Finally, after literally years of waiting for the City to complete the sidewalk from the traffic lights down to our street, or put a sidewalk on our block (the only block of our street on this side of 100th Street without a sidewalk), we are connected to the trail network which loops the city. The guys are out there right now - a week after the first snowfall - laying the asphalt for the trail.
And they told my neighbour it would be done before it snowed. Yeah, right. Just like the guys twinning the Highway as far as Charlie Lake, that's not finished yet either. And construction season is pretty much over.
Still, the kids are looking out the window, enjoying the sight of the paving machine and the steamroller . . . although it is quite late in the year, its a bit more dramatic than it would've been back in the summer (when they should've done it) - the cooler air accentuates the steam from the asphalt.
So, as long as it doesn't rain or snow tomorrow (fingers crossed), the kids and I are going to go for our first ever bike ride on the west trail, starting from our house!! We've been on it before, of course, but such a pain it was, trying to safely navigate the gravel shoulder of 100th Street, block after block, just to get to the trail. Now however, it will be smooth pedalling . . . I think winter could hold off a bit longer, just so my neighbours and I can fully enjoy all that this long drawn out project has to offer! Although the progress has been slow, it is much appreciated.
Speaking of transportation within the city - walking and cycling on the trails being 2 methods of transportation - has anyone noticed the sudden appearance of many new bus stops around town? I have, and although I have never actually ridden on a bus in Fort St. John (school buses don't count), I think this is an awesome development. There are even 2 or 3 stops on my street - fantastic! This means that there are better stops near the elementary school, for the high school kids and others, who no longer have to walk 10 blocks to get to a bus stop. If you're going to walk 10 blocks, you may as well walk the whole way.
However, apparently one of the people who lives on my street, doesn't share my enthusiasm. In her usual outspoken manner, she was the lone complainant at a recent city council meeting, according to what I heard on the news. Bitching and moaning about the bus driving past her house, creating noise. Well, I wonder if she's noticed that in the mornings, there are usually around 5 kids waiting at the bus stop, less than 100m from her front door. Are they going to appreciate having their stop taken away? Are they going to want to walk 10 blocks to a bus stop, again? Especially when it gets to be -40 in January? With regards to the needs of the community, which apparently the complainant doesn't care about, I think the needs of these 5 kids, supercede those of one woman.
I used to walk to school in -40 degrees, because there was no bus from my house to school. I had no choice. I would've preferred to ride in the relative comfort and warmth of the bus, rather than freezing my nose-hairs, having my eyelashes stuck to my hair with ice etc. Perhaps it made me tougher, or less whiny, I don't know, but it certainly has given me an appreciation for the expanding bus routes in the city - and I, for one, am most definitely not going to get up in front of council and complain about progress.
That's what the expanding bus routes are, not noise pollution, not a safety hazard, not something which is going to cramp your style . . . progress. And progress is good.
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