Editor:
There is no need for me to catalogue the opinions regarding Plan B as these pages have been filled with them for months. What has been missing is an alternate plan not just statements of ‘No’ (many) or ‘Yes’ (very few). My intention is to advance Plan C.
First, I must point out that a major highway and a scenicroadway are less than compatible. Without statistics, I only suggest that many of the Trans-Canada accidents blamed on the structure of the highway are equally attributable to ‘highway’ drivers trying to pass slower drivers distracted somewhat by the scenery and/or other attractions.
The provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick have discovered this and relocated major portions of the Trans-Canada Highway away from the scenery and attractions along the St. Lawrence and Saint John Rivers. Now is the time for P.E.I. to follow their example.
A brief map study of P.E.I. shows the Trans-Canada Highway twisting and turning along the shore of Northumberland Strait while Route 225 runs in an almost parallel straight line through the centre of this part ofP.E.I. There are few tourist attractions and no scenic water views along Route 225.
I propose that Route 225, from just west of Kinkora to the outskirts of Charlottetown, be redesignated the Trans-Canada Highway. Routes 1 and 1A, from Borden to the Route 225 intersection, are already at Trans-Canada standards, although some minor work might be required at the actual intersection. The same may be true where Route 225 intersects with the existing Route 1 just west of Charlottetown.
Another minor advantage of this proposal is that the number of changes in speed limits along the Trans-Canada Highway would be cut approximately in half.
The millions of dollars earmarked for Plan B can be used to begin this transition and, if additional financing and construction is required, it can be a parallel of the excellent annual projects that have greatly improved Route 2.
Looking to the future, over the coming years, pressures will increase for the present Trans-Canada Highway to bypass Crapaud, Bonshaw, Churchill and Cornwall. On the new proposed route, with the exception of Kinkora, it is unlikely that there would be any pressure in this century to bypass Stanchel, Hartsville, North Wiltshire or Hampshire.
J. Darrach Murray,
Sea View
