Editor: To serve and to barbecue?
As part of my commute home every day, I have to drive north on 248 Street from 16 Avenue to 64 Avenue, where I turn off.
It always takes 10 minutes or so — until yesterday (Wednesday, Aug. 20). On that day, it took over 45 minutes.
I carpool with my husband and it was like any other day until we got past Fraser Highway, and then the traffic slowed, and then stopped. We waited and waited. Very little traffic was getting through in either direction, because there was no one directing traffic.
We thought it must be an accident. As we inched closer and closer towards Krause Berry Farms, we could see numerous police cars. As we sat, more and more police cars with two officers in each went by, with their lights flashing.
We thought it must be a shooting or something like that. After over 40 minutes of waiting, I walked up past about 15 cars and asked the officer what was going on. Imagine my shock when he advised me that it was a government barbecue, and that is why we have to wait. All the cars in front were waiting to pull into Krause for the event.
I’m not opposed to anyone having a barbecue. I’ve had a few myself, but if any other group or company held such an event, it would be required to have a professional traffic management service. If it caused this kind of congestion, the company would be fined.
Other than wasting over 45 minutes of my time, it is a safety concern. There were people pulling over, getting out of their cars and doing U-turns in the middle of the street.
We almost witnessed an accident — all in the name of a burger. I hope it was good.
S. Atchison,
Langley