Hwy. 101 (spending taxes wisely)

Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 10:31:47 -0300
To: sust-mar@chebucto.ns.ca
From: jslakov@TartanNET.ns.ca (Jan Slakov)
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <sust-mar-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>

next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects


Dear Sust-Mar,

Following a posting to this list (title: Plans to twin the 101 - action
needed), Maritime Noon interviewed me. I gather many people called in
afterwards to express their own misgivings and to offer alternate
suggestions for how to make Highway 101 safer. Building highways, while
traditionally a great vote-getter, is disasterous environmentally and
financially.

It turns out many people, especially when they find out how much it would
cost just to build the highway (conservatively estimated at $1.5 million/km)
and how much safer driving is when speed limits are reduced or at least
effectively enforced, do not want to see Highway 101 twinned.

While all three provincial parties are on record as supporting the twinning
idea, even the PC government may have to give up on the planned highway
construction. This is partly because of the amount of opposition to the
expenditure, but also because the federal budget contained less money than
expected for highway expansion.
  
Our Transportation Minister, Ron Russell, is a strong advocate of twinning
the highway but at least one other member of the legislature has real
misgivings and would rather see any transportation money spent in other
ways. To support the voices of reason, we need to 1) educate citizens about
the issue and 2) show politicians and the media that there are better
alternatives to twinning.

As part of this effort, a group of people has put together the following
petition. 
****************************************************************
We, the undersigned residents of Nova Scotia,

- recognize the importance of spending tax dollars wisely on essential services
  such as education, health care and pollution reduction

- believe that the Nova Scotia government should develop a long-term   
  province-wide public transportation policy that includes commuter rail,
commuter bus, and van pooling.

- want our transportation tax dollars to be spent on a safe, clean, and
reliable    transportation system available to all Nova Scotians, regardless
of age or 
  ability

- urge the Nova Scotia government to impove the safety of Highway 101 by
improved enforcement of speed limits and safe driving practices rather than
twinning the highway. Reducing the speed limit, especially for dangerous
conditions, should also be given serious consideration. Most importantly,
the government should provide alternate ways of moving people and goods
between   the Vally and Metro, thus reducing highway congestion.

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________


*Note: This petition has been prepared by members of various groups such as
Transport 2000 (469-3474), the Ecology Action Centre (429-2202) and
Enviro-Clare (837-4980). 

***********************************************
YOU can help by collecting signatures on this petition. Please write to Jan
Slakov, Box 35, Weymouth, NS B0W 3T0 to get a copy (or just print it off
yourself).

If you only have time to send in a "sign on" by e-mail you can do that by
e-mailing me at <jslakov@tartannet.ns.ca>.

all the best, Jan


-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
The preceding message was posted on the Sustainable Maritimes
mailing list (sust-mar).  http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/lists/sust-mar
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Sponsors: Chebucto Community Net   	http://www.chebucto.ns.ca 
Sierra Club - Chebucto Group		http://www.sierraclub.ca
Volunteer moderator: Paul Falvo  mailto:sust-mar-owner@chebucto.ns.ca

next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects