No Left Turns

So the other day I was leaving a gas station around work after filling up. This particular gas station has been open for a couple of years now, and let me tell you, since it has been opened it has been a life saver. I work in the Beaches (yes, Beaches, not the Beach - that's a topic for another blog) and there isn't a lot in the way of gas stations around.

The Esso at Carlaw and Lakeshore changed all that.

For those that are not familiar with the area, Lakeshore runs east/west through this area with a wide median. Carlaw, runs north /south. If you leave the gas station on Lakeshore, your only alternative is to go eastboud, even though I live in the west end of the GTA.

But now, when you exit the station on Carlaw, between the hours of 6am and 6pm, you are forced to go southbound to get back onto Lakeshore. This route will take you all the way back to Leslie St, then back up to Lakeshore, then along Lakeshore, past Carlaw, and back onto the Gardiner. The end result -- Approx 5 km extra.

Or, better yet, you can try and make a U Turn on Carlaw to go North again.

So my questions are as follows:

1) Can the police enforce a traffic sign controlling traffic from a private driveway onto a public street? After all, if push came to shove, they could install an island in the middle of Carlaw.

2) Why, all of a sudden, is this an issue? Why didn't the city planners take a look at the plan when the Esso was to be opened and maybe suggest a roundabout way to get back onto Carlaw to make the Left turn north? Why does it have to be an afterthought?

I know at times the traffic can be really bad there, and there have been times where the lineup on Carlaw to get onto Lakeshore is so deep I have driven back to Leslie to get around. But I tend to avoid the Esso during those times.

It just seems silly to me to be giving out tickets to people making a left hand turn out of a gas station. I can think of better uses of Police time.