deo Sharma is retired yet remains a Srustrated commuter: “Since my retirement last year, one of my daily itineraries is to convey my wife from Lynn Valley to Burnaby General Hospital where she works. ‘Two trips a day, 36 minutes in the morning another 30 in the afternoon. “The experience of the first day of Second Narrows mainte- nance work has given us a thor- ough jolt. “We left slightly earlier than usual at 7 a.m., down Mountain -Highway, the basic and normal route. At 18th Street, the red spiked markers indicated two distinct lanes, the faster one for cyclists, buses and cars with three or more persons, and the other appeared for those ione drivers with one passenger. This lane in fact is dedicated to unde- . Sirables or the polluters of the ' environment. “I gave a very pathetic look to the person with stop and slow sign, anticipating his favors for a retired chap ferrying his wife to work, seeking entrance to the faster lane. He gave a second gentle look and then concentrat- ed on the car behind me. In my rear vision mirror I noticed a couple most likely married and | looked slightly younger than us. I kept in my undesirable lane. “Lots of. thought came to mind as how to cheat the system: Thought of my grandchildren ¢ but they are at school, dumm "large doll would do, or giving someone a ride — normally, practice is often avoided and sudden change to allow someone “Since the car was alm sta. tionary, time for thought @ future planning appeared ex . less, but constant nagging’of.1 : wife getting late to work dis -turbed my other imaginatio All the cars kept their engines running, my thought went to: owners of the gas cates, get Safeway and others; Who cares 3. about cars emitting toxic fares, the trees in North Van take care of that.” “From i8th Street t012th, ° took us half an hour, The ears fn. our lane remained'stagnant. The faster lane during this speli only graced three buses aud about two dozen cars with more smil- ing faces ond as for the cyclists, they appeared a.rare breed. “Peopiz in our lane appeared furious but controlled, turning - their heads or ‘stretching their. hands to relax. To my delight from the car. behind me, the lady. occupant got out. 1 told my. wife she might {oin making us three legal persons but to my @smay she opened the back door of her ar and | Glsappeared in the back seat." By. the time we reached the Winter Club, it was,45 minutes om the road. Eventually we reached Burnaby Hospital at’ $:45 aam., my. wife already one heur. late. : “My ‘return journey home took another 45 minutes, arriy- ing at 9:30 a.m. sharp. The morning trip tock me two hours, 30 minutes. “In the above circumstances 1 ‘woud request that the authori- ties should consider two persons as ninimum requirements for | the faster fane.” : Sunday, June 16, 1996 — North Shore News - 3 “A highways employee mans a manhole’ on the Second Narrows bridge deck. Bridge. work continues to Aug. 15. Car pool (three or more people) by calling 879-RIDE. WE’RE 11 days } Of. All Rush. Hours. Temper . Divers are bugged. The’asphalt -and sticky: ~ and too. many sould roa a ne oked tin: *: The: News‘ would: 0 : Forward all eau’ your. iname; a iichecls et telephone noe ch t e News | chloe sailing 7 have to. say: bout the: Second: Narrows. aie: _Waffic ic ‘For mor letters'see page 5. 5 adventures “IVAN Hnanitk moves freely fram hie ) ings : >. . “By coincidence Fcame to be in -. gtances; necessity oud blind ack “A fitness regimen was non-existent aid time’ at a premium. What to do? I act al ' hecats? 1 already have'a bike, helmet and cycling gear to do a commute. Add to that a’ k _ er, change faciiity and s'sécu! bike tock nh at work. anil Bley cle commuting suddenly 1¢ an obvious éptton. ’ downtown Vancoaver.was unde? 30 minutes. Better. than a 30-minute bus ride or 4s iby car, ‘and I pocket $22 a month that was tagged for a bus pass. “Now it has become a gaine to see if 1 can improve my time on the trip to work, each day | (cuirrent best is 28:45). 07%: : . “The climb home {sa “challenge, | but hey, I’nt in go rush. [Cs a great transition froin ‘the stress at work (o relaxation at home.) - ““As with everything there are ‘challenges and negatives. The sidewalk surface across: Lions Gate and along the causeway, leaves alot to be desired. “As for my bus buddies on #240-241:.1 miss you. When the winter monsoons descend this autumn you may see me back « on the bus and we can catch up on our summer adventures.” ' “ast ‘Extend cycling. and walking lanes . “LOWER Lonsdale-aréa resident Ken’ ‘WicKenzie offers this suggestion: - “The result of the bicycle lane traffic:tie-up on the Burrard bridge in Vancouver and the work on the Ironworkers Memorial bridge has caused me to wonder why bridges such * as these cannot have au attractive bicycle and walking lane extended to either or both .. Sides of the bridge and therefore’ ta increase the capacity of the existing structures.” ormally: takes 20 On Thiiraday, it took: i hoer and’a port the My an hs ror biug ie fg: say rectvatioas what th eiceeded oy by, the ir apparent , was obvious from ‘the briefest look at the work in . that working only at night ‘unrealistic. Just lock at what is being done, and ask yourself: How terms of steel, concrete, and ssphalt) could a builder turn the Janes that are under construction inio safe roadways for a full load of rush hour traffic every 24 hours? This is not a case of resurfacing . phalt ¢ on a ground level road, where a ‘pateh at each end of the ved grea will do the job. “What ls being fixed here is the tructural skeleton of the bridge. ° gzing up a temporary fix each day uring the surgery.makes about as miich sense ‘a8 suspending work on a )pitcher’s ‘proken arm each time his steam comes in from the field so that out to the mound end “Let | pretend that the builders could contrive structurally trustwor- " ‘thy. patches in four hours at the end " ofeach ork night, and could them in four hours at the ng of the next work night eas ". (but'don’t'ask me how), This would feave only.two working hours ina ‘night that lasts from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. ‘This would stretch two months of - 24-hour work into two years. “Finally, consider the fact that " my car-pool! partner and I z pave up ; counting on Thursday morning ufter seeing only three cars in 20 minutes _ that had more than one person in them. ‘That incredible inefficiency is not the ministry’s fault. “Jt does not take a lot of project management expertise to see that the cost of contelying a sound roadway each morning and taking it apart each night would be greater than the cost of actually fixing the bridge.”