Highway 10 needs attention

The following letter, to The Honourable Donna Cansfield, Minister of Transportation, was submitted to the Citizen.

I am writing to further my concerns with respect to the plans and actions of your ministry related to the major traffic artery of Highway 10, from Brampton to Orangeville.

I have attached a letter that I addressed to Mr. John Tory the MPP for Dufferin-PeelWellington-Gray. I appreciate, in advance, your attention to this very serious matter.

The Dear John letter to Mr. Tory appears to clearly outline the issue related to this highway as it pertains to Caledon and the traffic flowing through and to this beautiful area. The letter has appeared in three local newspapers and has generated a tremendous response to myself. I have been told that the article captures the essence of what many, many people in this area think is the problem. The response has been predictable - What can I do to help? What can we do before an accident claims the life of an innocent victim of government inaction!

I am now turning to you and your department for a response. We need some action to diffuse a very dangerous situation in the village of Caledon. Since my letter and the subsequent publication in the local newspapers it has been published that the Region of Peel is going to go ahead and make some modifications to the intersection of Highway 10 and County Road 124 (formerly highway 24). These modifications are directly related to the ability of large transport trucks to adequately make the turn onto Highway 10 in each direction. As much as I am pleased to see some action related to my notation of danger and disruption I am at a loss to understand why one arm of government would take it upon themselves to make a temporary correction to a problem that requires the co-operation and immediate joint response to the entire problem not just a small portion of it. If the Region does complete the modifications it will undoubtedly require a dismantling of all or part of that work when the ministry decides to re-activate the widening of the road through the village. I see this as a waste of taxpayer money as well as a time waster in terms of the inevitable need to complete the job as quickly as possible.

At this point in time, we need you to intervene and kick-start the original plans to widen the road through the village of Caledon and modify the intersection to accommodate the high volume of commuter vehicles and transport trucks using this section of Ontario road. I am personally inviting you to come to Caledon for a cup of coffee at the coffee shop at the corner of #10 and regional road 24. I will buy you the coffee and sit with you while you have a bird's eye view of what the impact of the inaction on the widening of #10 is doing to this part of Caledon. I am confident that what you see will highlight the need of the Ministry to act quickly and decisively.

Please call me at 519-927-5365 or contact me via the Internet at dbeffort@sympatico.ca to accept this offer. I remain as open as possible to the dates and times.

Thank you, again, for your attention to this matter and I await your reply. The coffee is on!

Doug Beffort