It’s ironic that I am writing a blog about terrible places to drive in Burnaby on the same day (Friday) that I wrote another blog about how people should stop driving to save the planet.
But the idea came to me when I was thinking about how much happier I am now that I am driving far less due to skyrocketing gas prices.
There really is something serene about sitting on a SkyTrain car, listening to music and staring at the scenery compared with trying to drive through the Metrotown area.
So I have compiled a list of all the Burnaby intersections that I won’t miss as I am cutting back the amount of driving I do.
I don’t know how the governments responsible for these intersections can fix them, but hopefully, one day, something can be done.
In no particular order:
Kingsway and Salisbury
I could probably write an entire column about how much I hate driving along Kingsway during daytime hours. The volume overwhelms the road and there are multiple dangerous intersections. I picked Kingsway and Salisbury because I used to live next to it and was infuriated at the endless series of close calls and outright crashes at this intersection. Most occurred with people turning left or right onto Salisbury. During high-volume times, this intersection is downright frightening as drivers take wild chances because they are frustrated by waiting.
Willingdon and Beresford
This intersection is a few blocks south of Kingsway, and just a few feet south from Central Boulevard, which runs behind Metrotown. This area backs up with traffic on a regular basis, with people wanting to turn right onto Central idling in the middle of the Beresford intersection – even though there are criss-crossing white lines telling people to keep the intersection free. Then you have drivers trying to head east and west through the intersection, dodging the north-south vehicles idling in the middle. It’s a clusterbleep every day.
Broadway-Gaglardi Way
I don’t want to pick on South Burnaby too much, so here’s a North Burnaby mess. It’s mostly during rush-hour times when people use Gaglardi over Burnaby Mountain as a shortcut. These drivers turn left onto Broadway, which becomes Como Lake, except that they sneak into the intersection and get trapped because the traffic isn’t moving – and then the light changes are they’re idling in the middling. That means the vehicles heading north on Gaglardi Way can’t move. I love the way these idiots pretend they aren’t stuck in the middle of the intersection and can’t tell that people are glaring at them. The lack of shame is astounding.
Canada Way and Kensington
This could go into the infuriating Hall of Fame during rush hour. It’s not even a four-way intersection, but manages to pack a whole lotta stupid into three ways. People love to sneak into the intersection as the light is changing so they are stuck in the middle, cutting off other drivers. Some drivers on Canada Way heading west also skip the two right lanes and make an illegal turn after the median – a dangerous decision that Burnaby RCMP have been targeting.
Boundary Road and Grandview
This, of course, is not a strictly Burnaby intersection, but it’s infuriating all the same. You get off the freeway and are immediately stuck behind a long row of traffic. Aside from the volume is the number of silly drivers who want to suddenly go from the far right of the lanes to the one on the far left so they can turn onto Boundary. Just as bad are the solo drivers who use the HOV lane. Thankfully, police do regular checks and hand out plenty of tickets.
I’m sure I’ve missed some intersection, so feel free to email me your worst.
You can follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
