The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Columbia Street widening gets council nod rming itself for the expected increase in ic along Columbia Street over the next few years, Waterloo _ council voted in favour Monday night of expanding a portion of the local roadway to four lanes. The $7â€"million project will see part of the current twoâ€"lane arterial roadway between Weber Street and the St. Jacobs Railway line, just past Philip Street, douâ€" ble in size over the next five years to accommodate the projected traffic growth rate which, according to the City of Waterloo, now sits at 1.4 per cent per year. But the decision was much to the chagrin of some residents of the street who fear a widening of the road will mean increased noise By Anorea Bauuey Chronicle Staff _ and air pollution, as well as traffic speeds and chaos.. "It‘s going to be a drag strip for people trying to get through as fast as possible," said Leslie Kocsis. "People aren‘t going to want to live on a street like this. And once the families "People aren‘t going to want to live on a street like this. And once the families move out, the homes will turn into lodging houses with cars parked on the front lawns and beer bottles all over the place." â€" Leslie Kocsis Columbia Street resident move out, the homes will turn ihto lodging houses with cars parked on the front lawns and beer bottles all over the place." Kocsis said he is conâ€" vinced the regional extenâ€" sion of Westmount Road, which is planned for 2003, will succeed in decreasing the _ traffic flow â€" along Columbia Street. "I‘d â€" bet _ that _ the Westmount extension will decrease the current traffic volume by anywhere from 30 to 50 per cent," he said. But according to the city, as well as the consultants studying the issue, the Westmount Road extension will not be sufficient in dealâ€" ing with the mounting probâ€" lem. "With that in mind, there is no problem to solve here." Right now, according to traffic studies conducted by both the city and the Region of Waterloo, between 14,000 and 16,000 cars travel along this section of the street each day. At this rate, volumes will soon reach and exceed the set capacity for the twoâ€"lane roadway. The widening of the road will include sidewalks and cycling lanes on both sides of Columbia Street, and address both transit and emergency service needs in the area. The city also plans to restrict truck traffic between certain hours along the street to cut down on noise, replace a greater number of trees than are to be removed, and reduce both the lane and boulevard widths to allow residents to keep much of their front yards. "In all projects we can‘t please everybody," said Garry Leveck, project manâ€" 2000 MALIBU LX V6, 4 spd. auto, air, ABS, p. windows, p. locks, cruise, tilt, stereo, 60/40 split seats, p. mirrors, balance of factory warranty & roadside asistance. ager for Stantec Consulting Ltd. "But we look for a soluâ€" tion that best fits in with the needs of the entire commuâ€" But Coun. Morty Taylor, the lone council member who opposed the widening AUTOZ REPAIR ©15,995 plan, believes such a move would not be in the best interests of residents along the street. "We should be supportâ€" ing people as opposed to asphalt, noise and increased pollution," he said. STARTING AT Since 1978 * Brakes «* Front ends * Wheel alignment * Mutflers/exhaust * Cooling systems * Tune ups «* Oil, lube, service « Tire Service Your Uptown