Contruction=Misery

Summer is approaching around the corner, and for most the thoughts of swimming, bikinis, beach volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and tropical fruit drinks come to mind. It all sounds very tempting, almost as if summer cannot come fast enough. However though, when some people think of summer, especially the motoring community, only one thing comes to mind; construction.

It happens every year, for obvious reasons, no construction worker really wants to work in minus degree temperatures and have the constant fear that some car that wasn’t properly equipped with snow tires might hit them. Because of this, when summer comes around, construction pops up everywhere. The biggest issue, for anyone living in the GTA, is the constant renovation of the 403, mainly between Mississauga and Hamilton. I know what you’re thinking, that is a long stretch of construction. And you’re right, it is, and it’s absolutely painful during the summer months.

The reason it’s so painful, is because if you are like me, you’re a young driver. So chances are you usually go driving at night to see friends. Most of the year, night driving on the 403 is a walk in the park, with smooth traffic flows, and everyone doing the speed limit. Unfortunately though, when summer construction comes, they usually block off lanes at night. They do this for productivity reasons, and to get a rise out of the general public.

Here is a scenario for you to think about. You’re sitting at home; bored, probably just finished dinner with the family, and your girlfriend calls you up. By this time, it’s about nine at night or so, and you tell your girlfriend you will be over in about 20 minutes. You then freshen up, grab your keys, and you begin your journey. Now you are on the 403, going Eastbound, cruising at a good speed, then suddenly brake lights. Because without warning, construction is going on and they have the left lanes blocked off. This wouldn’t be such a bad scenario, if drivers actually were good at driving. But unfortunately, because nobody knows the definition of merging, every driver decides to stay until the bitter end of the left lanes and then decide to merge over. This is where the problem lays, a problem that could easily be solved if everyone merged earlier on before hitting the single lane of traffic. And now, you are sitting there for about a half an hour, maybe longer, just to cross a distance of two kilometers. The only thought going through your mind at that point is how many things you could be doing rather than burning up fuel.

This is why the 403 in the summertime is extremely annoying, it’s especially annoying coming from Hamilton. Because heaven forbid the construction is just after Highway Six, your only option is to wait it out until Waterdown Road, because you drove past Highway Six thinking things were going well. To make things worse, by the time you get to Waterdown Road, things clear up again. It is absolutely brutal.

I really can’t imagine how many times the government thinks the 403 needs to be renovated until it’s done, my best guest, probably not in our lifetime. In conclusion, remember that scenario, it will be roughly the same in the future. When us young adults will be in our 80’s driving in Buicks, or some other old person’s car on our way to a bridge game. But of course, we will end up missing it, because you will be stuck in traffic from construction, and because we are in our 80’s, we can’t remember all the nifty back roads we used to take when we were young. My advice, in the summertime, if you have any hope of getting to where you need to go, whatever you do, stay away from the 403.