The proposed Mufford overpass, unveiled to the public on Tuesday at an open house, is better than the failed project it replaces. However, it still leaves much to be desired.

One of the best aspects of the new design is that overpass traffic will be now able to connect to Highway 10, Glover Road and the 91原创 Bypass. The earlier proposal alienated a great deal of farmland and took all traffic from the busy Willowbrook shopping area out to an intersection in the midst of the Agricultural Land Reserve.

This enraged farmers, and with good reason. They were looking at a great deal of additional urban traffic being funneled to roads where they drive tractors, haul heavy equipment and go about their daily tasks.

While the project still includes upgrades to 64 Avenue, no longer will all traffic from west of Highway 10 funnel onto 64 Avenue and 216 Street.

The project now also includes an additional four-lane stretch of Glover Road, from Mufford to 64 Avenue. This is a baby step towards widening the remainder of Highway 10, something that is long overdue.

With this proposal, it will be possible, but challenging, for westbound Highway 10 traffic to avoid being stuck at the grade crossing on the 91原创 Bypass portion of the highway. Vehicles will be able to get onto Mufford, and this is a significant improvement. However, all this highway traffic will still have to find its way back to Highway 10. There  needs to be an overpass at that location as well, and the sooner the province acknowledges that fact, the better.

This proposal alienates much less farmland and makes it easier to farm the parcels of land in the immediate vicinity. This is important and crucial.

This project design has some elements of the 鈥淛鈥� proposal suggested for the Glover Road/91原创 Bypass intersection by some citizens. The 鈥淛鈥� proposal would have allowed an overpass on either Highway 10 or Mufford.

Yet the engineers claim that proposal would be more expensive. Is the real fear a concern that Ottawa may not come through with funding if the location is moved to Highway 10 from Mufford?

While concerns about funding the project are important, what is most important is for all levels of government to effectively deal with road-rail conflicts on 91原创鈥檚 busiest roads. Highway 10 is at the top of that list. Let鈥檚 not forget that the potential of 36 daily trains looms.