Traffic impact

This morning we both had early appointments at the University Optometrists in Cathays for our annual eye tests. We decided to drive the shortest route through the city centre, as I thought that Castle Street had been re-opened to all two way traffic, but discovered that it's restricted to buses and taxis. It's no wonder there's s little traffic along there. We had to divert down Westgate Street and through Callaghan Square and Churchill Way to reach Park Place. Instead of taking five minutes, by the shortest route it took us twenty five minutes, and we were late. This road closure adds twenty minutes to the journey from Pontcanna to Cathays. It would have been the same if we'd driven to our destination by way of Western Avenue and North Road. It's sheer stupidity. Quite apart from time wasted, this added twenty minutes of extra fossil fuel consumption adds to our carbon footprint. Next time, we'll walk for forty minutes across the parks to Cathays instead.

Ceri, the optometrist who examined me, couldn't complete the planned examination of the interior of my eyes, as my cataracts are now too advanced to permit a clear enough diagnostic photograph. Unfortunately apart from this my vision hasn't deteriorated much at all. I don't even need to have new glasses. The triage of people in need of cataract removal operations won't rate me as a priority. If I were to get on the waiting list with Ceri's special pleading, after a more sophisticated eye scan at the beginning of June, I'd still be at the bottom of a ninety week list of patients in need of the operation. I could pay to have it done privately, but if I did, that would be money we didn't have available if either of us urgently needed a new knee or hip replacement. It's what happens if you don't have a big pension pot. At least I can still see to read, drive and take photos. although in certain light conditions this is getting quite difficult.

When we got back I cooked an early lunch for us, then headed off to Thornhill to take a funeral. In her early eighties the lady whose funeral it was moved from Hull, where she'd lived her entire life, to be close to her daughter and her grandson, living in Cardiff. She settled down and made friends here, and attended church in Llanishen. Her daughter brought along three Palm Crosses and planted them in the wreath of yellow roses on her mother's coffin. A small but touching tribute to a woman whose faith mattered to her.

I drove home through slow moving traffic that builds up every afternoon when schools finish. The road above Llandaff Fields is always congested around this time because parents come to Howells School to collect their children, many turning right, crossing the traffic stream to enter the school grounds. This is a busy north south-road for much of the day. It's destined to get as new housing areas being built on the edge of Cardiff are occupied without additional roads to support an increase of commuter traffic into the city. 

Over decades, no effort has been made to resolve this particular persistent term time obstacle to the flow of traffic, adding more pollution and increasing the city's carbon footprint. I dread to think what it's going to be like in five years time, whether or not we see a real increase in numbers of electric cars. A year of covid lock-downs and home schooling emptied the roads of traffic, making it quite pleasant to live around here ad interim. The 'new normal' looks a lot like the old normal to me at the moment. Congestion from cleaner cars is still congestion, time wasted getting from A to B because public transport and roads still fall short of what the city needs to thrive.

I walked over to the Aldi store on Western Avenue when I got home, to buy some interesting reasonably priced wine. The route from the University Campus in Cathays to halls of residence in Gabalfa has, over the past year, been upgraded. There's now a two metre pedestrian pavement and a three meter cycle path side by side running for a couple of kilometres. It could do with being better lit, but gives the impression of being safer and more modern an environment for students to walk or cycle back and forth to classes. 

On the way there I met Gareth from church who, seeing my camera, said the Blackweir heron wasn't around, but when crossed the bridge, I spotted the bird in the position it has taken up for the past three days, at the little waterfall next to the fish ladder. I was thrilled with the photos I got, thanks to my new Olympus telephoto lens. This one one of my favourites.

After supper, with nothing better to do I watched a couple of episodes of 'Non Uccidere'. Step by step the dramatic back story of the chief detective around whom the series is constructed, is revealed. It's all taking too long really, even if the murder cases in each episode cast a rather dark light on northern Italian society.