Sounds easy, unless you're maneuvering a vehicle around the streets of Clarenville.
Going with the flow is not so easy in this town.
Accidents and near misses are a common occurrence, particularly along the three main streets - Memorial, Manitoba and Shoal Harbour Drive.
Some of it has to do with driver inattention.
Drivers entering Manitoba Drive from the TCH seem to have a habit of making a left-turn on the green light to get to Shoal Harbour Drive, even when the traffic heading in the opposite direction has the green light to proceed.
Folks, the rule is, even if you have a green light, you must yield to oncoming traffic before making a left-hand turn. That's one of the simple rules of the street.
Seeing this common mistake happening time and time again has us in favour of the notion that all drivers should have to complete a written test on rules of the road - failure of the written test would then necessitate a road test - each time their driver's licence is up for renewal. But that's another full argument for another editorial.
Back to the mean streets of Clarenville.
Simply put, street planning has not kept pace with development.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of thought given on configuration of turning lanes or entrances and exits to businesses along the town's busiest streets.
The examples abound.
There are two four-way intersections on Manitoba Drive that do not have traffic lights to direct traffic.
There are points where you can enter and exit a busy mall - one of which is at the aforementioned four-way intersection.
Each business along Manitoba Drive has its own entrance and exit, some within just a few feet of each other. It makes for a busy, and potentially dangerous street, to enter into, or turn off, the street.
Throw in a few pedestrians and a transport truck parked on the road opposite the fast food outlets, and you've got accidents just waiting to happen.
Shoal Harbour Drive is not quite as bad, but it's getting there. It already has one four-way intersection without a light; and an exit and entrance to every business.
It's time for some rational planning, folks.
Let's start with the entrances and exits.
Surely, there are areas where council could implement "exit only" rules, or work with businesses to develop one entrance/exit for several businesses to streamline traffic trying to get onto or off Manitoba Drive.
It's time to come up with a long-term plan, based on study and analysis.
Three years ago the town received a proposal from a local engineering firm to have a roadway master plan completed for the town.
Councillors who were around the table at that time - several of them are not there now - were in favour of pursuing funding to complete such a study.
The councilors of 2009 figured the traffic study would be worthwhile; that it would give council an idea of the volume of traffic that passes through the town each day, and which streets have the heaviest traffic on any given day.
We haven't heard anything about that since the 2010 municipal election. We suggest the councilors who currently sit at the table - who were, or were not, around at the time of that discussion - take a look at the council minutes of June 16, 2009, and get the ball rolling on that idea immediately.
As it stands now, continued commercial developments along these three very busy streets will mean more traffic, and an increasingly hazardous drive, if measures aren't taken to improve traffic flow.
The current configuration of streets, turning lanes, exits and entrances, if not changed, will only lead to more accidents.
And the upshot of that may be that Clarenville will soon start falling under the radar of the Insurance Bureau of Canada. If accident rates rise in any given area, the folks that hand out automobile insurance could take a look at increasing the rating for the area to cover the risks.
Lack of action, therefore, will end up costing everyone more money - if they choose to drive in Clarenville.
That's why it's no longer acceptable for the town council to just go with the current flow of traffic design.
We look forward with anticipation to a well-thought out discussion, followed by a plan of action, on the matter.
