What’s a highway for, anyway? Let’s set aside all those arguments about whether or not we should be driving cars, which emit pollutants, which increase greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming, which lead to fires in northern Alberta, which reduces the supply of bitumen, which hinders our obsession with paving still more of the landscape for more highways. Let’s also set aside arguments about whether it’s better to ship goods by rail, which usually has a monopoly in a regional market, or by roads, which are available to all. No, let’s get back to the basic question -- what’s a highway for? My simple answer -- to travel with a minimum of delays. Highways are not just about destinations. My destination may not be yours; you may well want to proceed to a more distant destination.
Unimpeded progress I write this, having just driven home from Vancouver (and I apologise to readers outside the Okanagan Valley for a somewhat parochial rant). The Coquihalla Pass route opened in 1986, to coincide with Vancouver’s Expo ’86 celebrations; the Okanagan Connector opened a few years later. The whole route is well-engineered, with no surprises to booby-trap unwary drivers. Four lanes all the way, with an adequate supply of passing lanes on hills. In 400 km from Vancouver, only one traffic light required me to stop. That’s not unusual on modern highways. I seem to recall being able to drive from Halifax to Montreal without ever encountering a traffic light. In the U.S., the Interstate Highway system theoretically lets you drive across the continent without stopping for anything but gas. There are exceptions, of course. Such as trying to get through Seattle on the I-5 at rush hour. But not even Seattle treats its highway as just another city street.
Obstacle course West Kelowna imposes eight traffic lights in 12 km. Kelowna proper has 16, in 14 km. Plus countless commercial entrances and exits that further impede traffic flow. And just when you start thinking you’ve finally hit the open road again, Lake Country bashes you with five more traffic lights. And beyond that, Vernon, Enderby… Every community in the Central and North Okanagan has the valley’s only north-south thoroughfare running right through its middle. If cities were human, the highway would be their digestive tract. With kinks in it. Not healthy. On a midweek afternoon, in relatively light traffic, it took me almost an hour to drive 40 km through the Kelowna obstacle course. The preceding hour let me travel the entire distance from Merritt to West Kelowna, over 100 km, hassle free.
Theoretically, it’s possible to co-ordinate all those lights so that the traffic flows through without interruption. That never happens. Through traffic always comes to a standstill. At least once. More likely, half a dozen times. So I have to ask again, what’s a highway for? If the city of Kelowna were a highway terminus, I could understand all those cross streets. People would have to get off the highway to get onto city streets. Could that be the mindset behind all those delaying tactics? You’re not supposed to go any further? Kelowna is everybody’s goal, their destination? Nowhere else matters? I’ve seen that mentality in other situations. Small-town merchants lobby against a bypass, insisting that unless drivers went through the downtown core, they wouldn’t stop to buy anything. In the 1950s, the town of Creston, with 2000 population, deliberately set the speed limit through its eightblock downtown at 15 mph. It didn’t increase sales. Only frustration. Traffic studies consistently show that people will stop and shop when the shopping itself promises to be a pleasant experience. They will not stop when they’re already fuming.
Co-operation needed If Kelowna genuinely believes that impeding traffic will increase local business, why not detour all traffic - including triple-trailer rigs -- right through the main downtown street? Or through a shopping mall parking lot? When I put the argument that way, it sounds ridiculous. Yes, I know highways are a provincial responsibility. But the provincial Ministry of Highways cannot arbitrarily seal off 16 major intersections within Kelowna so that highway traffic can flow through without interruption. That would split the city into two inaccessible parts. Intersections, it seems to me, are a workable solution when traffic volumes are low. They don’t work on six lanes of traffic and an incessant flood of heavy trucks. Somehow, the various government levels need to recognize that a highway is not just a bigger city street. Municipalities need to provide off-highway access to businesses. And all levels of government need to work together to remove the kinks that plug up our gut. ******************************************************** Copyright © 2016 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups encouraged; links from other blogs welcomed; all other rights reserved. To send comments, to subscribe, or to unsubscribe, write jimt@quixotic.ca ********************************************************
YOUR TURN
Most of the letters about last week’s column, on the goodness demonstrated by 99.8% of the victims of the Fort McMurray fire, expressed thanks.
Tom Watson, for example, wrote, “Thanks for reminding us of the essential goodness that lies in people, and for decrying the tendency to focus on the few jerks who, like the apple, do their best to spoil the rest of the barrel.”
Charles Hill wrote from Texas, “The news media have learned that people thrive on tragedy and negative human relationships. My heart was warmed by your accounts of kindness and generosity. We sure didn't hear this side of the story in the U.S.”
Fran Ota: “I've watched Fort McMurray perhaps more closely than I have other things, because of a friend who stayed when others evacuated. He and his co-workers remained to try to keep the water plant up and running, but did 
so much else as well. He may have lost his home and a lot of what he did wasn't in the job description either. They were able to get out for a while, but then went back to keep working. We need to hold those things up more.”
John Shaffer 2 reacted against my labelling of some people as “jerks”: “It seems to me that what the world, and our families and neighborhoods, need more than more perfection, is more compassion. Even for the ’jerks’ who have a story of misuse and abuse, neglect, and unfulfilled needs to tell, too. “That does not mean, for me, that we should ignore bad behavior. But what might happen if we thought of the behavior as that part of the ‘jerk’ that needs correction, and soften a bit toward the human who is part of the ‘jerk’, too? Hard on the problem, soft on the person.”.
