[All] Half of Wilmot Line Paved...

[Michael F]

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the notice of the paving of the southern half of Wilmot Line.  I
was riding my bike out there on Thursday last week, and I remember the
freshly-graded gravel...so, now it is all paved (but thankfully, the
northern half is still gravel).  I very much preferred the gravel.  (I enjoy
riding long distances in the countryside on my humble bicycle, and I prefer
gravel roads because the cars are fewer and generally travel slower.  The
dust is no problem for me.  After having been run off the road by a car a
few years ago while cycling to work in Toronto, I will take dust over cars
any day.)

For keeping traffic volumes under control, I once suggested the idea of
having some sort of electronically controlled gate (similar to the ones
found at parking lots) at the top of Horror Hill.  With modern transponder
technology (similar to what Highway 407 uses, or what those RFID
security-access cards use in many modern office buildings: you just wave
them and the door opens), it would be possible to control the gate.
Transponders/access cards could be given only to current uses of the road,
thereby barring the new suburbanites who will be moving into the
subdivisions that will soon appear along the Wilmot Line.  Transponders
would be especially convenient because they would enable the permitted
vehicles to open the gate without having to slow down.

If the gates were engineered properly, and if they were designed with
durable operating mechanisms, they could serve well for many years.  They
would require no more maintenance than the roadway itself.  Costs would be
miniscule compared to the overall costs of road maintenance.  (And besides,
those deep-pocketed developers could pay for the gate, given that the need
for it arises because of the subdivisions they are building.)

Please let me know what you think.

Michael.

On Mon, Jul 18, 2011 at 9:44 AM, Kevin Thomason <kevinthomason at mac.com>wrote:

> Good morning,
>
> I am extremely saddened to report that with no advance notice or warning on
> Friday the Southern half of the Wilmot Line was hard-surfaced by the
> Township of Wilmot despite our years of efforts of trying to keep this
> roadway gravel to reduce traffic volumes and speeds into the Laurel Creek
> Headwaters Environmentally Sensitive Landscape.
>
> It appears that this paving right up to the boundary of the ESL has been
> done very deviously with no advance public notice to area landowners, no
> signage and no notification to the City of Waterloo Council who shares the
> maintenance and costs of this road with the Township.  In the past, the City
> of Waterloo has consistently refused Wilmot's requests to upgrade this road
> and there are several Waterloo motions committing to keeping this road
> gravel, limiting traffic to 1,000 cars per day, etc.
>
> Not only are there the issues of an upgraded tar and chipped road
> encouraging significant amounts of traffic into the ESL area - exactly where
> we want to reduce the volume of traffic and not create a new Westside
> Waterloo bypass, but there are also the issues of the significant amounts of
> salt that are now going to be required on these hills in winter that could
> particularly impact SubWatershed 302 - the headwaters for the pristine
> Monastery Creek cold water trout fishery - one of the best cold water
> streams in the Region along with the wetlands in this area.
>
> As well, there are the safety issues of increasing speeds and volume of
> traffic on a road that is quite hilly, has limited sightlines, countless
> hikers, joggers, cyclists, horses, etc. and has already seen numerous
> accidents and a fatality recently.  The new pavement now ends abruptly at
> the top of Horror Hill and it will be quite the shock for motorists to
> suddenly find the road surface changing under them, exactly at the moment
> they find themselves plummetting down one of the steepest hills in the
> Region.
>
> I will be presenting to the City of Waterloo Council tonight and will try
> to work with the Township of Wilmot and the Region of Waterloo to see what
> our options are and what can be done to address the safety and environmental
> concerns.  It is extremely disappointing to see Wilmot working against the
> efforts of so many to protect this area and ensure our roads are safe.
>
> Please let me know any questions or ideas.
>
> Thank you,
> Kevin.
>
> -------------------------------------
>
> Kevin Thomason
>
> 1115 Cedar Grove Road
> Waterloo, Ontario Canada  N2J 3Z4
>
> Phone: (519) 888-0519
> Mobile Phone: (519) 240-1648
> Twitter: @kthomason
> E-mail: kevinthomason at mac.com
>
> -----------------------------------------
>
>
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-- 
================================================================
Michael Frind, BSc
School: MSc Candidate (Thermal Geophysics), Earth & Environmental Sciences,
University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo ON CA N2L 3G1
Home: 346 Marlowe Drive, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 5A4 519-885-4415
frind at execulink.com, michael.e.frind at gmail.com, mefrind at uwaterloo.ca
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