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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday July 12, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: IAN OLIVER Publisher WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com NEIL OLIVER Associate Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor KELLY MONTAGUE Advertising Director DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Manager TERI CASAS Business Manager MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager Metroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd., includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, Caledon Enterprise, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian No surprises in road report Discussing Halton's road system is much like talking about the weather; everyone has an opinion, but there is little that can be done about it. Halton Region staff presented its 2005 State of the Regional Road System Report to the region's planing and public works committee last week and, not surprisingly, the study outlined some current problems. While the document contained a plethora of traffic and road usage information, the fact remains finding solutions for the problems identified in the report won't be (1) easy; (2) inexpensive; or (3) coming anytime soon. The report found that speeding continues to be a problem on rural roads, primarily in north Halton, where at least a half dozen rural roads made Halton's top-20 list of high-speed locations. We would venture that drivers also enjoy a sense of freedom on these lesstravelled roads and, along with fewer police patrols, are more inclined to put the pedal to the metal. As the report indicated, increased police patrols provide a short-term fix and have only a marginal impact on speeders. A long-term solution, it suggests, lies with engineering, enforcement and education. That means altering the roadways and increasing police presence which also means spending more money that isn't currently available. Traffic congestion was also a main focal point in the report and the document indicated east-west corridors in Halton (such as Dundas Street and Upper Middle Road) "experience severe congestion during peak periods". Many roads in north Halton experienced "moderate" levels of congestion. Hmm, let's see. More development = more people = more vehicles = traffic congestion. Nope, no surprise there. While some roadwork is already under way this year to improve congestion problems the fact is this work -- as is most roadwork -- is reactive to the problem and not proactive. The region is simply playing catch-up to traffic woes that have existed for years. As famed news anchor Peter Trueman often said, "That's not news, but that too, is reality." The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Regional campus shouldn't look like urban sprawl With regards to the proposed Halton Region Campus, Burlington's Mayor Rob MacIsaac is right when he says it "looks like a classic suburban sprawling place" and then MacIsaac suggests developing a vision that "makes it look like a neat urban place". It needs a mix of live/work, private/public, and buildings with spectacular frontage on Bronte road and not an ugly parking lot (imagine how different Sheridan College would look and function if it had student residences right on Trafalgar with a large square in the middle, and similar could have occurred at Oakville's Town Hall). Governments at all levels, have to "walk the talk". The Province, the Region and the Municipality are preaching smart growth and intensification to developers and residents; well, the regional campus presents a great opportunity to show how it should be done and to do something really nice. The location is fantastic, less than one kilometre from the Bronte Provincial Park, which eventually could become a leading urban park in Canada (it is bigger than Central Park in NYC and now surrounded by housing). It is also about two kilometres from Lake Ontario where some interesting developments are taking place at Bronte Village. Finally, Bronte Road is being built with off-road walk-bike trails connecting Dundas with the waterfront, and all of these generates many possibilities. By the way, where are our politicians and community leaders criticizing the decision by the Halton District Catholic School Board not to be part of this campus? It's going to cost us millions to allow that inefficiency and at the end of the day it is the same residents who will pay for it. One taxpayer. Please listen to Mayor MacIsaac and develop the appropriate vision. By the way, the fact that he is raising these issues is one more example of why he should seek another term as Mayor or run for Regional Chair. Who else is going to give these fights? Who else has his level of clarity for planning the region's future development? The decisions on urban development that will have to be taken over the next few years will be critical to the quality of life for residents; what ever is built or left as open spaces, will be how the region will be for hundreds of years. GIL PENALOSA The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206,Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981.Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com