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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAy, APRIL 26,1978, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby Voi ce of the County Town The only Whitby newspaper independently ownt Michael 14 an ÎERVINO OVER 28,000 READERS n Burgess, Publîsher-Managing Editor F.OI k. WhtJl L. -t U, ~ "'lau S.praieu IIy YVIaLIy ivsiuets toir htYf'resiaents. Published every Wednesday y M.B.Mt. Publishing id Photography l n. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building, 121 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206. Whitby, Ont. Community Edîtor Contributing Editor Production Manager Print & Promotionai Manager Classof ied Ad Manager Circulation Manager - Brian Wjnter -Jim Quail -Marie Burgess -Robin Lyon -S. van Deeleti -Sharon Lyon Maiing Permit No. 460 Member of the: Better Business Bureau of Toronto Whitby Chamber of Commerce Thnanks from Pine R idge Raif 1ro a dài.P*es Aaain thank-you verv Dear Sir, much. 1 would like to th ank-you 9 your staff for your effort, in '<ours truly, promoting our recent show. W. Special thanks must be given Brian Winter for his profes- sional display. We feel that G. A. Spali1 his article about our club, Show Chairn especialjy the Whitby The Associai section, flot only was excel- Pineridge Ra lent but asslsted our show attendiance immensely. nan tiofl of ailîroaders. Iroquois FaIls scho'ol has 1978 reu'nion Dear Editor: On J uly 1lst weekend of th is year, Iroquols Falls High School will welcome back to its halls aIl former students, teachers and friends. The program will'include a large' picnic, a dance, a banquet, tours and a parade. The school began ln 1921 and has become a. very large and modern Institution of 1100 students. MAany changes have taken place and former students are welcomne to share ln the school's com- plete story. The Welcome Back Committee would ap- preciate your printing this letter to let former staff and, students know about' our plans. Any former staff member or student who- wishies to receive further information should write to us ln care 0f the lroquois Falls Welcome Back Com- mittee, Box. 455,Iroquois Falls, Ontarlo, POK 1EO, to be placed on th is ma1il.i ng 1list. Yours sincerely, Nancy Festarini Co-Chairman, Our roads -are the worst in regionI Taxpayers may sornetimes wonder if all that-money spent by the province and municipalities on studies is really doing any good. Are the studies filed neatly on the shelf, or are they acted upon, even if the' results prove embarassing? One study that should cause a few red faces around the towft hall is the Road Needs Study conducted for the Town of Whtiby by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Communica- tions. It presents sorne startling conclusions aind points out that council policy ini the past several years is acutally short- changing the taxpayer instead of saving him money. The study, cornpleted in 1972 and updated in 1977, involved the inspection of ail town roads, determination of their condîtion,a nd determination 0f when they should be replaced. The results are flot very encouraging. Per mile, Whltby lias the worst roads in the Durham Region, says the study. The study reveals that $19 million worth of road repairs are required in the next 10 years. 0f that, $17 million worth of work will be required in the next one to five years. and $131/4 million worth or roads are In the "now" catgegory, which means they require immediate attention. Public Works Director Dick Kuwabara admits that the town can't meet these dollar needa, and it was suggested by the ministry that the town would be doing well if it could do five per cent of the work a year. Financial restrictions are, according to town officials, the major impedirnent to a quick upgrading of the own's roads. The Ministry of Transportation and Communication gives a 50 par cent subsidy for road reconstruction, but only to a certain ceîling. Above that, the town must pay 100 per cent of the cost, and few towns in this day of tight money would be willing Wo do that, says Mr. Kuwahara. Because of the critical need for immediate reconstruction (134 million in the "now" category), the ministry bas granted an additional roads construction subsidy cf 20 par cent to the Town of Whitby in 1978. Yet even with this booet, only $500.00 will be spent on road reconstruction this year. t wiIl help, but not enough. Only a few specific projects can be undertaken while many other roads in the "xiow" category wil have tW wait. How did we get into this mess, where our roads are the worst inDurhamn Regon' As Mr. Kuwahara explains it, Wliitby is an ald town with old roads, anîd many are outdated or have had patchwut maintmnuunce on *bom for too.long. AI.., Inreasod traffic volumes have broken down many roads. The town has corne to realize through the Road Needs Study that it can no longer get away with the "band-air" measures of road maintenance. The town now has to undertake complete ireconstruction to repair its roads. This is necessary, in part, because niany roads, especially in the rural areas, were flot constructed with a proper base. t seemns we are paying now for the mistakes of the last 20 years, and we will be paying for many years to corne. The Town of Whitby is like a man being chased by a bear. The longer he runs, the more tired he becomes, and the bear keeps getting dloser. At some point the bear wil catch up with hime and devour him. That point, as far as roads are concerned, is getting very close. Yet this need not have happened. Council for the past several years has been wooing the taxpayers with tight budgets and low taxes. The taxpayers may feel the immediate pleasure of a minimal tax increase, but are paying with cutbacks in services, cutbacks that will cost much more to rectify in future years than if the situation had been corrected as 'time progressed. Because council has cut its expenses Wo keep the taxpayers happy, it bas made do with minimal road maintenance, and is now faced with expensive total replacement of many roads. The town is losing the race with the bear, and the taxpayers will have to pay for it. Mr. Kuwahara says that in 20 years the roads in new subdivisions will need updating, while the town is stili struggling to, repair its existing roads. "Tule needs -will be greater in the future, so, we have to work on updating now," he says. Cutting services may save money for a short period of tinie but some time the price for such action will have to be paid. Wiîth our roads we are just beginning to pay that price. 1Will Whitby win the race with the bear and get its roads up to standard? Not for a long tuie, we fear, and flot before the town adopts a policy of putting the necessary tax money where it is needed to do the job the right way the first tirne. The next time you hit a pothole, think of wbat attitude the councils of the past 10 years bave taken toward your roïads in order to supposedly save your taxes. This is an election year-a good Urne tW start thinking about it. 1 m iqm@mý v 1