2 Friday, September 14, 2018brooklintowncrier.com One recent morning, I headed to the south end of Whitby for an 8:45 appointment. I don't like being late and consider it rude, unless extenuating circumstances prevail. A retired teacher, I no longer need to be anywhere at such an unfathomably early hour. So my prevailing extenuating circumstances were in fact of my own doing: I'd completely forgotten that the education system trundles along marvelously without me at all hours. To reach my destination, I first drove through my lower east side Brooklin enclave then three school zones. I spent the entire trip, save for the last couple of kilometres, either behind stop-and-go school buses or on stretches where speed limits were being ruthlessly enforced by the DRPS. Growing up in Montreal, driving was a survival art. You either weave, dart, lurch ahead, and assert your vehicle as the most important on the road, or you just don't get anywhere. An aside: Speeding tickets disgust me. I hate sending the government money. Plus, I take it personally when someone in a uniform tells me I must because I was stupid. Basically, I hate being stupid. I was forced to drive the entire route at exactly the posted speed limits. A few times, I was behind drivers going under the limit which annoyed me no end. Do that in Montreal and you invite bilingual invectives. I left home later than I'd wanted and figured I might very well not make it on time. Given the school traffic, I feared I'd be rudely late, which translates to more than five minutes. A curious thing happened though. I arrived at Taunton and Anderson as the 257th car in line to go through a crammed intersection while panicky parents tried to turn left into Sinclair high school (what, teens can't walk a couple of blocks?). Late was already a given. I arrived at 8:48, the trip taking nearly 25 minutes, a large chunk sitting at that intersection. Google maps says it should be 18 minutes. If I drove at 50 the whole way, still too fast through school zones, I'd make it in 15 minutes. But really, what this comes down to is how important was it to shave about three minutes off the drive. When I arrived fashionably late, I was neither tense nor anxious. I sort of revelled at the three speeders I'd seen nabbed for being, well, stupid. Had there been photo radar, I'd have still been safe and my bank account no thinner. With so many schools and children in this region and residential streets not conducive to pushing the pedal, I fear I'm turning over a new driving leaf. Whatever will I do when I visit Montreal? The need for speed? Less than Half the Picture By Richard Bercuson Everyone loved the Scoops ice cream parlor across from Grass park, especially during the Music in the Park Thursday evenings this summer. While "Scoops" lease wasn't renewed, locals can rest easy that their ice cream fixes will be addressed. A new spot, also serving ice cream, under new ownership, is due to open within the next few weeks. New Ice Cream Spot Coming At the Whitby Town Council meeting last Monday, Sept. 10, a Town staff report recommended a fourway stop be installed at the Na- than/George St. and Queen St. intersection to replace the current single stop sign. This was voted on and approved by Council. The report states that residents have expressed concerns about visibility, speeding, and numerous near misses. Only one collision was reported here (in 2016) over the five year period from 2013 to this past August. Neither the volume of traffic nor the number of reported collisions actually satisfy guidelines for installation of the stop signs. The report further states, "Staff conducted a site visit in Summer 2018 to observe traffic op- erations at the intersection of Queen Street and Nathan Avenue/George Street. During the site visit, staff observed stop sign non-compliance." However, it was clear that the "geometry" of the intersection along with the views of residents were sufficient to warrant the four-way stop. 4-Way Stop Coming To Nathan/ George and Queen Streets