Going 0km/h on the highway

[matai]

Back from Peachland Mall... was bumper to bumper going from 0km/h to 15km/h up from the traffic light at the mall to the one at Princeton. Beach Ave at 30km/h being faster than the highway is wrong in so many ways and it's frigging dangerous too.

It took me 10 minutes to drive 2km.

Anyone else experienced traffic today? SHare your experience!

[Ken7]

Yes, I came in from Peachland.

Once I got to the Mill it was the pits.

Bumper to bumper, I think who ever is in charge of traffic sync needs to look closely at it. There were intersections in Westbank that let between 6-10 vehicles in one lane through.

Long drive to Kelowna without any breakdowns or accidents, traffic should flow quicker!!

[Rascie]

The traffic is backed up because of the Center Of Gravity music festival going on downtown!

[Bsuds]

Welcome to the long weekend in Kelowna!

[Ken7]

The traffic is backed up because of the Center Of Gravity music festival going on downtown!

I'd say more due to long weekend and increased flow. I actually went down town and it was a little above average for this month.

[matai]

So should we consider a bypass or 4 laning the thing across town?

[dodgerdodge]

Today was certainly bad and i believe worse than its been before and serves as a reminder to those that deal with our traffic planning that we haven't got it right and that these line ups will be come the norm as our area grows and the roads remain as they are now.
The line up into Westbank started at Gormans Mill when i came back at lunchtime and all the way to Gelatly lights, then it eased until Bartley and after that it was ok until Westlake where it backed up into Kelowna.
Of course the only difference to last August long weekend is that we have had changes to the lights at Gelatly and Bartley and the highway is now held up for longer between changes. It seems that the new traffic light sequence cannot cope with large volumes of traffic so what is going to happen long term as we grow and grow?

[Nebula]

The August long weekend is always nuts. Nothing new.

[Catz]

If you live here long enough you learn to take the back routes.
Long weekend...gonna be busy.

[rlaboss]

If you live here long enough you learn to take the back routes.
Long weekend...gonna be busy.

I'll bite, what's the back route across the bridge?

[LoneWolf_53]

Busiest long weekend of the year, and there's traffic congestion with all the inflow, who'da thunk it.

I swear some people are either clueless, or just can't pass up an opportunity to gripe about something.

If we still had the old bridge and this volume to deal with, the backup would probably extend to Osoyoos, so be happy, be grateful for what we have, and get familiar with alternative routes that locals are generally aware of, wherever possible.

I had to make a run to Pick N Pull on the Westside from the Spall and Hwy97 area around noon, and all in all it took me 45 minutes return which considering it's Friday of a long weekend, was more than acceptable.

The best solution if one doesn't like sitting in traffic is to stay off the roads during long weekends. 8-)

If you live here long enough you learn to take the back routes.
Long weekend...gonna be busy.

I'll bite, what's the back route across the bridge?

If you're desperate enough, Westside Road. 8-P

There may not be a back road solution for every instance but for sure there are many.

[Bsuds]

I'll bite, what's the back route across the bridge?

Westside road via Vernon. "insert shrug"

[fluffy]

We were heading north to a movie at the new Landmark around six this evening. We met a line of traffic coming south at the Princeton light in Peachland that was bumper to bumper from there to the Coquihalla interchange.

[dodgerdodge]

So its the busiest weekend of the year but we could cope better if the powers that be were to make some sensible changes to our road system, or at least they should have done a long time ago. Its all very well Lonewolf and others stating "its the long weekend" or "stay off the roads if you don't like it" but to some of us that isn't an option, we have to work and travel from place to place is all part of that, after all the long weekend starts for many on Saturday, not Friday morning.
We have seen very heavy bumper to bumper traffic last summer through Peachland and its all caused by the new lights and changes to Princeton Rd lights, its still a bottleneck through there. Westbank is also worse due to changes with Gellatly lights but rather than promises of more bypasses or more overpasses we get more left turn signals and more lights!!! These will never ever improve traffic flow

[mandmgirl]

Christie Clark made a campaign promise to build another bridge. Not holding my breathe but I am sure once she gets off the plane from Vancouver, the last thing she wants to is wait in traffic to get to her riding. Not sure if that is a cure anyway as it will create a bottleneck.

It is time to bypass Peachland off of the Coquihalla connector. Let the truckers and serious travellers get to their destinations more quickly. Towns of great beauty like Peachland, should not be spoiled by a 4 lane highway running through them. Now that there is a skateboard park beside the highway, I would hate to see a semi blow a tire and hit a kid.