To those of you who have commented to me on my EDOs, holiday days and subsequent erratic postings I can only respond with - its summer time and the living is easy.
I returned to Saskatoon this morning and it took me almost as much time to drive from the city limits to my home in Nutana as it did from PA. I have tried to be understanding, knowing full well that road repairs can only be done during the summer season. But the planning of the repairs stinks. Idylwyld Drive on a good day means bad traffic, but with all the detours downtown and on the Buckwold bridge due to road construction/repair it has become a nightmare. My neighbourhood has been locked in since mid June with no finish in sight. Enough already!
Today's nightmare became a horror show when the CP Rail decided to park a miles long train through the centre of the city. It wasn't moving and nor was the traffic. People started detouring down the side streets looking for an opening to cross over. It took a trip to Avenue P and 20th to find the opening, but it had flashing red lights at the rail crossing. Sadly, frustrated motorists started racing across the tracks trying to beat the train that looked like it was ready to go but was in start and stop mode. Playing chicken with a train is a losing game, but it was being played. And some Saskatoonian is going to wind up being chicken ala king.
My question is: can the city put restrictions on CP rail as to hours that it can bring the train through the city? CP shouldn't be allowed to run through the city during peak traffic times. If the answer is no, how about an overpass?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
The problem of trains in the city right now is being compounded due to the poor weather we've had. The highway that wiped out the Trans Can next to Maple Creek also wiped out valuable railway lines in the area. For those unfamiliar, Maple Creek area is one of the primary routing areas in the west for trains. Since this is no longer an option an increased amount of trains are being routed through Saskatoon. I'm unsure of the state of the tracks at Maple Creek, but remember reading that regardless of repairs trains were going to be routed through Saskatoon at an increased rate for the remainder of the summer. For anyone living in Sutherland this has been a nightmare and probably will continue to be bad into the fall.
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is much Saskatoon can do, and it will probably get worse around harvest time. I would imagine the outcry would be loud from non-Saskatoon residents if our city attempted to halt all rail transport through out city limits during the day, I suspect CN and their customers have little regard for our traffic when conducting their business.
The city has handled these summer repairs in the worst possible way and it is black eye on the decision makers at city hall. Why are they still shutting down roads to begin new projects when they can't even finish the ones they have started right now. Since 8th street has been shut down this summer the traffic on the Victoria Bridge has been awful, sometimes lined up to the Homestead at peak hours. So what does the city do last week.... after the end of Taste of Saskatchewan the kept Spadina closed from the roundabout at Victoria Bridge until 20th street..... I thought they possibly couldn't be starting more work there (and they weren't) but rather chose to keep it closed for no reason. Of course with traffic lined up down Victoria this compounded the problem because the only exit from the Victoria bridge was now 3rd Avenue. Absolutely amazing, who at city hall is allowing this to go on right now? Does no one have any concern for the citizens?
What is worse the growing amount of road rage and arbitrary rule breaking going on as drivers search for ways to skim time off their commute. This includes utilizing turning lanes to jump the line and ride through intersections (see 3rd Ave going south onto Victoria bridge, those using right turn lane to drive straight through).
Anon:"This includes utilizing turning lanes to jump the line and ride through intersections (see 3rd Ave going south onto Victoria bridge, those using right turn lane to drive straight through). "
ReplyDeleteIf the lane isn't posted "right turn only" it is possible to go straight thru the intersection. What is really frustrating is having people sit back of the intersection waiting to turn left and don't move until the light turns allowing only them to make the turn. And to all you "cows" (followers) that move into one lane when there is signage up that says lane ends 400 blocks ahead, don't get mad at those that wait till thy get to the end of the road to merge. Think about it people if you fill all the lanes and take your turn it works out to the same thing and doesn't cause long line-ups.
This all being said our city is trying to blame their ineptness on the weather but it is the same year after year so it ain't mother earth to blame just a bunch of lazy city workers.
