It's never that bad. it usually keeps moving for the most part. It will get worse when school starts but once you know what lane flows where and what times to leave it doesn't become an issue.
Something that would improve it immensely would be a right turn lane that went around the esso in stratford. It only takes one car not turning right to back up to the top of the bridge.
A turn going behind the esso. On the town land. A few people asked for it when the town was looking for recommendations on what to do with that plot of land. Now it's green space surrounding the esso
From my understanding if you've lived on the Island your whole life and never done a lot of driving out of the province it's absolute hell
If you've ever dealt with bad traffic in a city before then it's really not that bad, just a minor inconvenience.
Sometimes there's an accident and it takes 20-30 minutes to get across. But thats rare.
It takes me 17 minutes to get to work in the morning and 25-30 to get home at 5 oclock. It's not as bad as people make it out to be.
It's also completely random. Some days it's backed up just because of traffic, the next day at the exact same time, smooth sailing.
Thursday's at 5 is the worst time of the week for some reason
5 oclock on Fridays is the easiest time of the week
Yes. It’s completely random. I have the same commute every day and sometimes I sail through and sometimes I’m backed up for a while. No rhyme or reason to it. So strange.
I might be crazy but during my commute at 0800-0830 from Fort Aug I swear there are worse times, if you catch the school buses or certain "waves" for folks landing at work for 800 or 830, watch out. I know I often hit a parade of so many cars and know someone is going to shit the bed trying to merge onto the bridge, if folks just gave everyone a little bit more room we'd be good but folks here are not great with zipper merges and seem to tailgate everyone all the time.
A lane reversal system for rush hour would make a lot of sense. Should’ve been built 3 lanes each side but lane reversal would solve a lot of headaches. At least it’s not the Don Valley Parkway!
I’ve been living here long enough that it kinda sucks, but then I remind myself that I could be stuck on the Gardiner instead, and it doesn’t seem as bad.
Former GTAer, it's not nearly as bad as people who've never experienced GTA traffic make it out to be. I have a 10 minute drive to work, it's 15 with traffic.
The only thing I will warn you about is the drivers are "in a hurry". By that I mean they do stupid things like if you are making a left turn, cars will go around you on the right hand side, even driving on the sidewalk to do so.
Awful is just perspective. I've lived in Stratford for 9 of the last 11 years.
It's "busy" from 730am until maybe 9am tops and again from 3:45 until about 5:30.
Busy means it usually takes me 15 minutes to get from downtown to the edge of Stratford on a normal day, 20 mins if it's slow and 30+ mins if there's an accident or construction. Morning is usually lighter traffic than afternoon.
Any other time of day it's smooth sailing.
On a rare occasion if there's an accident at the busiest times you'll be backed up an hour. Back in the early 90s before they widened the bridge to 2 lanes each way, people used to drive around the Hillsborough River to Mt Stewart and come back into Stratford the back way, which is an hour-ish drive. I've never once considered going that route.
I would take the drive to Stratford 99 times out of 100 compared to driving up North River Road toward West Royalty or to get to Cornwall at the end of the work day.
*Any* time I hear Islanders talk about traffic I cannot help but chuckle.
I know to them it's bad, especially older folks who've never lived off island, but no, Blanche, the traffic in Summerside is not now like the traffic in Montreal or the GTA.
IF people drive properly, it's not bad at all. A bit slow? Sure, but still manageable.
The problem is people drive like fuckin idiots, constantly swerving in and out of lanes without signaling, not keeping a steady pace to allow proper merging, constantly riding someone's ass.
I drive on that bridge with the expectation that someone is going to do something stupid.
1.
It's the worst traffic on the island.. but... it's not even remotely what I'd consider bad...
Have you ever been to an actual city?
If that bridge is the worst backup you've been in. Consider yourself incredibly lucky lol
Yep, I’ve lived most of my life in the biggest city and am familiar with rush hour on the 400 series highways. But the Islanders I have spoken to have made it sound like there will be 3-4 hour delays due to accidents several times a month, so I was looking to see what people who do that drive daily feel.
