Wearing Too Many Hats

Is Eddie Francis speaking as Mayor about the Bridge Co.'s proposal respecting the Tunnel or as Chair of the Windsor Tunnel Commission or both?

Fortunately for Windsor, the Bridge remained open when the Tunnel's operations had to close down because of the DTE problems. The Mayor should contact himself immediately as the WTC Chair and demand of himself how this could happen since it severely prejudiced the City and what steps was he going to take to make sure this never happened again!

I mention this because of what the Mayor is quoted as saying in the Star today. So sayeth the Mayor/WTC Chair about the Ambassador Bridge's proposal re the Tunnel: "This will close down traffic in the tunnel, destroy business in both city centres and affect large numbers of commuters who work or attend school."

Let's look at each point:

1) "This will close down traffic in the tunnel"
Saying that will happen does not mean that will happen. I do not understand the point. A Tunnel outage that is reported across North America and suggestions that people get subsidized NEXUS cards to beat backups will damage traffic a lot more. Frankly, if the Bridge Co. builds 200 booths and the Tunnel remains with the much fewer boths, who would ever take a chance again and use the Tunnel for fear of being caught in a back-up.

2)"Destroy business in both city centres"
That is a big fear on the Windsor side especially. Again, my view is that the issues for someone crossing the border are the speed in which they can get across (as Casino Windsor understood in their radio ads directed to US visitors) and the lack of backups. Most US visitors will be coming via the interstate system and a simple sign "To Canada" is all that they would need. Once they clear Customs, a sign "To Downtown" or "To the West End" would take them to their desired location and without stopping. I do not find this confusing. Frankly, I would find it more confusing now to see signs saying to the Tunnel or to the Bridge if I were a tourist and did not know which one would take me to downtown quicker.

3)"affect large numbers of commuters who work or attend school"
This is a myth that is constantly told. The Bridge Co. proposal still maintains a downtown exit for commuters.

One point that needs repeating. The Tunnel Plaza Master Planning project under Phase 1 of the Border Agreement was "suspended" in early 2005 and changes to the roadway are unlikely before 2007. If we have such a mess, then why is the project suspended? The WTC Chair should ask the Mayor that forthwith!