By Mike Renzella
The Haldimand Press
CALEDONIA—Last week, The Press published a story regarding Highway 6 and Haldibrook Road that featured a statement from the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) that they are planning to install traffic lights at the dangerous intersection “as soon as possible,” a statement which caught the attention of Caledonia Councillor Dan Lawrence.
“I checked with my engineers. We’ve had no contact with the MTO, so this is all fiction to us,” said Lawrence, who reached out to The Press, clearly frustrated after reading the MTO’s comments.
“For them to make that statement could mean ‘we’re going to put signal lights in there 30 years from now’…. That bureaucracy’s a joke,” Lawrence said.
He continued, “They’re an embarrassment, like Transport Canada. People are working there, they’re untouchable, collecting their paychecks, not doing anything or being responsive to any of us.”
Lawrence said that installing traffic lights at the intersection would require a three-way partnership between the MTO, Haldimand County, and Hamilton-Wentworth, and that work hasn’t been started.
“We have not received anything back, period,” he said. “There’s got to be an environmental study, there’s got to be some land acquisition as well. There’s nothing; they’ve done nothing. For them to make that statement, it is so fictitious…. Misleading the public is not only shameful, it’s borderline criminal.”
He said the County continues to try and get the MTO to the table regarding the various traffic concerns surrounding not only Highway 6, but the Argyle Street Bridge as well.
“So many of us, we want something to happen, we need something to happen on that road…. With the changing patterns of driving, people are in a hurry, the volume is much higher, and it’s only going to increase…. The accidents, the fatalities are only going to increase again,” he explained. “The MTO needs to be more accountable. To make a statement like that without even coming forth and consulting their partners, whether it’s the residents or the municipalities, I think that is dangerous and wrong, plain and simple.”
Lawrence said he questioned the MTO about the Argyle Street Bridge within the last month, and got what he referred to as the ‘standard response’, which touted that work on the bridge would proceed as soon as possible, while ignoring Lawrence’s requests for statistics related to infractions caught by the new, high-end camera system installed on the bridge last summer to catch overweight/oversized vehicles, a move Lawrence called “pathetic and shameful.”
The Press also followed up with the MTO with a request for statistics related to traffic impact studies conducted on Highway 6, specifically near the intersection of Highway 6 and Haldibrook Road, to give a clearer picture of what prompted the Ministry to make their statement regarding the installation of lights, but did not receive any response to that request.
“People are dying on that road and the MTO should be ashamed of themselves right now. For the people putting those statements out, they should be called to the carpet,” said Lawrence. “They’re not being transparent at all. The bridge, anything to do with the MTO, they are a bureaucracy that are out of control.”
“Unfortunately, like anything to do with the Ford government … he’s just going to do what he wants,” he continued. “It’s a bad time right now for the average Ontarian…. There’s no leadership there in holding all these other bureaucracies in check.”
