Politically Incorrect Engineering

Talking briefly to a councillor at the liquid refreshment store, I was asked what I thought about the proposed traffic circle on Gormanville Road. Without getting into a spirited debate or referring to my recent article about intelligent design, I simply replied that I thought it could work. The sooner they get the traffic flowing smoothly at that intersection, the better. This councillor seemed not happy with the outcome and said the whole thing was a “political” decision. I nodded sagely and left with my bottle of scotch.

Upon reflection, I begin to wonder about this “political” decision made by our mayor and council. We employ a traffic engineer and a city engineer, both who have supposedly studied extensively in their chosen profession. They know the pros and cons of traffic circles, are aware of the need to keep traffic moving in these days of high-energy costs, and certainly put safety at the top of list on all their projects. Not satisfied with the engineer’s recommendation, council sent the report back for more study. Then our illustrious leaders voted for which kind of traffic control we would have at an intersection.

I do not recall any of the candidates in the last election promoting themselves as traffic engineers, although there may be one who has that diploma on their wall. Maybe they were only using their uncommon sense in coming to a decision, but was this not an engineering decision? If our engineers are not giving us the right technical information, maybe we should hire engineers who will. If the decision is to be based on the ability of North Bay drivers, then we should hire a consulting engineer to tell us that we are trainable or that we will never rise to the demands of navigating of a traffic circle.

It makes one wonder how many other technical issues are being decided by council and not professional staffers. (Maybe these are the in-camera ‘property matters’.) Certainly, the mayor was up front in his 20/20 Vision about city planning and how he wanted the city to grow. He has run into a few roadblocks in Pinewood and Birch Haven, but his vision seems to be fully supported by the professional city planners. The accountants seem to be on-board with the Budget Chief. The building department is now on-side, while the people in Parking are slowly learning how to keep our streets free of large vehicles that obstruct traffic and cause hazards for children and pedestrians. All that remains is to get the engineers to cooperate – but then, the iron-ring crowd always did live in a world of their own.

Indeed, one wonders how far down the staffing chain the mayor and council are making the decisions. No doubt their input is valuable in some cases where public image is concerned and city staffers who want to strictly follow procedures must be reigned in. The mayor and councillors do have a responsibility to the public as stewards of the common weal, but they should not be micro-managing at City Hall. That urge to get out there and garb a shovel and lean on it must be suppressed the same way they suppress the desire to grab a fire hose or a Billy stick.

Not only should they not be micro-managing, they should not be managing at all. They should be giving staff direction through policy. The traffic control at any intersection would normally appear as a capital budget item in the five-year plan, receive eventual approval in principle and come into being with only financial scrutiny as the project is completed. But who knows, maybe we should have a policy on all things traffic: 4-way stops, automated-traffic signals and traffic circles, speed limits, speed bumps, crosswalks, on-street parking and no Jake brakes within city limits. It would make the engineer’s job much easier.

One thing about having a vote on the traffic circle – if it does not work, the council of the day can point their collective fingers at the previous council and blame them!