DRTP's Tunnel Vision

Here comes another Mike Hurst dream for us to pay for. Mike as Mayor of Windsor offered South Windsor a bike path instead of a DRTP Corridor. That was not accepted. Now as DRTP CEO, he offers an underground tunnel. He is proposing an "enhanced" DRTP project at a cost of only another $400 million of taxpayer money so DRTP can make a private profit. Son of MFP, the arena and Canderel!

These are the same people who claimed they were ready to build their DRTP project today. Since an "underground tunnel" is now proposed for at least part of the route (only in the lands south of the EC Row Expressway where the most vocal part of their opposition lives they think), then it is a massive loss for DRTP. It means everything that citizens have said over the past 2 years about their project was correct. It means that building a truck expressway through the heart of Windsor with a 110 acre customs truck yard right off EC Row with noise and truck pollution beside thousands of homes, a dozen schools and the major shopping areas of Windsor is a mistake. It means that using EC Row as an entrance to DRTP is an error.

The DRTP proposal was a disaster for Windsor and would never have been acceptable. We should question why what is being proposed by them now will be any different.

Underground tunnel or no tunnel, it must be remembered that the Bi-national Engineers have said that DRTP does not meet the long term travel needs of the region and as a stand alone project does not meet the minimum criteria for a new crossing. Why are we still talking about a failed proposal? It still would feed trucks only into a 2-lane, almost 100 year-old rail tunnels, when six lanes and car traffic redundancy are needed.

Interestingly, the Bi-National Engineers have said that a new 6-lane truck expressway would have to be built on the DRTP corridor through the City to get trucks to the new DRTP crossing. Not even DRTP had the nerve to say that! And because DRTP only offers one lane in each direction, a new 3-lane tunnel or bridge would have to be built. Can you imagine, a new DRTP bridge near downtown Detroit when they are spending millions to upgrade their waterfront!

How much would that massive construction cost? Just to put matters in context, the Boston "Big Dig" has cost $14.6 billion (up from an initial forecast of about $4 billion in today's dollars). And whose wallets would have to be opened up to pay for this project since private enterprise would not have the dollars to finance this extravaganza: Yours and mine

It is time that the Mayor and Council start playing a leadership role after all this time in office and rather than wasting more taxpayer money.