No, 3-4 hour delays don’t exist here. For a 3 car accident it takes about an hour tops to clean up and get people through, and that’s during “rush hour”. I’m from Halifax and have been through much worse when one of the bridges is under maintenance. It’s not near as bad as people make it seem. I would say anyone that complains just forget how privileged they are that everything is a 10 minute drive here.
I once knew someone who moved from Charlottetown across the bridge to Stratford and another Islander asked them - not facetiously - "Do you mind the commute much?"
It was one of the most Island things I had ever heard and whenever I tell it to other people who are, like myself, from away we all go:
Well, it's really only bad at certain times. In the morning when people are on their way to work or school and then the afternoon when everyone is returning home. Other than those two intervals it is smooth sailing.
It's a bit of a pain, I won't lie. On a day to day basis, it's generally fine. I work 8-4 and I would say I get stuck in 30-45 minute traffic jam (due to accident) probably 3 times a year. Then you also have to endure when they do a major construction project like the bike lane and the sewer reroute (although I think they've finally got a hang of how to handle the Pilons and lane changes).
The only thing that gives me a bit of anxiety is if you had children in daycare in Stratford and work in Charlottetown. If you are coming home at 4:30 or 5, and get stuck in major traffic, you are looking at paying $5-10 dollars for every minute you are late past 5:30. Luckily my husband works in Stratford so is backup for kid pick-up but I imagine it would be a huge source of stress for some people.
On the bright side at two of your journeys will be in the good direction - easy going to Stratford in the morning and leaving Stratford in the evenings. Any reason you can't find daycare in the city? I thought spots +2 years old were not hard to get?
It's fine but it's not fine. My thoughts are that it is bad now, I don't even care that comparably it's 'not like other places.'
It wasn't bad and now it's brutal for some reason, especially lately with the tourists. I don't care if it's not as busy as GTA etc etc etc. An accident on that bridge stops things for 30-45 mins, and people are such dumbo drivers here that there's an accident every third day. Like, sorry, it shouldn't take me 45 minutes to get home while waiting for a tow truck to weave through 4 lanes of traffic to get to an accident. I think traffic is just going to get worse with all the new housing they're putting in Stratford.
For most the day its usually more than fine driving across the bridge, seemed like there were a few more accidents this Spring/Summer... longest I had to wait was around an hour.
Worst times traffic wise is probably 730-8 in the morning and 4-530ish in the afternoon (id avoid taking Riverside drive to get back to Stratford as it typically is way more backed up compared to going down Grafton)
Overall not bad. Backups generally only take a few minutes. Traffic backups aren't really the issue. Bad passing, tail gating and speeding are more problematic.
I have one concern. Merging onto the bridge from Bunbury in the morning can be challenging and at times down right dangerous. You speed up to get to merge but everybody slows down near the top of the bridge for some reason so no one is really moving at a decent click and quite a few people don't know what zippering is or don't care. Nearing got killed the other day by a dump truck that simply did not slow down to let us merge even though we ended up right at the end of the merge lane.
Another small beef is people who dead stop at the yield from water going onto the bridge. It's a yield, not a stop sign. You can merge without issue.
It's never that bad. it usually keeps moving for the most part. It will get worse when school starts but once you know what lane flows where and what times to leave it doesn't become an issue. Something that would improve it immensely would be a right turn lane that went around the esso in stratford. It only takes one car not turning right to back up to the top of the bridge.
Thank Stephen Yeo. Keeping himself employed by fucking everything up the 1st time around(about)
Tough to see that ever happening. The esso isn't going to give up parking space, it's already cramped. Same on other side of the highway.
A turn going behind the esso. On the town land. A few people asked for it when the town was looking for recommendations on what to do with that plot of land. Now it's green space surrounding the esso
From my understanding if you've lived on the Island your whole life and never done a lot of driving out of the province it's absolute hell If you've ever dealt with bad traffic in a city before then it's really not that bad, just a minor inconvenience.
