Some motorists were confused, police were harried and a lot of traffic laws were broken, but the weekend switch to one-way streets in Victoria went off without an accident. And the turnaround had its lighter moments.
At 6 a.m. Monday, city traffic engineer David Campbell drove downtown to observe how the one-way routing of Fort and Yates street was working. The streets were deserted at that hour, except for one vehicle that was going the wrong way. It was a City of Victoria street sweeper.
Then Monday afternoon, city workmen were suddenly told about one sign they had overlooked in the Sunday switch-over. Drivers going north on Government were confronted at Yates with the sign, which indicated they could turn east onto Yates from 4 to 6 p.m.
Beside it hung another sign stating that all traffic on Yates must go only west. Telephone calls to City Hall resulted in the appearance of a city employee at the intersection to cover the old sign, just before 4 p.m.
Police said the most common offences of drivers were that they ran red lights and cut across traffic lanes when turning onto the one-way streets.
The ease of movement along Fort and Yates apparently has lulled some motorists into forgetting that they must still stop at intersections. And motorists turning onto the one-way thoroughfares are still in the habit of pulling across the road to travel in the former right-hand lanes.
-- Daily Colonist
