Much is made of bedroom communities in economic planning circles. To hear some talk, they are a bad thing, but the housing market makes them inevitable.
Living in south Wellington, a heavy percentage of commuter residents has been the reality for a long time. Advantageous housing prices have seen many properties change hands from old families to commuters. In addition to green space, scenic views and a good-sized home for the money, people flocked to small villages and the countryside. For many people, Toronto and environs are reachable in less than an hour.
In more recent years, the drive time has increased, as has the frustration dealing with rush hour. Some workplaces have staggered hours to accommodate this daily shuffle into and out of the city.
This methodology of seeking affordability a short drive away has impacted Centre Wellington and to a degree the north end of the county. Larger centres with higher property values have pushed homeowners outward, much like a ripple in a pond, seeking a better quality of life for their families. Watching traffic barrel into Fergus each morning has been an eye-opener.
For most communities, growth in residential activity has rarely resulted in a spike of jobs within a local economy. Obviously most people keep their jobs from where they came and make the choice to commute.
These past few weeks we have spent a lot of time on the road, heading to Hamilton almost daily. In addition to the obvious aches and pains associated with sitting in a vehicle for three hours roundtrip, we really feel for drivers that have to put up with bad road manners.
From drivers failing to stop at red lights, exiting the road without signaling, pulling onto the highway with little hope of accelerating to avoid being rear ended, and general Sunday driving attitudes, it is a wonder there aren’t more accidents. It’s appalling.
What we saw as most curious, and this actually happens regularly on the stretch to Guelph from Fergus, is the number of drivers failing to maintain the legal speed limit on a single lane stretch of highway only to enter a double lane section of road and instantly undertake race mode. It’s uncanny, particularly when merging back into the single lane mode they revert to, driving less than the posted speed limit.
Within the two-lane stretches, there is ample time for vehicles to sort out speeds, whether it is large trucks or slow drivers. Regardless, drivers are expected to move over to the right hand lane when not safely passing. These problems become more acute during rush hour, when it’s painfully obvious one or two slow-pokes are backing up traffic for miles.
We also saw quite a few speeders that bordered on reckless driving. More often than not, these same speeders were found stopped, waiting at the next set of lights.
This might explain the OPP’s expanding efforts to curb speeding and rough driving. It’s really pretty bad. Regrettably, stupid driving rarely earns a ticket.
After this taste of what it’s like making a daily trek out of town, we think commuters suffering through this insanity every day of their working lives deserve a medal.
