Thinking too Hard about Greenlink

Oakwood Tunnel Park. Windsor-Essex Parkway
Windsor-Essex Parkway and Greenlink. Some Perspective

Our Civic Leaders do not seem to know when to throw the towel in. Painful to watch and stressing to think that they are blowing our tax dollars off and into the wind. This past weekend Windsor Star subcribers found their papers fully gift wrapped with Greenlink propaganda. Front page, back cover and both inside covers. Black plus one colour. For the record that ad placement cost city tax payers $20,000.00 plus agency fees which were probably half of that again. We have now seen several full page ads at five grand each and lets not forget all of the billboards around town which cost about two thousand dollars a pop per month. There's transit Windsor advertising which doesn't come cheap, radio ads, two batches of car flags (the first ones didn't cut the mustard so new ones were ordered at duplicate cost), mail in cards with all of the pre-paid postage fees, magazine ads and who knows what else. We are talking hundreds of thousands of advertising dollars; our local tax dollars. Dollars which we paid and which are quite frankly gone for good and to no good end.

Here's a bit of perspective which local bloggers have been pointing out for over a week. CKLW ran an opinion poll last week and the results easily revealed that over 60 percent of respondents agreed that the Windsor-Essex Parkway is a good way to go. The cost of that poll was zero dollars, nada dinero, zip and zilch. Think about that. CKLW's poll which costed nothing and ran for a mere three days told us where Windsorites stand on this issue. Our City Leaders have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past few months and are still spending even after the Windsor-Essex Parkway has been chosen. All of that spending and they still don't have any concensus. All of the ad dollars which our fearless leaders burned off between their knuckles could have been thrown into real causes like libraries, infrastructure, trees, or paying down debt. Heck...that money could have been used to promote Windsor to the rest of the world. The saddest part about all of this is that it may be all for not because, as we have been hearing lately, neither the state of Michigan or the Federal U.S. government have signed onto having a new border crossing citing unecessary cost and seeming satisfaction with the already under way twinning of the Ambassador Bridge.

Tunnel Vision

The Greenlink and the Windsor-Essex Parkway share the same path and footprint. They straddle the same neighbourhoods and municipalities and they start and stop at exactly the same points. That part is easy enough to envision. The Boys and Girls of Council have their knickers in knots over tunnels. For whatever rationalle, they are bent on longer tunnels. Why? Because they can cover them with more park land. Again: Why? Here is some perspective. Think about the tunnel that we know. The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. It is 1,573 meters long. Roughly one mile. Now envision the last time you drove through that tunnel. Not a very short tunnel is it. Greenlink proponents are pushing for 3830 meters of tunneling with three proposed tunnels being almost as long as the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. There is no logical or safe purpose for this. They don't guard against pollution (in fact it concentrates and exhausts it into the very neighbourhoods which the tunnels abut. At least with open roadway those pollutants get mixed with fresh air and carried away by prevailing winds. The Greenlink tunnels have no emergency shoulders either. That means if there is an accident in one of those tunnels the best scenario we have is traffic backups for miles. Worst case scenario is mass carnage as we saw in the California tunnel disaster of last year. http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&brand=msnbc&showPlaylist=true&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:b55fa02b-b490-46f9-8f8c-1f113df7c991

As for parkland how much is enough? The Windsor-Essex Parkway is providing 240 acres of parkland. Most of that new parkland will be Labelle with 240 meters, Huron Church with 220 meters, Hearthwood with 220 meters, Howard with 240 meters and Spring Garden with 220 meters. Let's look at this in perspective. Square 240 meters and you get 16 acres. That's just the amount of greenspace which covers one tunnel. It does not take into account the greenspace which it joins to on either side of the highway. Memorial Park and Optimist Parks combined are 50 acres. Lansberry Park is 11 acres. Multiply 15 acres times 11 tunnels plus the peripheral green spaces and you get a lot of added green with all of the bonus trails and ammenities attached. Are sour grapes really worth the whining, kicking and fiscal hemorrhaging which our City Council is subjecting us to? Over 60 percent of us have already said no.

The Nafta Super Highway

Chew on this: Right from the beginning the Nafta Superhighway has been mapped out from Mexico and beyond via the I-69 straight through PortHuron/Sarnia and directly to London and Toronto via the 402/401. At this time, construction has already begun in the Southernmost affected states. This highway is planned to be four football fields wide. As we know, the involved governments are already planning to widen the 402. The next time you have your road map of South Western Ontario out take a hard look at it. If you think that Canada stops at London today, think about the impact of this new path of least resistance. Windsor will certainly come to know what it's like to be Wallaceburg.

