Covering Our Tracks

John Parent of the 700 Block spotted this letter to the editor in today's Windsor Star. This particular event obviously raises ire on both sides of the political tracks. It will certainly impact Olde
Walkerville but how? What do you think? Read on:

Keep Train Station Where it is and Rebuild City
Letter to the Editor - Windsor Star - January 10, 2006
Published: Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Your coverage of the possible Via Rail location seems to have brought out every political pundit to sing the praises of another route for "sprawlers" to find their way back to Windsor. Even Eddie Mayor Francis would have us believe that using the Windsor City Centre as a landing pad for east Windsor commuters will make Windsor a better place to live. To this I say, Mayor Francis, urban sprawl is not smart growth.
The pro-commuter coverage and fear mongering by the editorial board of The Windsor Star is appalling. If we believed everything we read in the paper, we might actually believe that turning a rail corridor into a commuter road would save lives. While any death is tragic, the comparable carnage we will experience on an automotive commuter route will far surpass any rail route. We need to invest in quality of life, not just quantity.
While Tecumseh's mayor sang the praises of new development with "reclaimed" rail land, he failed to address the devastating effects a new road will have on Windsor and the communities which this road dissects. Aside from strip malls and big-box stores, how much development occurs on the main commuter arteries in Windsor? Tecumseh and Wyandotte are near wastelands of urban development (Wyandotte in particular), and what is left is quickly falling into disrepair. Does Windsor really need another strip mall or parking lot?
Instead of pulling yet another landmark and attraction out of Windsor, we, and our elected officials, should be demanding that we reinvest into Windsor.
Rebuilding Windsor leads to a strong tax base, a more robust local economy, and a greater quality of life for all Windsorites.

JOSHUA BIGGLEY
Walkerville

Some thoughts: Let's keep in mind that nothing has happened yet. Also...Moving the station and eliminating the line has been on the table for a long time. Nothing new here. It's also railroad property.

Any concern that the proponents of a "roadway" or "transportation corridor" are of the mind that packing more residents into a bottle as a desired objective is without logic. There's simply no place to put them. The bandwagon which the local pundits are riding is about relief from traffic congestion. East to West and vice versa. This is one half of the commuter problem in the City of Windsor. The other is North and South routes. Let's face it. E.C.Rowe is already overcapacity and so are all North South routes like Walker Road, Howard Avenue, Lauzon Parkway etc. Look at the fun we're having with the "Truck Route".
The underlying and root cause is that Windsor, from it's beginning as a "frontier town" with muddy ruts and single story commerce has never adopted another mindset. At best, we've grown old like a house which has undergone one bad renovation after another. In the end it all has to be torn down and started over otherwise it just won't cut it as an efficient and healthy place to live. The tired and decrepit Wyandotte Street and Tecumseh Road are indeed good examples of this. So too is Windsor's downtown. As infrastructure they've gone about as far as they can go. They need to be re-built for sure but with sound planning. Windsor business owners also need a new mindset. The day you see a Windsor shopkeeper scraping gum off of the sidewalk in front of his store or removing graffiti from a garbage can is surely going to be a glorious turning point for the city of Windsor. These corridors are what they are but that doesn't mean that they can't be grand. More big box ops and retail strips won't come with this change either. The corridor is only so wide and it's already flanked with miles of residential areas and existing commercial and industrial sites. There is not much else you can do with it.
As far as the quality of life is concerned it will probably make it better. Easier entry and exit into the downtown core will definately bring more patronage and spending which begets more tax dollars which begets more improvements which....At the end of the day our less than frustrated commuters will go home to their Tecumseh sprawl with better thoughts about their Windsor experience. As far as Olde Walkerville is concerned such a corridor will have neutral impact as it will literally connect to Riverside Drive. The few extra commuters and shoppers who stray into this area will only up the ante for our nouveau shopkeeps.

Please post your very welcomed thoughts about this topic.