Now that most Tsawwassenites have figured out the South Fraser Perimeter Road doesn't do much for their daily commute, I got to wondering whether the shiny new highway that opened last month is a billion-dollar bust.
After driving the entire stretch the other day, I'm heartened to report the SFPR is a significant improvement over what has passed for an east-west route south of the Fraser River up to this point.
There's little doubt the South Delta portion of the road is a longer, and ultimately slower, way to get to and from the George Massey Tunnel compared to the old route now known as Highway 17A.
However, if you're looking to get to Highway 1 and points east, you'll be thanking all those port-bound 18-wheelers that prompted Victoria to construct the South Fraser Perimeter Road.
I picked up the SFPR where it meets Deltaport Way and within 27 minutes I was at the interchange of the Trans-Canada Highway and 176th Street in north Cloverdale.
It was a holiday so traffic was light, but I was still impressed by how quickly I got to the road's eastern terminus given it would have taken me at least 40 minutes to reach to the same spot using Highway 10 and 176th Street.
Traffic free flowed through the farmland of South Delta and into the Tilbury stretch before I came across the first light near the old animal shelter. I made it through that one, but it wasn't long before I came to a complete stop for a red light near Nordel Way/Highway 91.
I'm not a fan of signal lights on supposed highways and figure any money the government saves during construction is eaten up through lost productivity of those travelling the routes. The light at Highway 91 and 72nd Avenue on the edge of North Delta, which chokes traffic on a daily basis, sits as a monument to government penny-pinching.
That's why I was dismayed to encounter seven signal lights along the SFPR, the majority of which are in and around the Bridgeview area. To be fair to the engineers, I'm sure access points were required at spots that didn't offer space, or traffic volumes, to warrant full interchanges, but any time there are impediments to flow you're asking for congestion.
I made four lights and had to stop for the other three, so my journey from end-to-end was probably pretty typical, yet, it should be remembered, even with the delays it only took me 27 minutes to cover the entire length of the highway.
And that is a heck of a lot quicker than the alternatives.
