Letter to the Editor
Grand Harbour's 'Mass-confusion'complements 'Malfunction Junction'
Negotiating a Britishroundabout - a simplified process
Dear Sir,
Having studied carefully the beautiful glossydiagram of the road system at Grand Harbour, which was distributedin the newspaper last weekend, it seems my reaction was the sameas other residents ... ahh-mazing!!.
It came as no surprise, of course, to any of us. We have livedthrough, the creation of 'Malfunction Junction'; the realignmentof 'Malfunction Junction' - the junction at Crewe and Smith Roads,and the changes in traffic pattern three years later.
We have also gotten used to the complicated junction at ThomasRussell Way and Smith Road, with its half a dozen different lanesand arrows, and to merging from the left with our necks cranedbackwards. We have even managed to manoeuvre the roundabout inIndustrial Park, with its many offshoots.
And now, we come to the next phase of road markings - Grand Harbour!!
For a little light relief to friends in Britain, I have sent thema copy of this beautiful glossy insert to show them how they couldcomplicate their simple road system there, to take the boredomout of driving.
The British, for years, have saved millions of pounds in trafficlights by using the simple roundabout - everyone gives way tothe traffic already on the roundabout and then gives way to theright.
This is a country with tiny, narrow lanes; an island one-sevenththe size of Ontario and with 60 million people living on it. Someof its roads are so narrow that the roundabout is only one footin diameter. Yet, drivers all know that they give way to the right- and that's all there is to it.
For a country that thrives on tourists who are all in rented carsand driving on the opposite side of the road, I find the complicatedroad-marking system on Grand Cayman a complete mystery.
Meanwhile, we continue to enjoy the simple roundabout at Elginand Thomas Russell and bless the architect who designed that firstone many years ago. Where is he now when we need him?
Oh well - bring on the Grand Harbour Maze. We residents are readyfor it - compass at hand and a navigator in the passenger seat!
PS: I have included for the benefit of your readers a diagramextracted from the British Highway Code, which is intended togive some guidance as to how a roundabout ought to be used, andtrust you can publish it.
Marian Polack
George Town