METROPOLIS BLOGGER SCORES WITH FIRE DEPARTMENT

FIRE HYDRANTS IN FRONT OF
SEAGRAVE SITE BACK ON DUTY

FIRE DEPT. ORDERED FENCE RE-ROUTED AROUND HYDRANTS


FENCE TAKEN DOWN FROM BUILDING FIRE EXIT

Andrew from International Metropolis pointed out the unsafe fire hydrant scenario in front of the building formerly known as the Seagrave Building to Richard Marr, the Assistant Chief Fire Prevention Officer. Mr. Marr quickly realized that the situation was unsafe and arranged for the problem to be fixed. Fencing was re-routed around the hydrants and the fire exit on the building to the south was opened up. In one way this is another positive accomplishment by local bloggers; the "W Team". Too bad that it seems moot after losing the Seagrave building to an unscrupulous business person and an inept city administration. Thanks Andrew. Thanks Mr. Marr and Mr. Fabel.

From the Fire Department to Andrew:

Dear Andrew,

Inspector Fabel has ordered the removal of the fence from the front of the hydrants at 9:00 hrs. The workers are in the process of doing that as we speak. Inspector Fabel will follow-up later this morning and let me know.When the fence is removed I will let you know.

Richard Marr
Assistant Chief Fire Prevention Officer
Windsor Fire & Rescue Services
815 Goyeau StreetWindsor, ON N9A 1H7

SEAGRAVE DONS PARTY HATS

SEAGRAVE SITE LOCKED DOWN.
900 BLOCK OF WALKER ROAD
WITHOUT FIRE PROTECTION


One of two fire hydrants fenced inside the demolition site.


Missing hydrant on north side of Metropole Lofts at Niagra.


Lakeside Engine Repair Sign Not Attracting Much Business

Early Saturday Morning a bunch of workers accompanied by suits quickly strung chain link fence and scaffolding around the Seagrave crime scene. The Windsor Star reported today that the site has been locked down by the Ministry (whichever ministry that is) and that not even the Jones Demolition people are allowed in to finish their deed.

All of this is very interesting but there is one slight problem. They fenced in the only two fire hydrants that service the entire 900 block of Walker Road. Well, actually there is supposed to be a third one just north of Big Tony's at Niagra but that one got sheared off several months ago and hasn't been replaced yet. The fencing also covers the fire exit of the car repair garage immediately adjacent to the Seagrave building on the south side.

A couple of important questions come to mind here. Why is the site cordoned off? Is the asbestos thing a real concern? Surely it can't have anything to do with heritage designation. Too late for that.

The other question...What if there is a fire in any of the buidings on the 900 block of Walker? One might answer: "The fire department can easily cut the chain link away if they have to." Yes they can but will that give residents of the Metropole Lofts a warm fuzzy? What about Big Tony's Restaurant or the garage on the south end of the site which lost an important fire escape. What about the businesses on the opposite side of Walker? What about Lakeside Repairs which is trapped inside of the site with no point of entry or exit? What about the site itself which is a heap of 100 year old timbers?

Does anyone want to see precious minutes wasted in the event of a fire? The powers that be might want to re-address their game plan.

Historic Seagrave Building Murdered. City in on it.

CITY OF WINDSOR KEEPS DEMOLITION PLANS ON THE HUSH


Historical building demolishion Windsor Style


Seagrave building this afternoon at 5:30 P.M.


Seagrave building this morning at 8:00 A.M.

"Malicki said finally city council -- after decades of simply showing no interest in heritage at all -- is paying attention to the value of saving and restoring buildings of historical interest."
Quoted from the Windsor Star. Wednesday, April 9, 2008.
Ahhh...That would be today.

