Traffic lights in Hamra

Hamra these days is regaining some of its old glory: pubs, restaurants and night clubs are opening left, right and center. It will even have its own traffic lights soon! They are currently constructing them all over. If you take the Abdel-Azziz road, which leads down from Rue Hamra to the start of Bliss Street, you can already see them. Or simply look at the pics below.

Photo 1: Brand new lights on the corner of HSBC, Hamra

Photo 2: Construction has started for the next crossroad on Rue Abdel-Azziz.

There is one question looming in the back of everyone's mind, though: how are they gonna make cars or foot traffic (note the cute little lights for pedestrians) adhere to the lights? See, you can put all the traffic lights, stop signs and what have you, but the average Lebanese is quite a freedom-orientated fellow. Certainly, he won't be limited to stopping for some traffic lights, life has more to offer than that!

What about cameras that take pictures of all cars crossing a red light, you ask? Well....they tried that once on the crossroad in front of BankMed, going up from the Phoenicia Hotel. It was quite a sight to see: at night, you felt like you were in an early 80's dancing hole with the stroboscope going berserk. However, all the typical cabrio driver would do was fix her/his hair, cos you want to look your best on the picture.

My guess is that soon enough they will put police officers on the crossroads to ensure the cars are actually stopping for the traffic lights. Waste of money, you say? My, my, aren't we the critical one, today!

But yeah, you would be right, though. If they'd just place a police officer from the start, there wouldn't be any need for the traffic lights in the first place. But that requires logic, planning and all those other boring words. Nah, life has more to offer than that!