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Elephant in the room

Journalists have it the easiest when the story comes to them. That was the case last Thursday when someone here noticed cars at a standstill in front of the News office.

Taking a look outside, of course, brought many more stilly-standing cars to our attention. The lineup ended (though it was ever-lengthening) at the office, and as for the start?

Following the trail of metal breadcrumbs brought the editorial board down Main Street, towards the Reynolds, and almost inevitably, down the hill to the train tracks.

A stopped CN train was just four cars short of clearing the crossing.

As is already noted on our front page, this all happened between 2:15 in the afternoon or so and 3 p.m. CN employees said a repair crew was onsite at about 2:40 p.m., but they had yet to determine the problem.

Whatever the outcome of their work, traffic flowed again soon after.

Jammed drivers were surprisingly calm throughout. Some were seen stepping out of the car for a relaxing smoke while another stayed in the car and enjoyed a relaxing nap.

(Cars and motorcycles on the other side were less patient and more dangerous, taking a right off the road and cutting behind the last freight car before rejoining the road uphill on the other side.)

In the editorial board’s memory, traffic had not been that busy since the rockslide last July left the party people in Whistler with no way home. Except through our town, that is (boy, us and God sure showed them that time)!

In any case, vehicles flooded the streets after the blockage was removed.

So that is how the scene played out last Thursday, on a calm, warm (but not hot) summer afternoon before rush hour. All in all, things were rather peaceful, despite the hanging frustration.

However, the board wonders, what will happen on, say, a Saturday night when Lillooet is being evacuated due to fire while a train blocks the road? We are not expecting such composition and poise from our residents (nor from tourists) as witnessed last week in such a scenario.

And then there are the potential emergencies in which the railroad is not merely an obstacle but an active partner in destruction.

The Old Bridge has been posited as the alternate escape route, though its soundness for vehicle crossings is less than certain (or maybe it is certain, just unfavourable).

Given these circumstances, the only other way out would be via Road 40 and making that visit to Gold Bridge we have put off for so long, followed by the Hurley Forest Service Road and eventually to Highway 99.

That would be possible, albeit time-consuming and aggravating, except in the winter.

Many of our councillors have spoken before about the need to show foresight and plan for the future. The traffic jam was a gentle reminder of how disastrous a disaster could get around here.

Hopefully, the district, residents, and the powers above (in the temporal sense) take heed and act towards a viable year-round alternate route out of Lillooet.

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