Brian’s signing off for the last time on Oct. 30

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This article was published 23/10/2015 (3609 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brian Barkley knows the city like the back of his hands — which is fitting, because the Southdale resident has had his palms on the steering wheel during Winnipeg’s morning and afternoon rush hour for the past 25 years.

Barkley, 64, is the long-serving traffic reporter for 680 CJOB. He recently announced that he’ll be hanging up his microphone for good on Oct. 30.

Prior to serving the station for the last two-and-a-half decades behind the wheel keeping listeners updated about the city’s traffic goings-on, Barkley did a 14-year-stint in the newsroom working various shifts at some point or another, including tours of duty in the morning, midday, evening and weekends. He started at the station in 1976.

“I used to hate getting up at 3:30 for the morning,” Barkley said with a laugh.

On the eve of his retirement from the station, Barkley spoke to The Lance recently about his long career and his plans for the near future.

The broadcaster said while his decision to leave the station has been on his radar for months, the exact timing of his departure was partly down to the climate.

“I’ve been talking about it for a while. Driving during the winter is OK, but it will be nice to leave at the end of October,” Barkley said.

“During the winter, my morning starts when it’s dark and I come home when the daylight starts. Then, it’s getting dark in the afternoons when I’m on the road. It’s nice to retire while I’m healthy.”

Not that the veteran broadcaster is planning on resting on his laurels — or taking a break from driving — come November.

Next month, he is planning a road trip with his wife to visit family in Arkansas and, in January, the couple will host a cruise to Australia and New Zealand.

The thing Barkley will miss the most when he leaves the job will be the community — whether it’s the on-air and off-air colleagues or the many community members he had the pleasure of interacting with down the years. He said another key part of his success is his unflappability behind the wheel — regardless of the driving conditions.

“I’ve spoken to thousands of people over the years and seen very little in the way of negativity. I will definitely miss people calling me all day long. Working with so many great people is part of the reason this has been easy to do,” Barkley said.

“In terms of my temperament, I don’t get wound up too easily. You have to remember that when people are driving in rush hour to try and get to school or work or they’re late for an appointment, I’m not. I’m observing them. A caveat to this, of course, is that I’ll sometimes need to get to a traffic situation quickly.”

Barkley also praised the effectiveness of some of Winnipeg’s most recent road additions in locales such as Waverley West.  

“Take a road like Route 90. I love the route, as it’s a modern, high-speed road, which is nicely-designed. It’s so cool to see some parts of the city evolving. What were doing now is a huge contrast to what we did before, especially in some of the inner-city areas,” he said.  

simon.fuller@canstarnews.com

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