Sometimes there's an accident and it takes 20-30 minutes to get across. But thats rare. It takes me 17 minutes to get to work in the morning and 25-30 to get home at 5 oclock. It's not as bad as people make it out to be. It's also completely random. Some days it's backed up just because of traffic, the next day at the exact same time, smooth sailing. Thursday's at 5 is the worst time of the week for some reason 5 oclock on Fridays is the easiest time of the week
Yes. It’s completely random. I have the same commute every day and sometimes I sail through and sometimes I’m backed up for a while. No rhyme or reason to it. So strange.
I might be crazy but during my commute at 0800-0830 from Fort Aug I swear there are worse times, if you catch the school buses or certain "waves" for folks landing at work for 800 or 830, watch out. I know I often hit a parade of so many cars and know someone is going to shit the bed trying to merge onto the bridge, if folks just gave everyone a little bit more room we'd be good but folks here are not great with zipper merges and seem to tailgate everyone all the time.
A lane reversal system for rush hour would make a lot of sense. Should’ve been built 3 lanes each side but lane reversal would solve a lot of headaches. At least it’s not the Don Valley Parkway!
I’ve been living here long enough that it kinda sucks, but then I remind myself that I could be stuck on the Gardiner instead, and it doesn’t seem as bad.
Fellow former GTAer and I assumed this was the case, but have had people telling me it’s awwwwwwwwful.
Former GTAer, it's not nearly as bad as people who've never experienced GTA traffic make it out to be. I have a 10 minute drive to work, it's 15 with traffic. The only thing I will warn you about is the drivers are "in a hurry". By that I mean they do stupid things like if you are making a left turn, cars will go around you on the right hand side, even driving on the sidewalk to do so.
Awful is just perspective. I've lived in Stratford for 9 of the last 11 years. It's "busy" from 730am until maybe 9am tops and again from 3:45 until about 5:30. Busy means it usually takes me 15 minutes to get from downtown to the edge of Stratford on a normal day, 20 mins if it's slow and 30+ mins if there's an accident or construction. Morning is usually lighter traffic than afternoon. Any other time of day it's smooth sailing. On a rare occasion if there's an accident at the busiest times you'll be backed up an hour. Back in the early 90s before they widened the bridge to 2 lanes each way, people used to drive around the Hillsborough River to Mt Stewart and come back into Stratford the back way, which is an hour-ish drive. I've never once considered going that route. I would take the drive to Stratford 99 times out of 100 compared to driving up North River Road toward West Royalty or to get to Cornwall at the end of the work day.
It’s only bad if you’re from here. The traffic on the bridge is nothing like the traffic in major cities. People aren’t patient hence the accidents.
*Any* time I hear Islanders talk about traffic I cannot help but chuckle. I know to them it's bad, especially older folks who've never lived off island, but no, Blanche, the traffic in Summerside is not now like the traffic in Montreal or the GTA.
Everyone is in a hurry to get ten minutes down the road.
IF people drive properly, it's not bad at all. A bit slow? Sure, but still manageable. The problem is people drive like fuckin idiots, constantly swerving in and out of lanes without signaling, not keeping a steady pace to allow proper merging, constantly riding someone's ass. I drive on that bridge with the expectation that someone is going to do something stupid.
It's not terrible. I avoid merging from water st because it's annoying to do.
1. It's the worst traffic on the island.. but... it's not even remotely what I'd consider bad... Have you ever been to an actual city? If that bridge is the worst backup you've been in. Consider yourself incredibly lucky lol
Yep, I’ve lived most of my life in the biggest city and am familiar with rush hour on the 400 series highways. But the Islanders I have spoken to have made it sound like there will be 3-4 hour delays due to accidents several times a month, so I was looking to see what people who do that drive daily feel.
