Reminded of the one...

I just want to say thank you to The Windsor Star for reminding me that we have one member of city council who isn't afraid to speak up and tell people the way it is.

Alan Halberstadt wrote a letter to the editor today calling for people to realize that the first order of business is to REDUCE the number of trucks on the roads - not just accomodate them (which, in the end, only encourages that method of transportation)

Route fixation keeping focus from border fix

I sympathize with the opinion of occupational health activist James Brophy, Oct. 12, that the City of Windsor's plan to spend $1.6 billion on a road solution to bury border trucks is the wrong approach.

Mr. Brophy is bang on. We should be looking first for ways to reduce the number of trucks crossing the Detroit River. Unfortunately, the city has been backed into a corner by senior governments who have decided more and more trucks will keep rolling through Windsor and somehow we have to accommodate them over the next 50 to 100 years.

The alternative to burying trucks in tunnels is to continue the practice of mixing them with cars and stopping and starting them for six kilometres from the 401 to E.C. Row. The stoplights on Huron Church Road offer the worst-case scenario for creating and spreading poisonous diesel fumes.

Mr. Brophy fails to mention that the original Schwartz plan, unveiled in January 2005, includes other components every bit as vital as the Huron Church access route.

Sam Schwartz advocated the following "balanced transportation" elements to subtract 2,000 trucks per day from city streets:
- Increase the capacity of the Detroit-Windsor truck ferry from 50-80 trucks/day to 1,000.
- Build a CP rail tunnel beneath the Detroit River to support double-stack rail containers that carry SUVs, etc.
- Build a multi-modal hub at Windsor Airport aligning ground, air and rail transportation. Rationalize commercial and passenger rail lines and rail yards to eliminate 15 public railway crossings in Windsor and 94 in Essex and Kent counties.

The city needs to revisit the original Schwartz plan, which envisioned a five-phase construction schedule:
- Phase 1: Huron Church bypass, existing ferry, bridge and tunnel improvements.
- Phase 2: New rail tunnel, rail consolidation, multi-modal facility, new rail station.
- Phase 3: Lauzon Parkway and Manning Road extensions to the 401.
- Phase 4: Highway 401 improvements and extension.
- Phase 5: Build the new crossing.

The timing on some of these green elements has become muddled and even forgotten given the fixation on the truck access route.

The city needs to get cracking on them to alleviate Mr. Brophy's grim warning that the Windsor-Detroit border transportation plan will be unsustainable in 15 years.

ALAN HALBERSTADT
Ward 3 Councillor

The article which Halberstadt is citing, features James Brophy decrying a huge investment on an option that will be deemed obsolete in twenty years, while doing nothing to curb emmissions. Unfortunately, the Star's archive service was down at the time of this writing, so I cannot reprint it here.

We must encourage Alan to keep up the good fight, and being the sole member of council willing to tell the truth - no matter how hard it is to hear.

Halberstadt for Mayor in 2010!

SDW - The latest effort to combat obesity

It seems that, after years of fighting to get the message out, that people in high places are finally starting to listen. Oh yes, and the media has picked up on it too!

According to an article posted on MSN this morning, the British thinktank Foresight has analyzed data involving 250 health experts spanning two years and determined that our environment, that is the infrastructure and amenities that comprise the world we live in, that is contributing to the rise of obesity. The predicted that, even if we acted immediately, it would take 30 years to reverse the trend that is set in place.

"Tackling obesity, like tackling climate change, requires a range of changes in society, from increasing everyday activity through the design of the built environment and transport systems to shifting the drivers of the food chain and consumer purchasing patterns to favor healthier options."

It looks like SDW can chalk up one more reason for fighting the good fight -- the health of future generations will rely on our success in transforming our community and making passive "exercise" a part of every day life rather than the exception to the rule.