Traffic control is still at best a mini-disaster downtown, but apparently that’s no problem for the people running the job.
One wonders why, on the three days last weekend when the streets were virtually empty of vehicles and most dowtown businesses were closed, they were also empty of construction equipment, which could have taken advantage of that situation so as to disrupt travellers for fewer of the busier days.
It might behoove the Smoke Eaters to change their game start times for September to 7:30, so as improve the chances of diehard fans arriving on time at the rink. Local, “rush hours,” are over so the streets are emptier; work has ceased for the day so there are fewer barricades; and, for the fans who arrive early, there will be a bit less rushing through dinner after crawling through their commute.
Just a thought.
•Not much better example of the need for a second vehicular river crossing than what occurred Wednesday around 3:15 on Victoria Street.
Despite sounding sirens and flashing lights it took four or five minutes for emergency vehicles, one towing the emergency boat, to access the bridge. That’s enough time for someone in trouble on the river, in or out of a boat, to be well past Rock Island even if the problem began above Sunningdale.
The current construction made things worse, and that will, eventually, end. But, the reconfiguration of Victoria Street is designed to constrict traffic flow there forever. Make sure from now on that if you have an emergency on the East side of the river you time it for other than the 2:30 - 4 p.m. traffic jams that are guaranteed every weekday.
•The links to the Nitehawks website were broken Wednesday, but there was access Thursday.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of information about the team they are building for this year on the site.
This area, led by Cominco and savvy local citizens, has been at the forefront of technological innovation for decades. How is it possible local teams (virtually all teams in all sports) do not get the importance of using such sites as business centers - by keeping them current and full of attractive features and information?
Particularly for those teams with younger participants and supporters, it should not be hard to understand. Accessing the skills necessary to the task should not be, either, given those participants and supporters have them in abundance and work with them every day.
An attractive, informative website is a business necessity these days.
Just another thought.