Which Comes First GreenLink Or The Egg

It's the age-old question isn't it that is being played out in Windsor right now. Which should come first? Should Manning Road be built now or should Greenlink with Manning following after? What about trucks on EC Row, should they be allowed or not?

Charge counter-charge, threat counter-threat. Can you believe it, a possible lawsuit against the County. Absurd. Eddie won't want to be the Star witness in a trial. I must admit though that the thought of him being cross-examined by an experienced counsel under oath in front of a judge does hold some attraction. The courtroom would be jammed. Who knows, it might even be shown on television.

Seriously, if you were the County and Councillor Brister introduced a Motion in City Council asking to set up sessions with you after the attack by Councillor Valentinis and a threatened lawsuit and that Motion was passed, would you have any interest? Oh I expect that the Warden will agree. He may as well be political about all this too. With the reception given to the Economic Development Commission and the Convention and Visitors Bureau people, I would expect a joint meeting to rival a WWE free-for-all wrestling match.

To try to figure what reality is, I went back into history. I was shocked at what I read. Before talking about that however, I thought it would be instructive for everyone to understand what the Mayor's position is. Below is the interview that he gave on the CKLW morning show on Tuesday:

• Francis CKLW Interview Jan. 8, 2008
  
  Mike Kakuk: Lets talk now about something that you are going to have to deal in 2008 much like in 07, 06, 05, 04 [Francis: 03, 02, 01] trucks on EC Row and on Dougall Avenue. The two getting some attention these days. What's the latest and are we making any progress in this or does it seem like we are just kind of stalled in these talks.
  
  Eddie Francis: Well as you mentioned Mike, this is an issue that's not new to the City of Windsor and the underlying position of the City of Windsor is quite simple. We need to get trucks off the City streets, out of our neighborhoods and restore the streets for the use of the community. That has been our position from day one and continues to be our position and that's why we came up with a solution to fix the main border route.
  
  The reason that we have trucks on Dougall, the reason that we have trucks on Wyandotte, on Tecumseh, on Ouellette, on Walker are because they are trying to bypass the mess on Huron Church, so until the primary route is completed, until they do GreenLink, and the Province does what it needs to do, then we will continue to be dealing with the symptoms of the problem and we will continue to have trucks that are going to avoid Huron Church.
  
  So we agree, we need to get trucks off of our City streets, out of our neighborhoods, and that's why we will contine to push the Province, our Ministers Duncan and Pupatello, the Premier and the Government of Ontario to finally move and get the border crossing done, get the roadways done so we don't have to deal with these problems.
  
  Lisa Williams: Why can't we as the City just put signs up to say that no trucks on these particular City roads as we do with some.
  
  Francis: You can. The problem becomes and the challenge becomes, if you ban the trucks you have to ban them all. You can only regulate truck traffic by weight. You can not discriminate trucks by destination or origin so you have got to treat all the trucks the same.
  
  On our major arteries and those routes that are designated as truck routes such as Dougall, such as Wyandotte, and Walker, that affects local trucks as well. So you can't say we just don't want international trucks here. Local trucks you can go through, international trucks you can't. In law you can't. The police can't do it under the Highway Traffic Act, and under all the rules, there is nothing that we can do.
  
  You can put signs up but that is a provincial responsibility at the provincial highway to say this is the main route, but there is nothing that will allow you, to force, if the truck drivers decide to go somewhere else.
  
  So the very simple solution is get the primary route done and I think everybody agrees with that. The second issue that we continue to face every single year, and I think people, some people continue to push for trucks on EC Row as if the City of Windsor's position is going to change.
  
  It does not make sense to introduce 30,000 trucks onto EC Row. There is a move afoot to connect Manning Road to the 401. Some would like to connect Lauzon Parkway to the 401. You will recall that's been the cornerstone of the Government's plan for some time. Over the past several years, the City of Windsor, this Region, has stood up and said we do not want trucks on EC Row. EC Row is at capacity for local commuters and regional commuters. EC Row should remain a local community road. The last thing that we need and the last thing that our residents need is to be competing with trucks off the 401 while we are trying to get to work.
  
  So, the City of Windsor's position will not change on that. If you want to do EC Row, if you you want to do Manning and Lauzon Parkway, that should be done after the primary route is done and there is an agreement on that. Unfortunately the Town of Tecumseh and the County of Essex are continuing to push to get Manning Road done first. The environmental assessment is nearing completion and the City of Windsor's concern because obviously is that if you connect Manning Road to EC Row before the primary route is done, we all understand the consequences and the negative affect that those trucks will have ripping through the City of Windsor
  
  Mike Kakuk: Why is this dragging on so long?
  