Read the full article here: http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=518affd9-b67f-49ae-859b-cba358553d18&p=2

Not quite. While the ink was still drying on Ms. Malicki's Windsor Star, the Jones Demolition Company started ripping the Historic Seagrave building down not five blocks away from the Paul Martin House in Old Walkerville. As it turns out, the City of Windsor had issued a permit for the demolition. Same old City of Windsor. If it's old and historic, it's got to be raised. Sorry Pat. You weren't the only one. Nobody who witnessed the event today could believe it either. No advance warning at all. It was obviously done on the hush. There is one exception to this. Rick Gruber who is the area Building Inspector rushed out today to halt the demolition because even though there was a permit to raise the building, there was no permit to close Walker Road. In fact, the sidewalk is the only thing which separates the buiding from Walker Road. Witnesses said that a man riding a bike almost got clocked by falling bricks. Four thirty rolled around. Quittin time for city employees and Jones fired up the beast and started tearing the old girl down. Right in the middle of rush hour. One reason...They rented the rig from Amicone for a tight time window and the clock was ticking. Within two hours the building was really history. Ashok Sood who owns that property along with most of the 8 and 900 blocks of Walker Road stood on the opposite side of Walker to witness his planned demolition. He is planning to attract a "Big Box" operation on the East Side of Walker. The first modern firetrucks were produced in the Seagrave buiding. Originally built in 1904. A real link to Walkerville's and to the City of Windsor's past. But raising our heritage buildings seems to be what Windsor is all about. They never did show an interest in heritage and this should be proof Ms. Malicki that they never will. Shameful and pathetic.

http://themayorofmonmouth.blogspot.com/2007/07/seagrave-building-torched-in-wee-hours.html

Click on images to enlarge

Half way down from behind


View of demolition from the rubble



There goes the brick detail

VIEW MORE PICS COURTESY OF CHRIS EDWARDS:

http://walkerville.com/seagraves/

From Gord Henderson:

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=0da7ed98-9e14-4f41-b00b-efd0ef1deec2

CP GRADE SEPARATION ARRIVING EARLY?

Architechtural Rendering looking North from South Approach

Originally scheduled to be completed in 2009, the Walker Road/CP rail grade separation seems to be running ahead of schedule. Early completion date is July/August. Add pants and November is likely. Here is what the project looks like today:

LOOKING NORTH TO SOUTH

WITHOUT TRAIN

FROM TRACKS LOOKING SOUTH TO TECUMSEH ROAD

SHORING. POSSIBLY FOR "WINE RIVER" DIVERSION

LOOKING TOWARD TECUMSEH ROAD

NEW TRUSS WITH STEEL TRACK BED

NEW TRUSS NEXT TO CURRENT TRACKS ON RIGHT

LOOKING NORTH FROM SOUTH APPROACH

VIEW SOUTH TO TECUMSEH ROAD FROM DEAD CENTER

CURRENT TRACKS SOUTH OF NEW TRUSS

TONKA TOY. THERE'S TWO OF EM

A PAIR OF SHOVELS

Taking all bets. Before deadline, deadline or after deadline? July, August, September, November, December, 2009?

HOCKEY TIME IN OLD WALKERVILLE

HIGH STICKING

ENFORCER

HE SHOOTS!

FROM THE POINT

TIDYING UP THE CREASE

TWO ON ONE

BUZZER

Funny thing this hood. High winds and snow sparked an idea; an e-mail was sent and voila! Three strings of hoodies and friends gathered at the parking lot of Walkerville High School, sticks and shovels in tow. A space was cleared, nets were set up and the game was on. A charged group of twenty, thirty and fortysomethings; a good ratio of men and women played a full afternoon of road hockey. Where else does this happen? This was a mixed group of professionals too. Doctors, educators, PR types, administrators, police...you name it. Everyone had obvious fun plus a good workout. Looks like another "first annual". Where else but Old Walkerville. Thanks for the e-mail John Parent!

Caroline Postma Replies to Blog Readers

First off I want to thank MOM for allowing councillors this platform to bring forward messages. I appreciate not having the worry of maintaining a site and the hassle of deadlines. My schedule doesn’t permit me much time for writing as most days I am in and out between meetings, my boy’s hockey, my daughter’s ballet and other commitments there is never enough time in a day.

I will try and tackle all of the questions posed on this site regarding the ICBL (Interim Control Bi-Law) for Sandwich. I apologize in advance if it seems I am jumping from topic to topic. Here goes!

Exemptions are allowed under the ICBL and are supposed to be based on the merit of the application. In fact there has been an exemption on Peter Street where a home burned down and the owner applied to demolish and rebuild. I don’t consider working and strategizing with residents on an exemption “hand holding” – look at the vote for Mr. Wilson’s garage – it ended up loosing by only 1 vote. I continued to communicate with Mr. Wilson after the vote was defeated to strategize next steps. I consider one of the most important aspects of my job is strategizing with residents and educating them on City processes.

I can’t speak for my Council Colleagues but I will support Maryvale.

