Article content

Everyone has their own, that one intersection they feel is the worst in the city. A red light seemingly frozen in time, like a mosquito in amber, or, for pedestrians, a walk signal much shorter than the time needed to actually cross.

Mine is at the corner of Sunnyside and Bank streets, where eastbound motorists on Sunnyside during the afternoon rush hour can wait for what seems like a hell-spawned eternity before they get to the other side.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or T is for traffic: The truth behind Ottawa's traffic lights and the intersections we hate Back to video

As I sit in my car, its idling engine burning a Mazda-sized hole in the ozone, I tell myself that city officials are likely simply unaware of the mistake that was made when the lights were programmed. I imagine how delighted they’ll be to hear of this error, realizing the joy they’ll be able to bring to countless residents who JUST WANT TO GET HOME.

But as he brings Camera No. 223, Intersection No. 25 up on a monitor at the city’s traffic-control headquarters on Loretta Avenue N., Stu Edison, program manager of the city’s Traffic Engineering and Signal Operations, reminds me of a simple inexorable fact — deeper metaphysical possibilities notwithstanding — that sends my traffic-light activism crashing into the hard rocks of science.