The idea at the time was to make the street less transient.   It didn't work.   What happened was traffic sped thru the circles faster than before and many people have no idea how to enter a traffic circle.   I witnessed many crashes and saw a few bicyclists and pedestrians hit.   Many times traffic would grind to a halt by the confused reaching the circle at the same time.   These traffic circles are nearly 20 years old and Vancouver has been trying to figure out how to get rid of them for years.

Riverside Drive is a beautiful street that should be enjoyed by all.   However its clear that the street already serves traffic beyond anyones original speculations.   Windsors waterfront is what makes it unique.   To make Riverside Drive busier ... well you might as well put the old factories back up re industrialize it all too.

I just moved onto the 5200 block on the bend and its crazy how people speed thru as is.   When I turn into my driveway I have people swerve around me into the oncoming traffic.   Hard to believe people would be that stupid to save a second at most, but its happened quite a few times.   Many close rear enders too.   These are not my neighbors - obviously these are people who just want thru and fast.   Do they even bother to look at the water?   They could be in a tunnel for all they care.

The City recently erected a big ugly light up sign on this corner encouraging people to slow down.   It is ignored.   How much did that monstrosity cost?

For a cash strapped city with the highest property taxes I know of, I cant help but wonder if it wouldnt be more effective to have police hand out tickets on the drive.   Much like the Russians using a pencil rather than developing a pen that writes in space, ticket writing is an experiment that costs nothing at all to implement.   Why put up traffic circles that will cost thousands and of course, bring traffic to a halt while they are built .. only to find its worse than ever?   I certainly do not want to pay for this nonsense.

My last residence was in a school zone.   The police set speed traps up constantly.   The rseults were grand.   Residents all knew it was very likely the police had radar out.   Commuters taking a short cut were frequently nailed.   It works wonderfully as those who know - adjust their speed if not by respect, by knowing the speed traps are routine.   Those who throw caution to the wind get to pay.   Fantastic!   Total cost = nothing.   In fact it pays!