Construction has barely begun on the Yonge Viva bus lanes and already we are seeing the same sort of nonsense that plagued a similar project on Davis Drive for many years.
Coordination and planning are really impossible tasks for York Region and the Town of Newmarket.
It seems that the people in charge couldn't manage to plan for a one-car parade.
Yonge Street is very likely the busiest street in Newmarket. It's important to keep all traffic flowing in both directions during the period of construction.
But already we've seen examples where traffic is being blocked on both sides of the street for days at a time.
I am not talking about vehicle traffic, although there have been single lane closures that have snarled traffic too.
I am talking about pedestrian traffic.
The other day, I had an occasion to walk a significant stretch of Yonge Street. Between Mulock and Eagle, the sidewalks on both the east and west sides were either closed with a sign, or blocked by trucks and heavy machinery.
There is no way for a pedestrian to get by.
On Monday, Newmarket Council will vote to adopt David Suzuki's Blue Dot resolution, and our Council members will pat themselves on the back about how much "work" they've accomplished to achieve a greener planet.
"Blue Dot" refers to what planet Earth looks like from outer space.
It's a good metaphor for our Newmarket Council. They prefer to talk about things like "global warming" and "CO2 emissions"- which are frankly beyond the municipality's reach.
Yet on local issues, like pedestrian safety concerns, you can't find a single accomplishment that you could attribute to them.
Time and again, our Newmarket councillors vote against a new sidewalk, or in support of paving over parkland in favour of creating more parking spaces.
They keep their focus on the blue dot view from outer space as opposed to real action they can take right here, right now.
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