Saturday 5 October 2013

Sidney's Triple Bypass: Tales from Canada's wildest roundabout.

Local man missing for over a day found locked in the middle loop of Sidney's famous roundabout.  Alex Quackbush, 72,  was in good shape though hungry when his car ran out of gas at 2 a.m. during a lull in traffic.  He coasted to a stop and a vigilant police officer came to his rescue.

This near tragedy could have been avoided if he had gone on-line before entering the triple bypass.  Twenty minutes with the simulation could have saved hours of distress.

There are tales of unfortunate drivers who entered in a clockwise direction but a simple barrier of a hundred yellow stakes has solved that problem.   True also that some drivers stop after entering the roundabout and then back up to escape.  Although I've seen that myself,  these are exceptions to the norm. Most people make it through quite well on the first try.  I went around an extra time only once and only twice took the wrong exit onto #17 when I wanted Lochside Road.  True, I had previously studied the simulation but only for five minutes.

Many curmudgeonly types take the residential bypass on old Lochside, despite the sign saying Bicycles Only.  We who stick to the rules feel superior while waiting for traffic off #17 to slow down enough to let us into the first loop of the roundabout.

Fortunately, Sidney has risen to the challenge and is offering 40 minute guided tours of this much talked about attraction, leaving hourly from the foot of Beacon Avenue.   We had visitors from New Zealand and a friend from England and took them through the triple bypass. Although familiar with roundabouts from their homeland, they were stunned at the Canadian design.  The tourism angle is clearly a good one.  A Butchart tour bus offers the Sidney Triple Bypass for only $5 extra.  

(Quackbush and the tours are phoney but the rest, sadly, is not.)

No comments:

Post a Comment