Kdduck posted as to how I can look at each and every applicant and be effective or efficient? With all due respect that is my job as a City Councillor. Not only did I live in the area (and went to high school there) I participated in the planning Task Force for Olde Sandwich Towne and continue to participate in the Community Improvement Plan, so in short I have background knowledge to judge exemptions. I am in neighbourhoods frequently. I talk to residents, business owners and city staff before I make a decision. If that is a stretch for a politician, then don’t call me one.

I asked the planning department to explain Community Improvement Plans, why we do them and to compare Sandwich Towne CIP and others in the City (during my tenure) in terms of costs as well as Interim Control By-Laws. Below is the response:

“Every CIP is unique to a certain degree, so comparisons are tricky. There are 2 main kinds: those that address situations [like the existence of hard-to-redevelop 'brownfields' throughout a municipality] and those that address one or more matters [described categorically in s. 11.8 of our Official Plan] in a certain part of the municipality. So far, all our CIPs have been of the second kind. The main point of this second kind of CIP is to size up the specific circumstances of a specific Community Improvement Project Area Council has designated, and then tailor the plan to address those circumstances. In doing so, Council must remain aware that it is actually creating what I'd call a "planning bias" that favours a particular Area with particular privileges [investments, land-use designations changes, incentives, etc.].

In terms of having an ICBL in place for a CIP, yes, Sandwich is the only CIP with that distinction, again mainly because one of its particular issues is unusually rapid property declines/changes. Yes, the ICBL for the Entertainment Lounge District is the most recent other time Council invoked an ICBL. To clarify, the study it resulted in was the City Centre Interim Control Land Use Study which is not a CIP.

What I can say in terms of staff time & consultants fees and other associated project costs, this is the ranking of our recent CIPs completed under my watch, according to cost [highest to lowest]:
1. City Centre West
2. Sandwich
3. Little River Acres
4. Glengarry Marentette”

I like the suggestion from Robert f.e. Scherer to try and recoup tax dollars spent on the various CIPs from the senior levels of government – good one.

In terms of the Ambassador Bridge Company, the by-law was not imposed because of them. Go ahead laugh out loud – get it out of your system.

I can see why most people think it is since exemptions are turned down in fear of precedent setting, the timing of the CIP as it compares to the Ambassador Bridge work and DRIC (Detroit River International Crossing).

I can not speak for the Bridge Company. In speaking to a representative from their company they own all but 6 homes on Indian road – both sides. The Ambassador Bridge Company did tear down several homes before the by-law was even passed. They did not plant grass, they did not plant trees or bushes and they left dirt piles, piles of debris and litter and left the grass (weeds) to grow taller than my 6 year old. The track record of the Bridge Company is not the greatest.

One of my biggest concerns is what will replace all of these homes when demolition does occur? If it really is green space how long will it take and why didn’t they clean up their properties before I have to continuously send by-law, building and fire department staff out to issue work orders? They still don’t maintain the properties 100%. None of the snow is cleared.

The Ambassador Bridge Company does not have any approvals to enhance their span (build a second bridge). The EA they submitted was not accepted and further study was required. There is a roadway project occurring on the US side of the bridge, which will see a direct highway connection at the foot of the bridge – this is the gateway project. It does not mean the Bridge Company has the approvals on the US side for the enhancement project or a second span. I have yet to see any paperwork approving the second span from the US governments – a letter from a Governor does not count especially when the DRIC was continued – not folded by the Senate. It is a Bi-National process, involving 2 countries not just the US.

The project on Indian Road near Mill Street was an approval for new Canadian Customs Booths only to be opened when traffic volumes warrant. Canada Border Service Customs Agency has not even agreed to man those booths yet, in fact CBSA cited several concerns with the enhancement project. The main point is there has been an International process put in place called the DRIC to look at where to build a new bridge and plaza and the Ambassador Bridge was ruled out by that process. Although some think that process will fold, time will tell and for now the work continues on both sides of the border.

On another note Dave referred to the U of W downtown and the Urban Village. Let me be very clear – I voted to see a business plan developed for a possible campus downtown. A business plan … not a shovel in the ground for a campus. I am not aware of any talks with St. Clair College over the Urban Village site; it needs for go RFP period! Mr. Halberstadt has not put anything forward at the Council table for the Urban Village continuation so I am not sure what you are referring to. I want to see this land developed ASAP. Downtown will live again! The DWBIA is doing some excellent work and I am confident that things will get better. By the way for those who read the 3am closure posting I wrote - I frequently shop at Felix Imports and the little store beside the bank in the same block . I love their clothes and shoes!