Sudbury Roads

To the editor of the Sudbury Star

I have spent much of this summer traveling. Each time I return, I pass over the section of City Road 55 from the SE Bypass to Falconbridge Road looking for progress in the construction. After all, we watched the improvement of the Falconbridge Road / Kingsway intersection last year and saw rock cuts widened earlier this season. All I find is no change in what is one of the worst stretches of road I have encountered in 22,000 miles of driving around North America.
Now I see that the cost of the project has escalated, supposedly due to the cost of asphalt. OK, I can accept that but why, when faced with a severe budget overrun, does staff recommend a further $4.5 million in "extras". If they were that important, should they not have been in the original proposal?

Now I have received a notice that construction will be starting on a section of Falconbridge Road that will include curbs and extra lanes. All this improvement and yet a good number of city streets, some major thoroughfares, remain atrocious to navigate. I am embarassed to take visitors on a drive through "My Sudbury".

As a taxpayer, I have a suggestion for council and staff. No matter how nice all these new lanes, bike lanes and curbs may seem, let's not do them right now. Instead, let's devote the entire roads budget to simply resurfacing the roads we have. That will go a lot further towards improving the Sudbury driving experience than a few small sections with an extra turning lane or some curbs. How many kilometers of existing road could have been fixed for the multi-million dollars being spent on four-laning a couple of miles of 55? And, to avoid what we have seen in the past, lets do any water main, sewer and gas line work BEFORE resurfacing.

I'm looking for a little bit of common sense at Tom Davies Square. As a taxpayer, I am asking for value for my money.