THE TRIAL CONTINUES Dear Mr. Ranjan and good morning to all; Thank you for your notification of the pending meetings at Grapeview and Mother Teresa schools, on December 2 and 4, 2013. I am following up to clarify your last email to Ms. Walker that there might be some re-scheduling of one or both of these meetings. Having these dates solidified is quite important for all stakeholders. I seek your approval to have the community be involved, such as having a space within the presentation room to provide hand-outs about how unsafe this interchange is and the fact that the “why” it needs to be built here versus closer to the hospital has never been answered. Ideally, we would like audio visual capabilities to use run our power point presentations, as well as key evidence from leaders of this community who agree that this interchange is not only pre-mature and not needed, but essentially an irresponsible proposal. We would also like to consider having parents of children who have been killed in school cross walks speak. Apparently Hon. Liz Sandals listens to victims, perhaps she will denounce this interchange to prevent further victims under her watch. We would also request a formal invite by the region and city to all provincial stakeholders to be present. Not only is it their money you are seeking, however when Hon. Jim Bradley can state that he is not in favor of that location either, then a provincial presence should be nothing less than mandatory. This is not only a way from the them to better understand how ludicrous this proposed alternative is, but to shake the hands of the voters of this area ~ which I understand is the highest turnout community in all of St. Catharines, if not Niagara. Having Dr. Jaeger present is also invaluable. And perhaps she can address why she, as an Regional Employee, feels the need to support a City Mayor when clearly the region’s admission is this is interchange is for commercial use, when there is in fact hardly any, if at all, commercial activity in this neighborhood. Of all the string of emails damning the Mayor’s assertion that this is interchange is to service the “hospital,” based on some comment made by Dr. Jaeger; not once has this Doctor stood up in the community and answered the questions of her. 1) if there was an alternate interchange that was closer to the hospital that serviced the needs quicker than the proposed Alt 9, would you not agree with exploring that option instead. 2) In the event of a train derailment, stalled train or heaven forbid a catastrophe in light of recent train explosions, why wouldn’t Dr. Jaeger strive to service any patients traveling from south St. Catharines by recommending a bridge OVER the tracks to the west that joins up with the helicopter pad, or a viaduct under the tracks. Why isn’t this the first priority given the expansion to the south of the hospital, versus a needless interchange at some 33-45 million that does not service the hospital at all. An off ramp under Third to Fourth is all that is needed to ensure those traveling to Emergency via SB 406 can get off before Fourth. (This also eases Third Street congestion). Mr. Stainsby and Mr. Crocco, I wish to thank you for putting out notices to all parents. Given the uncertainty of the dates as Mr. Ranjan stated to us, will you allow the meetings also to be posted on your school’s website and the School Information Board at the front of the property? Mr. Crocco, you also advised that the Catholic School Board will be completing an independent safety study to ensure that the proposed increase traffic that is meant to ease “driver frustration” and with no regard to your student’s safety (as confirmed and present in September by the current traffic studies) would be completed. This was your promise to MT parents in June. Can you advise where this stands and if we can get a copy of same. Can you share with us who is doing the study so there is no conflict of interest with the Mayor and Region? Mayor McMullan ~ I wish to thank you for the call to Ms. Walker to set up a meeting to review a possible proposal. As you are aware, we did call back to set up this meeting, but we have yet to receive a return call. Mr. Mayor, we do wish to work with the region and city. This has been evident from the get-go; to maintain a safe community, while having the region and you reach your objectives for growth in west St. Catharines. Our door is open. Please note: That we will be asking Cons. Siscoe to represent our community by asking these key questions. 1. Why are you so adamant for this bridge when all published comments have been refuted? Is there an alternate reason that we can now take into consideration? 2. If servicing the hospital remains your steadfast answer; why won’t you agree with alternative plans to make that happen at a fraction of taxpayers money. 3. If servicing the hospital remains your published position, a motion to review Emergency plans, ambulance routing plans and the need to have a bridge or viaduct constructed over/under the rail lines to ensure safe and quick passage for emergency situations, before an interchange to the north is considered. Mr. Ranjan etal, I thank you for your return email so we can prepare
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 15:32:30 +0000
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