Margaret McLachlan agreed: “They might be jerks, but they have other needs, and need to be treated like human beings needing love, and compassion!”
Helen Arnott wrote from Bratislava, Slovakia, “where the authorities tell us there is smoke and ash from Fort Mac detected in the atmosphere here in Europe. We live in a small, small world!”
D. Martin, however, took issue: “I find your columns unacceptably sexist against men. In your article May 15, on the four brains inside your skull, you talked about perpetrators of crimes and only referenced the male gender. In your article May 29 on the Fort Mac fire again only the male gender was specifically targeted by you: ‘the lawyer who neglects his clients’, ‘the investment broker who pads his own nest’. “Women commit crimes too (for ex. more children are killed by their mothers than their fathers; women have faked cancer to get money from people) and some terrible disgusting things are done by women…” He then gave several examples and offered links for confirmation. He finished, “There is far too much misandry in this world as it is without you adding to it. How can young boys take pride in their gender or feel good about themselves when all they hear and read about males is negative? So next time you discuss terrible things done by people, please remember that terrible things are done by people, regardless of gender, and to name males only in these cases is sexist and hypocritical.”
The column about possible causes for autism is still generating some mail.
Judith Mermelstein wrote: “I must take issue with Charles Hill's comment, which shows he knows little about either autism or intelligence. There is NO correlation between the two. Many autistic people are very intelligent but neurologically handicapped from expressing it: in some cases, an autistic adolescent incapable of speaking can reveal a high-functioning intellect given a keyboard to write with. Many people once assumed to be ‘hopelessly retarded’ now learn to live and work independently, given the right kind of education and social support while they learn...but they're not also struggling with the neurological problems of autism. The truly sad cases are the people whose brains are so damaged they suffer from both issues and grow to adulthood still unable to function. “There's a big difference between intelligence and IQ, for which the usual tests measure likelihood of school success -- verbal and mathematical knowledge plus ability to do well on tests -- rather than the multiple dimensions of human intelligence that can't be tested by multiple choice on paper. “FWIW, I scored in the top 1% on various IQ tests -- which does not prevent me from being remarkably stupid about a great many things in real life.”
Ian Otterbein had his own comment on the possible relationship between autism and gut bacteria: “I just finished a book ‘Gut and Psychology Syndrome’ by  Natasha Campbell-McBride. She attributes the problem to a change in the bacteria in the gut caused by the use of antibiotics for disease control in humans, as well as by the food we eat. She points out that since, when a baby is born its bowel is sterile, the first organisms it is exposed to are those it picks up as it passes through the birth canal (populated by the same bacteria that populate the bowel) as well as those that it gets at its mothers breast. If the mother's bowel is compromised then the baby starts life with a compromised gut 
which then leads to a compromised body/brain. And where do babies born by caesarean get their bacteria to populate their gut? “She has a diet program in the book that she has used to reduce/eliminate symptoms of autism as well as some other psychological problems such as epilepsy and schizophrenia. “The book resonated with me as I have found a couple of foods that have an effect (both mental and physical) on me. I found that if I ate bread at dinner I would wake up in the night with a stuffed nose. A high carbohydrate diet makes me sleepy. And over the years I noticed that one or two nights a year I would stop breathing and would wake up (sleep apnea). Then one night, after binging on sugar free yogurt, I connected that the sweetener may be the problem. I have since gone away from sweeteners. I did continue to eat yogurt and have not had a problem with sleep apnea since.”
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TECHNICAL STUFF
This column comes to you using the electronic facilities of Woodlakebooks.com.        If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, at jimt@quixotic.ca. Or just hit the “Reply” button.        To subscribe or unsubscribe, send me an e-mail message at the address above. Or subscribe electronically by sending a blank e-mail (no message) to sharpedges-subscribe@quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at sharpedgesunsubscribe@quixotic.ca.        You can access several years of archived columns at http://edges.Canadahomepage.net.        I write a second column each Wednesday, called Soft Edges, which deals somewhat more gently with issues of life and faith. To sign up for Soft Edges, write to me directly, at the address above, or send a blank e-mail to softedgessubscribe@quixotic.ca
PROMOTION STUFF…  Ralph Milton has a new project, called Sing Hallelujah – the world’s first video hymnal. It consists of 100 popular hymns, both new and old, on five DVDs that can be played using a standard DVD player and TV screen, for use in congregations who lack skilled musicians to play piano or organ. More details at www.singhallelujah.com Ralph’s HymnSight webpage is still up,  http://www.hymnsight.ca, with a vast gallery of photos you can use to enhance the appearance of the visual images you project for liturgical use (prayers, responses, hymn verses, etc.)  Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. <http://www.churchwebcanada.ca>  Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, www.traditionaliconoclast.com  Alva Wood’s satiric stories about incompetent bureaucrats and prejudiced attitudes in a small town – not particularly religious, but fun; alvawood@gmail.com to get onto her mailing list.  Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” – ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatso@gmail.com or twatson@sentex.net
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