A Perfect Run
We live
about 5 miles from where my hubby works.
One of the reasons we chose this house and location (besides the fact
that it’s a killer of a house and glorious garden) is that it’s just a straight
shot from our house to the front door of the office. Of course, we did not figure on traffic or
Frimley Park Hospital and its “super-friendly to pedestrians only” crosswalk
light. And there are 7 roundabouts
between us and work and many more stoplights, pedestrian crossings, bus lanes,
etc.
FPH
(Frimley Park Hospital) has a roundabout on each end of its “area” with its
pedestrian crossing close to the hospital and about ½ way between each
roundabout. The stoplight at the crossing doesn’t take it very long to change
to a red for cars once someone has pressed the button. And there seems to be quite a few people that
both walk to the hospital or park somewhere else and use that crosswalk. Once the day has started, that light is
constantly changing to red for cars and it backs up the traffic terribly. I have been stuck at the roundabout waiting
for that light to change and the roundabout to clear for as long as 45 minutes
on a really horrible day. On an average
day, I could wait 10 minutes or so to get across the roundabout and into the
line going through that pedestrian intersection.
So the
first few weeks we lived here, we weren’t very happy that our straight shot
from home to work was taking us about ½ hour to go the 5 miles which meant about
45 minutes for me to come home again and then start my day running errands or
for touring or for whatever reason I had needed to keep the car.
Finally we
realized that if we left ½ hour earlier, we would miss a good deal of the
traffic and take only about 15 minutes to get to work and maybe 20 minutes to
get home. Whew. While not perfect, that was much better than
me starting my day with an hour or more in the car.
Today we
left really early because we’re heading off for the weekend which means I have
to pick up my hubby early to get to Gatwick.
What a lovely morning. We made a
perfect run to work in about 10 minutes.
I didn’t get stopped by a single stop light or pedestrian light. There wasn’t a single bicycle or pedestrian
crossing at any of the Toucan crossings.
And best of all, on all 7 roundabouts, I never had to shift down more
than one gear before the way was clear and I could sail through. Wow. Wouldn’t
it be lovely if I could do that every day.
Don’t think I can get my hubby up any earlier though to get him out the
door early unless it’s a special case like this morning.
Didn’t have
a perfect run on the way back home. FPH
traffic was already starting and the pedestrian light there was already backing
up the cars but a good deal of my route was still free and clear. Next goal, a perfect run both directions on
the same day!
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