Port Colborne is bisected by the Welland Canal. We have three bridges. The idea is that even when a bridge is up, traffic can flow. It often seems that at least one of the bridges is up. They are not. It just feels that way. Which is why it feels so good when you hit the bridge before the bells start ringing and those barriers come down in front of you. When the bridge is down, and stays down, life is good.
Everyone in town has been caught. Pedestrians and drivers alike. We learn to live with it. And either drive to the next open bridge, which might mean a couple of extra kilometres round trip (and if two bridges are up, an extra 20 minutes as all that traffic gets funneled to a single bridge). Or wait and watch as the ship goes serenely by. Confident in the knowledge that there may be multiple other ships behind it.
But sometimes. Just sometimes. Your wheels hit bridge metal just as the bells start. And you know that the operator, watching through the bridge cameras, waited for you. Those are the moments. The moments which make you feel good. Thank you, bridge operator. Thank you.
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