Talbot Road

As General Counsel of STOPDRTP, I was quite aware of the problems faced by the people on Talbot Road. Our group was painted as being opposed to their needs as part of a NIMBY attack. We were positioned as wanting to protect the DRTP corridor neighbourhoods at their expense.

One fact must be kept in mind however. I read about the history of Highway 3 some time ago. When the new Ambassador Bridge opened in 1929, the highway routing changed:

• "The opening of the Ambassador Bridge in 1929 resulted in a significant rerouting of Hwy 3 through Windsor. The highway had previously entered Windsor along Dougall Avenue, concurrently with Hwy 2. Until 1929, Hwy 3 ended at the International Ferry Dock between Dougall Avenue and Ouellette Avenue. When the new Ambassador Bridge opened, Hwy 3 was rerouted along Huron Church Line Road, a route which it retains to this day. The old alignment of Hwy 3 into downtown Windsor became Hwy 3A." (http://www.thekingshighway.ca/Hwy3.htm)
  
  

Accordingly, the Talbot Road people have always lived on the corridor to the Bridge. The problem has arisen because of the dramatic increase of traffic over the past decade and the fact that Highway 401 was never completed properly to the Bridge.

To be absolutely brutal about it, no one in authority will care about people living beside expressways, whether for cars, trucks or both. The issue for them will be mitigation techniques. STOPDRTP was told early on that if our only argument against building that intrusive truck expressway was health or environment we would lose. Our focus became technical and economic!

Think about it. Homes abut Highway 401's many lanes in Toronto. Detroit is freeway heaven. Who in Government will sympathize with the residents of 69 homes on Talbot Road.

I do not wish to appear to be negative but the likelihood of a tunnel being built under Talbot Road is remote. It may make a great rallying cry to pretend that Eddie and Council are doing something for the City on the border (CODA, CODA, CODA) because they need something to be re-elected. "We want to see every option explored, including tunneling or anything that would basically see the trucks buried," Mayor Francis said. "It would improve the environment, quality of life and allow trucks to move more freely toward the border."

All that this "rallying" will be doing is giving the residents false expectations. You remember what happened to Eddie's last rallying cry for the Schwartz billion dollar short-term dream: ignored and shot down in flames by the Feds!

If we truly want to be doing something positive for these residents, since it seems everyone is conceding that the DRIC route has been chosen, we should demand that these people be moved now with proper compensation being paid to them to make the process as painless as possible. Why should they have to live with all of this uncertainty on top of living beside trucks!

Obviously, what I am saying will not be popular with people who have lived in their homes for many years but is there a realistic and practical alternative?