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Tho Canadian Champion, Friday, Uarch 24~2OOO - 7 1 Q UR READERS WRITE GULP says it has win-win proposai to offer for Guelph Line Dearditor: Re: Proposed reconstruction oU Guelph Line (Tuesday). Whiîe the article written by reporter Irene Gentie waa well balanced, there are a few areas that require clarification. Firat, the construction is propoaed for Guelph Line between No. 10 Sideroad and No. 15 Sideroad with an estimated coat of $4.45 million for a 3.2 km stretch of road. It would seem that Councillor Barry Lee la somewhat out of touch with both hia conatituents and the geographic aurïvund- inga. He has neyer in lact formally approached the Guelph Line Preservation Committee (GULP) 10 discusa the group'a concerna. To say this atretch of road ia "deficient and dangerous" does little to explain the rootcauae oU the problem which is speed. If indeed there have been 29 accidenta on Guelph Line. they were not ail on Hutcheon'a HilI. Any accidenta that bave taken place were the direct result of inclement weather and drivera not govern- ing themselvea according to the road. To redesign a road to accommodate aIl scenarios ian't feaaible. Hwy. 401, which ia obviously a pmperly-conatructed road, ia fiat with excellent aight unes and ahoul- ders, yet bas numerous accidenta, primari- ly as a result oU apeed and inappropriate motoriat behaviour. If Mr. Lee believes it'a better to build a road that will accommodate Iaw-breaking motorists, then he'a on tise right track. The Region daims to be surpriaed by GULP's involvement. The truth is that tise Region has documentation from area reai- denta dating as far back as 1994. Unfortunately, the Region choose not to addreas the problem of speed. Documentation addreaaing these iaauea was buried in mounda of paperwork. The Region aaid it was willing to work with GULP and yet it haa conaiatently avoided the group. The only meeting GULP had with the Region was February 29 At a community meeting March 8, the Region said it was willing to work with GULP through "intensive, night and day meetings." On March 14, GULP request- ed a meeting as soon as possible. Intereatingly enough, the firat available date was Mach 23, the day after a presen- tation was made to the Planning and Public Works Committee for a vote on the passing of the construction by-law. Theoe is no disputing that Guelph Line is an arSenal road, but that docan't juatify a design that encouragea speeding. I cannot accept that its "too late" to ask the Region to poatponc thia project until flirtiser study, which would more fulîy rec- ognize and involve the community. It's neyer too late to do the right thing. It is far more difficult and expensive to undo a mistake than to postpone one. One cas only hope the Region and our elected officiaIs wiIl realize GULP offers a win-win proposaI for everyone. Tami-Anna Dama Guelph Lina Preservation CommIt.. Ha~e yoUr *ay Fx I~t.rètc~ 8784943.