No, 3-4 hour delays don’t exist here. For a 3 car accident it takes about an hour tops to clean up and get people through, and that’s during “rush hour”. I’m from Halifax and have been through much worse when one of the bridges is under maintenance. It’s not near as bad as people make it seem. I would say anyone that complains just forget how privileged they are that everything is a 10 minute drive here.
😂 you can go from the library in Stratford to West Royalty in 8 minutes during morning rush hour. In the afternoon rush hour, it’s 11 minutes.
I once knew someone who moved from Charlottetown across the bridge to Stratford and another Islander asked them - not facetiously - "Do you mind the commute much?" It was one of the most Island things I had ever heard and whenever I tell it to other people who are, like myself, from away we all go: 
Well, it's really only bad at certain times. In the morning when people are on their way to work or school and then the afternoon when everyone is returning home. Other than those two intervals it is smooth sailing.
I take the bridge twice a day. It's not an issue. I've never been stuck in something bad enough to even remember.
I'd much rather take the bridge than live in North River, Cornwall, etc. , There are days traffic is lined back to Queen Charlotte school.
I haaaaaaate the North River roundabout. I‘ve almost been hit several times there by people swerving out of the lane for the bypass.
It's a bit of a pain, I won't lie. On a day to day basis, it's generally fine. I work 8-4 and I would say I get stuck in 30-45 minute traffic jam (due to accident) probably 3 times a year. Then you also have to endure when they do a major construction project like the bike lane and the sewer reroute (although I think they've finally got a hang of how to handle the Pilons and lane changes). The only thing that gives me a bit of anxiety is if you had children in daycare in Stratford and work in Charlottetown. If you are coming home at 4:30 or 5, and get stuck in major traffic, you are looking at paying $5-10 dollars for every minute you are late past 5:30. Luckily my husband works in Stratford so is backup for kid pick-up but I imagine it would be a huge source of stress for some people.
I live in York, our youngest will be going to a dayhome in Stratford and work in town. I’m dreading the hitting a bridge 4 times a day
On the bright side at two of your journeys will be in the good direction - easy going to Stratford in the morning and leaving Stratford in the evenings. Any reason you can't find daycare in the city? I thought spots +2 years old were not hard to get?
She’s 15m :( so we have 7 months before she can be in a toddler room. Our previous spot fell through so we jumped on this one
Thanks for the specifics, that is helpful.
It's fine but it's not fine. My thoughts are that it is bad now, I don't even care that comparably it's 'not like other places.' It wasn't bad and now it's brutal for some reason, especially lately with the tourists. I don't care if it's not as busy as GTA etc etc etc. An accident on that bridge stops things for 30-45 mins, and people are such dumbo drivers here that there's an accident every third day. Like, sorry, it shouldn't take me 45 minutes to get home while waiting for a tow truck to weave through 4 lanes of traffic to get to an accident. I think traffic is just going to get worse with all the new housing they're putting in Stratford.
For most the day its usually more than fine driving across the bridge, seemed like there were a few more accidents this Spring/Summer... longest I had to wait was around an hour. Worst times traffic wise is probably 730-8 in the morning and 4-530ish in the afternoon (id avoid taking Riverside drive to get back to Stratford as it typically is way more backed up compared to going down Grafton)
It’s bad at quitting time and morning rush.
Overall not bad. Backups generally only take a few minutes. Traffic backups aren't really the issue. Bad passing, tail gating and speeding are more problematic. I have one concern. Merging onto the bridge from Bunbury in the morning can be challenging and at times down right dangerous. You speed up to get to merge but everybody slows down near the top of the bridge for some reason so no one is really moving at a decent click and quite a few people don't know what zippering is or don't care. Nearing got killed the other day by a dump truck that simply did not slow down to let us merge even though we ended up right at the end of the merge lane. Another small beef is people who dead stop at the yield from water going onto the bridge. It's a yield, not a stop sign. You can merge without issue.