Having a five-minute commute from home to work was a big part of why I chose to live where I live.
I sacrifice other things because not having to drive far is an essential part of the work-life balance I need.
I feel lucky because I don’t have to experience the kind of stressful commutes that some drivers go through from Monday to Friday.
One stressor is having to deal with impatient ratrunners at certain types of intersections. One driver trying to get into their workplace has to deal with long lines of ratrunners trying to weasel around other drivers.
Case in point, the intersection at Underhill Avenue and Eastlake Drive. Eastlake is a well-known ratrunner route used by drivers coming all the way from Como Lake via Gaglardi Way.
They then turn up Underhill to get to Broadway, but have to negotiate this three-way stop first.
A reader who only wants to be known as Till says this intersection is filled with “close calls” on a daily basis as some drivers try and get into the nearby business park.
“Cars must weave through stop-and-go traffic queueing for the intersection to force their way into the business park's entrance, which is less than a car length from the intersection,” Till said.
This intersection is down the hill from Trans Mountain’s Burnaby Mountain tank farm. The situation has been made worse because there has been “nonstop” truck convoys to and from the tank farm site as work continues, Till said.
“I've witnessed some close calls,” said Till, who hopes perhaps some traffic enforcement could induce drivers to be more patient.
We can only hope.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
