Recent letters have suggested that supporting new highway corridors in the Guelph area is 1950s thinking. Well, I’m guilty as charged.
Of course, in the ’50s you could make a day trip to Toronto without having to leave by 5 a.m. and with an emergency overnight bag (just in case). Also, in the ’50s and ’60s Ontario’s economy led the country, as compared with our recent status as a ‘have-not’ province.Recent letters have suggested that supporting new highway corridors in the Guelph area is 1950s thinking.
Massive road congestion on current highways makes industry less competitive, generates greenhouse gas emissions that impact the environment and causes personal stress that affects our wellness and quality of life.
Ontario’s economy will continue to move primarily by truck, and an efficient freeway network is necessary to reduce industry’s shipping and receiving costs. Controlled- access freeways are much safer than travel on other roads, and this reduces accidents and the associated insurance and health care costs.
Guelph industry, particularly in the northwest and east areas, already incurs a significant transportation penalty, and jobs migrating to locations on the freeway corridors will only lengthen our commuting times.
We do need transit, transit and more transit, but neglecting to plan and protect for new freeway corridors is not a wise course. By the way, the new Highway 7 freeway will permit the implementation of dedicated lanes for high-occupancy vehicles and bus rapid transit (BRT) lines. Commuters will finally have a public transit option for travel to universities, colleges and jobs in Guelph, Wellington and Waterloo.
Richard Puccini   Guelph