Dear Calgarian, It’s that time of the year when dreams abound, and it’s time for a new top city official. A Mayor of Roads.
Elect a Mayor of Roads. Everyone knows that roads define Calgarians. We have a deep relationship with our pavement, and some of us are audacious enough to even like to walk along them, or use them to ride bikes.
The authority of The Mayor of Roads shall supersede that of mayor of Calgary, and city council. The mayor of roads answers to the people.
The mayor of roads will firstly solve the snow removal dilemma.
He or she will acknowledge that Calgary is a northern city and ensure our commuter roads are cleared and safe. Hills and icy spots will gain priority.
Each city plow will have a GPS online so Calgarians can see just where those multi-plows are 24 hours a day. It’s our answer to NORAD’s tracking of Santa.
The Mayor of Roads will have a road safety hotline. Instead of a taped call on the city’s 311 line, you’ll get a real human and can report road dangers.
Since traffic accidents are the number one killers of young children and young adults, road safety issues will be given a 911-like priority.
The Mayor of Roads will lower residential speed limits.
Currently, the city abides by provincial residential speed limits of 50 kilometres per hour. A pedestrian hit by a car at 50 kms has an 80 per cent chance of dying.
Speed creep means that 50 kms becomes 60 kms.
Kids stay inside, communities wither.
Together Safe Kids Canada, The Insurance Bureau of Canada and St. John’s Ambulance all advocate reducing this speed to 40 kilometres, making communities safer.
The Mayor of Roads will triumph over the city lawyers’ report calling 40 kilometres unenforceable, and listen to emergency room physicians instead.
The Mayor of Roads will make talking/texting while driving illegal.
The evidence is clear that humans cannot drive and text messaging or talking on a cell phone safely.
This time other’s rights are trumped by individual communication liberty.
The Mayor of Roads will increase the bike path budget.
The initial $1 million for new bike paths granted by city council will be just a starting point as bike paths become a priority.
The Mayor of Roads will bring traffic calming parity to the masses. No more will Kensington, Scarboro, Mount Royal and Elbow Park enjoy safe streets with closures and no turns signs, while the rest of us are forced to endure speeding and cut through traffic in our communities.
It’s all for one, one for all.
The Mayor of Roads, finally, will speak for us.
