Rush to twin has left some important issues behind

To the Editor:

Re: The article on Highway 101 twinning.

I was truly dismayed to read David Morse's comments stating how important spending $16 million of taxpayers’ money to twin just 27 km of highway from Grand-Pre to Coldbrook is over repairing the Avon River Causeway!

Forty years ago, one of the worst (and embarrassing) acts of man-made destruction was inflicted on the Avon River system, the dykelands and the entire Minas Basin due to the building of the causeway between Exit 6 and 7 on Highway101. All but one of numerous environmental studies warned of the likelihood of heavy silting causing its inevitable failure, along with the loss of several fish species.

The one study that didn't predict the causeway as a future fiasco was the one the government of the day ran with. I find it rather troubling that the current government is willing to continue to ignore this ongoing catastrophe even though that section of the highway west of St. Croix is currently being twinned. How about finishing one job before we start another?

I am told that to return the Avon River to almost its original state would be in the neighborhood of $100 million. This is a very worthwhile cause (not to mention our responsibility) to restore this river system properly, thereby helping to reverse our impact on Earth just a little.

I would much rather prefer to see our tax dollars spent wisely this time around and to do the job right, even if it means postponing the twinning of about 90 km of highway in our province.

If the Department of Transportation only plans on building a bridge at the sluice-gate portion of the river, this will do nothing to provide "free-tidal flow" necessary for those fish species to once again gain access to their spawning grounds, nor will it facilitate the repair of all the dykelands that were destroyed in the building of the causeway, nor will it bring the extent of life back to the Avon River watershed area and the entire Minas Basin that it once boasted.

Certainly, no one wants to see another life lost on the 101 Highway but, for the time being, why not do the simplest thing that can have the largest impact and reduce the speed limit on all untwinned highways? Statistics show that twinned highways only serve to put more motorists on the road who are driving faster, creating more greenhouse gases and even contributing to more urban sprawl in our countryside and farmland.

Why does it seem that our government is failing to prioritize critical problems and embracing the wrong solutions to our highway problems? I can only hope this election will bring focus and victory to those politicians who, for once, take the high road on our environmental issues, speak bluntly and truthfully to people about our teetering world, and are prepared to act. Thank you.

Marilyn Cameron

Greenwich