  Francis: Inaction at the Government levels, Senior Levels of Government. Very simple. The Premier, our two Ministers, and the Province of Ontario have lead, have jurisdiction for the road. They can move and they can make this thing happen. All they need to do is act.
  
  The City of Windsor has done its part. We've put together a plan that's well-supported by the Community. We put together a plan that is reasonable, that is responsible, that is within the same framework that they have established as DRIC. All they need to do is act and we have put them in a position to do so, but they haven't done that. So if you are concerned about truck traffic on City streets like we are, if you are fed up with truck traffic on City streets like we are, I would urge you to call your two local MPPs and get them to act on the road."

Effectively Eddie's position is the following:

• to solve trucks on City streets, we need to build the Greenlink, the primary route to the border
• we don't want 30,000 trucks on EC Row since it is a Community road and at capacity
• that will happen if Manning Road and Lauzon are built up
• the City's position on EC Row will not change
• the way to solve this problem is to build Greenlink first
• then you can upgrade EC Row and do Manning and Lauzon.

Do you see the huge contradiction? Is the Mayor saying 2 contradictory things at the same time? He got the County onside with an upgrade to Manning Road in the original Schwartz Plan. Why should they stop what they are doing merely because he could not get a border road deal for 5 years.

I don't want to be too rude but this is nonsense. These are all scare tactics designed to frighten residents just like Eddie did before with respect to the road to the border and full tunnelling. You remember the meeting with the area of mass destruction around the proposed DRIC road.

The only person who has ever talked about 30,000 trucks on EC Row is the Mayor. Where did he get that number from? Has the truck volume been even half that number per day over the past few years? I hardly think so. 3.5m trucks divided by the number of days per year and even taking weekends into account does not produce that scary number. It's all gross exaggeration for effect.

The issue with respect to EC Row is very clear. I was there when the issue started with STOPDRTP. The objection to trucks on the Expressway had little to do with volume, although that is a problem because of capacity and increased population growth, but it had everything to do with trucks on the Expressway leading to the building of DRTP. It is as simple as that. The fear was that if there was an extension from Highway 401 to the Expressway via Lauzon Parkway, the pressure would be put on first to build DRTP North as a precursor to building DRTP South.

As we got into the subject, the issue of capacity came up but that certainly was not the main reason in the beginning why there was objection to Montréal-Tijuana international trucks on the Expressway. It all had to do with DRTP as the Mayor well knows.

Of course EC Row is a local Expressway and is the only one that we've got. Of course the Expressway is necessary for Community purposes. No one doubts that. The reality though is that the Expressway is a mess and will require millions of dollars to maintain it and fix it up, money that the City does not have. In the end, the Province will have to take over and it will do so. And when it does it will upgrade it to probably 10 lanes, the middle four of which will be dedicated to trucks.

I remember having a meeting at City Hall when this was all explained to me. There is space for more lanes in the middle of the Expressway and again the Mayor knows that. He could go and talk to his planners but then again most of the border stuff is done out of his office. Once it is confirmed that DRTP and the truck route are truly dead, then the issue of the Expressway and trucks disappears as well.

Obviously, those four lanes will become the redundant road to the border. Just like the old Ambassador Bridge will be the redundant bridge for the new one, the Expressway will be the redundant road for the main road to the border The Huron Church/Talbot Road corridor will remain the main route. That is exactly how it is been since the Ambassador Bridge was built and that is how it will remain. That has been conceded already by everyone including the Mayor.

Greenlink will not be the road that is built. It is too expensive in the first place if Gord Henderson's number of $2.6 billion is accurate. That is $1 billion more than on the Greenlink website and does not even go north of the Expressway. A variation of the DRIC road will be the end result and everybody knows that as well. In fact, unless the City smartens up, I can see the Senior Levels pulling of Windsor completely or perhaps only building an at grade DRIC road. Why spend billions if it is not appreciated and you are attacked for doing so.

Again, Eddie knows this. That explains Lewenza's ridiculous outburst at Council and Eddie's silly remarks during the interview. It is all showmanship to accomplish another purpose as I will discuss later.

