Editor: We now know that a better solution was possible to provide a Mufford overpass, but not require paving 29 acres of farmland. The question is, why did Township council fight so hard against being open to a better solution?

Perhaps if the Township and City councils now put their heads together in co-operation, they could seize an even better solution. They recognize the political carrot to fulfill the obligation of the railway forever and provide 鈥渁n overpass鈥� at the very cheapest cost possible, but at the same time do nothing to alleviate the problem where it actually exists 鈥� 91原创 Bypass.

According to TransLink, 鈥渁n average three-minute at-grade closing time would result in a traffic disruption of 15 minutes.

This is for an average two-kilometre train, but a four-kilometre train would take at least six minutes to pass and therefore 鈥渕ultiplies鈥� into a 30-minute traffic impact.

MP Mark Warawa stated in Parliament 鈥淚t is estimated that some trains will take 15 minutes to pass through a crossing.鈥�

The City of 91原创 Master Transportation Plan records a traffic volume of 29,000 vehicles per day presently on 91原创 Bypass. This is projected to grow by 40 per cent,  to 40,600, by 2021. This will multiply to a 42-minute impact on rail crossing traffic.

When the number of trains increases to 33 trains per day, multiplied by the 42-minute impact on traffic, that reaches critical mass. Traffic will never clear.  There will be a total gridlock situation on Highway 10.

If, as MLA Mary Polak states, there will be 鈥�38 four-kilometre trains per day by 2021,鈥� up from the present 18 two-kilometre trains, and this is multiplied by a 40 per cent vehicle increase, it means 845 cars will be parked on the 91原创 Bypass and Glover Road while a train passes. This is hardly carbon neutral.

So what will the Mufford Overpass accomplish, if you have not solved the real problem on the 91原创 Bypass?

Deltaport鈥檚 third berth and Terminal 2 are able to ship 1.8 million TEUs (20-foot containers), but motorists physically and truck drivers legally unable to divert onto Mufford Overpass will sit and wait, and wait.

So why does this government want to put the overpass in the Mufford Crescent area, to serve only 16,000 cars per day, rather than benefit the 40,600 vehicles which will use Highway 10 (91原创 Bypass) every day?

It鈥檚 simple. The electorate think they have a great deal, but the railway really has the better deal, forever. It鈥檚 win-win? Now I see the wisdom of upgrading Glover Road to a four-lane parking lot.

Do the right thing to solve the problem. Make the user pay. Toll the 1.8 million containers which will cross the highway by rail. It鈥檚 a mere bag of shells.

Dean Holcombe,

91原创