"This all being said our city is trying to blame their ineptness on the weather but it is the same year after year so it ain't mother earth to blame just a bunch of lazy city workers."
ReplyDeleteConsidering virtually all road work (besides basic pothole filling and small patches) is contracted out........who's lazy again?
"If the lane isn't posted "right turn only" it is possible to go straight thru the intersection."
ReplyDeletethere is such a sign posted. i agree on the merging argument, this is not the case. take a look next time you drive by
I stand by may comments on the City workers taking the easy way out and not putting in a honest days work. I don't mean all of them but really 8 guys to repair one manhole??? Streamlining these departments would go a long way in saving money and getting better production. Every job should be tendered out with the city having to put a price on using their workers vs a contractor. And the city must include all those "extras" their works get in lieu of wages.
ReplyDeleteBy "extras" do you mean rights and necessities that have historically proven themselves to have increased societal well-being and in turn productivity, such as subsidizing health coverage where the government fails, reasonable breaks, limits to work-weeks, and living wages?
ReplyDeleteso 11:40, what you are saying is if the city were to hire more people to put together requests for proposals and review bids, then to oversee the private contractors and make sure they finish on time.....even if they end up using city staff to do the work, it is better (and faster) than just the existing city staff doing the work?
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a lot of work (and extra salaries) to save a bit of money and maybe finish something quicker..........but as stated above, the private contractors that the city hires frequently run overbudget and finish projects late.
I agree the city can be slow/wasteful on some thing, but private contractors can be just as slow and wasteful and if the time and money cost involved in advertising, selecting and managing a private contrator is included in the cost associated with using them, then it can outweigh the benefits of maybe getting a cheaper bid on a project.
I'm not saying that the city should never work with a contrator, frequently it is the best way, but saying everything should go through a public bidding process is pretty wasteful. Some stuff is so routine that having to contract every little thing out would be ridiculously wasteful.
August 3, 2010 11:40 PM
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
I stand by may comments on the City workers taking the easy way out and not putting in a honest days work. I don't mean all of them but really 8 guys to repair one manhole???
---
Really? 8 guys? Where and when? What were they actually doing? Were they entering the manhole? Do know what the provincial regulations are on confined space entry? If there are 2 guys going down the hole, depending on what they are doing, and what they are dealing with they may need a MINIMUM of 2 guys outside per guy entering the confined space. That's 6, minimum. Add a supervisor or a "tool runner" and someone in training and you now have 8 or 9.
"Ah I was right what a waste of "f'n" money 9 guys to look down a hole when 1 camera would have done the trick.
ReplyDeleteAs to city workers bidding on every job.. How else would you find out if they inmates are doing the job they are suppose too.
I don't begrudge anyone who gets and EDO but I'd be hard pressed to find many at City Hall that could justify the "Earned" part of that.
got your shtick gets old ghostryder. do you have nothing ever productive to offer but lame comments disagreeing with others. you hold yourself out to be the devil's advocate (your words, not mine) but do no such thing. at least offer some counter points, your incessant questioning is soooooo played.
ReplyDeletei will say it is ridiculous to have 8 people repairing a manhole. regardless of regulations. they 'may need' or they 'do need' the extra spotters? take a look at the regulations before you offer such a stupid comment, by your logic if we send 30 people down a manhole to do work we need 30 standing above ground? and if there is someone in training i'm sure they can handle the tool running job. the whole point is that 8 people surrounding a manhole (often standing around smoking) is a joke and waste of tax dollars. the city needs to clean up it's act.
for those saying that private contractors also go over the limit, the majority of tendered contracts are just that a tendered amount. it doesn't cost the city a dime (only extra time to complete) when a contractor goes over the budget. keep the costs in check, tender out as much as possible and cut the lazy city workers.
for those defending the city workers, there is a reason students line up to apply for the city workers job: big pay and lazy days. we used to go meet city workers (both student and permanent)all the time when my friends worked for city during summers in school. sitting around drinking iced tea most of the afternoon rather than work pretty par for the course.