Hume's advocacy of corridor wrong, waste of taxpayer dollars

February 10, 2011

Dear Editor,

Peter Hume is wrong and wasting taxpayers’ dollars in his advocacy of the proposed Alta Vista Transportation Corridor. He said in your paper, “The opposition to the hospital link is mostly concentrated within the executive of one community association,” but I assure you there has been great opposition form the community of Old Ottawa East and elsewhere.

How in the world can he conceivably justify the expenditure of $55.5 million for a 1.2 kilometre section of roadway? Advocates of the enormous expenditure say the new route will reduce traffic on Smyth Road and Alta Vista Drive, but surely there are less expensive means of reducing traffic on these routes.

As anybody who reads your paper knows, Old Ottawa East’s Main Street also has a huge amount of traffic from the south but we do not believe building a new four lane road, (i.e. the AVTC) is the way to solve the problem. The proposed transportation corridor will totally isolate the Lees Avenue apartments of Old Ottawa East, destroy some wonderful soccer pitches which are much needed in this city and just dump traffic onto the already excessively busy Queensway, Nicholas, Lees and elsewhere.

Some many years ago Toronto had enough sense to stop the Spadina expressway. I sure hope that Ottawans will have enough sense to stop the equally ill-conceived Alta Vista Transportation Corridor.

John Dance

Old Ottawa East