Traffic

Summer is finally here! The kids are out of school and it’s time for many of us to take a few days off and enjoy some much needed R and R. As you have probably noticed, the summer season does have an impact on traffic. 

 First of all, summer is known as the “construction season” for obvious reasons. During the warm overnight hours many sections of major highways are closed or restricted and many ramps are shut down for repairs as well. If you are unfortunate enough to be driving in one of these areas you could experience the inconvenience of a ramp closure or even major delays and slowdowns.  Also during the summer there are a lot of  daytime and long term construction projects on many of the in town roads. For example, this week alone I counted at least 100 scheduled construction projects on roads around Toronto. Unfortunately, due to the sheer weight of numbers, we here at the 680 Traffic Department cannot mention all the construction areas during our reports but we do our best to cover the main ones. Suffice to say that, if you are driving anywhere around Toronto in the summer, be prepared to be delayed by at least one construction project, if not more. 

Another trend we’ve noticed during the summer months is a change in the traffic flow.  Generally, during most of the year, you’ll find the roads to be slowest during the morning and afternoon rush. Volume seems to lighten a fair amount during the rest of the day. In the summer however, you’ll find the same number of vehicles on the roads but the trips are spread out more evenly. Many take time off work or enjoy summer work hours.  Because of this, the morning rush in the summer is generally lighter than usual while the mid-day hours and the afternoon rush seem busier than at other times of the year.

Kids being out of school is another traffic issue. Having very few students and teachers heading to school during the summer does help ease the volume, especially during the morning rush. However, during the school year, we are used to watching out for kids in school zones but in the summer our awareness has to be all encompassing. Kids are everywhere, enjoying summer activities, and they aren’t always focusing on the world around them. For example, the other day I was driving down a street in my neighborhood and a dad was out bike riding with his young son. The dad was riding on one side of the road and his son was riding on the other. As the boy rode down a hill he wobbled into my lane, with his bike aimed directly at the front of my car.  I actually stopped my car and waited, hoping that he wouldn’t run right into it. If I had been distracted for even just a second the outcome could have been tragic. 

Even though summer is a wonderful season, and most of us look forward to it all year, as drivers we do need to keep our wits about us and pack some patience along with those picnic lunches.