Re: “A Nightmare” Oct. 31, 2008
A great letter, unfortunately not published by the Citizen:
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Re: “A Nightmare” Oct. 31, 2008
The tragic death of yet another pedestrian along the Rideau/King Edward corridor highlights once again the need for governments to develop a permanent and sensible solution to the travesty of heavy trucking passing though the downtown core and existing residential communities.
The problem was created by short-sighted planning in the 1960s and 1970s. Let’s not blame residents of Vanier and New Edinburgh who fought valiantly, and ultimately successfully, not to have the problem merely shifted to their residential communities.
Incredibly, short-sighted planning views have once again come to the fore, in the guise of the consultants’ recommendation of Kettle Island as the preferred corridor for a new interprovincial crossing. This recommendation will not stop the carnage downtown. Under the proposed plan, the number of trucks along the Rideau/King Edward corridor in 2031 will be the same as today.
What’s more, a new killing zone will be opened up. Is a life lost at Montreal Rd. and Aviation worth any less than one lost at Cumberland and Rideau?
The Kettle Island route represents the worst possible outcome for all residents of Ottawa. It won’t solve the truck problem. It will attract the most automobile commuter traffic from Gatineau—clogging routes already overloaded with commuters and leaving Ottawa taxpayers footing the bill for increased road construction and maintenance costs. It will pose a serious threat to the Montfort Hospital. It will destroy a scenic parkway and green space. It will do nothing to encourage economic development. It will divide and degrade existing residential communities along the entire route, which is the longest possible path between Hwy 50 and Hwy174.
Bravo to Georges Bédard for opposing the Kettle Island Route and supporting a new bridge where it belongs—in a commercial/industrial area farther removed from the downtown core.
John Forsey
President, Manor Park Community Association
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