It is important as I said at the outset to go back and look at what Schwartz actually recommended the first time around. He had a five phase construction process:

• Phase 1: Huron Church bypass, Ferry, ITS, Bridge and Tunnel Improvements



• Phase 2: New rail tunnel, rail consolidation, multi-modal facility, new station



• Phase 3: Lauzon Parkway and Manning Road Extensions



• Phase 4: Highway 401 Improvements and extension



• Phase 5: Build the new crossing

Look at the order of the different phases. Where does Greenlink fit in with all of this? When you look at it closely, building the Greenlink road was the last step and not the first step in the process as the Mayor is now telling us. That's the way I read it.

There really was no Greenlink in Schwartz's original plan so suggesting it should be built first is a stretch. The Phase 1 road was the Horseshoe road. That was part of the fast-track process to be built right away, not part of Greenlink:

• "We recommend that the segments of the options discussed for access to the Industrial Crossing be built as “stand-alone” infrastructure to serve existing needs until a new crossing is chosen. The elements include a bypass for trucks from Highway 401 to Brighton Beach....The current problems are so significant that this new roadway is justified as a bypass solution which links into the current crossings, regardless of whatever may be the outcome of the on-going Bi-National environmental assessment process."

Cansult, the expert retained by the Federal Government, killed the Phase 1 by-pass by stating:

• "In summary, while a Transportation Center/marshalling yard could be of some minimal benefit in addressing congestion along Huron Church Road, the proposed location at Brighton Beach, in combination with the truck bypass, does not seem to be practical or cost-effective. "

If you look at Phase 2, the key element for Eddie was the multimodal terminal, again not Greenlink. He needs that hub as the basis of his development on the airport lands. As I stated in a previous BLOG, Tecumseh also has a block of land off of Manning Road that could be used as a hub. In other words there is a competition between the two cities as to which one gets the prize.

It is in Phase 3 where Manning Road is allowed to be built under the Schwartz timetable. It is really in Phases 4 & 5 where the equivalent of Greenlink and the new border crossing are built. In other words Manning Road is built before Greenlink not the other way around as the Mayor is suggesting in the Schwartz plan as I read it.

If I have misunderstood this, then I apologize but the way I read it, the City has no position that is supportable. One could make the argument that in fact we need an upgraded Expressway so that there is a route to the border for trucks while the DRIC road is built.

Greenlink now is nothing more than the tool that the Mayor is using to prevent the County from getting a transportation hub. He's using that road as a stall tactic in the same way that he used the first Schwartz Report and then full tunneling.

When you look at what he said on CKLW, Eddie contradicts himself. No trucks on the Expressway he states firmly. Well not so firmly because he admits the trucks will be able to go on the Expressway after Greenlink is built. If it is wrong to have a road system that allows trucks on EC Row, then it is wrong before and after Greenlink is built. It is not an issue merely of timing and sequencing. Either trucks are allowed or they're not allowed. The excuse used is a phony one.

I think that the Mayor has lost it frankly. His attack on Dwight and Sandra will get him nowhere. He leaves office in three years while they are still in office for another year after that. He has no leverage over them now. He made a calculated move before the election to support them and it backfired on him badly. He made a gross political miscalculation that is hurting the City badly.

The reality is Dwight and Sandra don't need Eddie but Eddie desperately needs them. We saw what happened with the Sutherland jobs. If it were not for Sandra coming in at the end and putting in Provincial money, there would be no jobs even if they are only at minimum wage. Without Dwight and Sandra, we wouldn't have to worry about where the Engineering Complex is going to go because there would not be one. And as for economic development, as Matt Fischer, one of the Gazelle Feeders, stated we are totally dependent upon the Province to bring us any big, new, industrial growth since the Economic Development Commission does not have the size to go and get that kind of business.

Does the Mayor think it is smart business to bite the hand that feeds him?

There are two strains running through what the Mayor says. First is the issue of the transportation hub. Second, there is the issue of Eddie's credibility. All that the Mayor is doing is putting himself in the position that when the Senior Levels have had enough and impose a solution on Windsor he'll be able to say that he did everything he could for us and lost. He is our champion and our martyr and we should still praise him for trying.

In reality, Eddie learned a good lesson from Mike Hurst. Eddie will tell us that he is merely the mayor of a small town and that he has no authority and no clout. NO. The reality is that he had it and he blew it.

A short postscript. Do you remember when I talked about Agenda Item #6 in a previous BLOG? What you should know is that the number one project that Administration wanted to spend any excess Border Infrastructure Fund money on was the Lauzon Parkway Environmental Assessment--EC Row to Highway 401. That also was the "suggestion" in Agenda Item #5.

No wonder they were both quickly deferred until some unknown time in the future without any conversation whatsoever by Councillors. The two items completely undercut the City's position!