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l theNtterloo hromrleis ( ' puhlhln’d cvcryWcduesday hs lhr I mm m. Group, a diuxmn ol South rm ()Ilmnnt unuuunlly .Newspapers) l lrtt, athvrsiuuofsoutham Puttiicir _ nun; a CanWest Company WATERLOO CHRONICLE BB6-2B30 Fax: 8% 3383 editoriatitrwaterloochronicle.ca saIesewaterloochronicleca composirtgewaterioochronicle.ca The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent those ofthe newspaper. lhvayne Wmdendnn Gerry Mamce Group Sula MW and gallium Cer, Bowe1d Deborah Landau Mind-w Publisher mum. Bulls Andrra Bailey Bob 9'rlsa nac Retrorter. En. 22? Spam mum. in 229 75 King St. South,Suite 20l Waterloo.0ntario N2] IP2 Associate Publisher: Ken Bosweld 905-523-5800. Ext. 239 The Waterloo (Zhroniclz welcomes letters I0 the Edlmr They should be signed with name. address Ind phone number and will be verified for arm rucv No unsigned loom will be published Submissions "my be edited for lenglh. no - be hid Copyright in letters and other inner rials summed to the Publish Ind acreped Rar publication remains with the atrthor. but the publisher and its license-s may My raptor duct them in prim. deal-mic a other forum Our nailing address Is 75 king St. s t Suile 20l,witedoo NZI "'2.oor e-mall addreu is editoriiwateNrtch amid:- a, and our in "rumba istt86,q3M - net} oumeld Karen Dwyer aim-Ink". cum-mm '"nqter, En. 225 Annual: International Slandard 5am] Numbes ISSN 0832- 34 10 Canadian Pubhmnnns Mad bales hudun Agreemm Number Sales, Ext. zis sag. Ext. 22": Norma Lyra Letters Policy l mu Banal MW Sale-.834!" 7 Audited simulation: 26.056 400504 78 Melissa Hou nskyw The tech park under construction at the University of Waterloo north campus along Bearinger Road has triggered three road initiatives in the Lakeshore neighbourhood. If not carefully planned, these will have major negative impacts on our neighbourhood. INortMeid Drive id béing expanded to four lanes with two bicycle lanes adjacent to the road- way. -- _ _ A _ _ Recent Bpen houses have allowed the commu- nity a glirnptofwhat is proposed: _ _ - 2)The Westmount extension will be built with four lanes with adjacent bicycle lanes from Columbia, running along the boundary of the environmental reserve, crossing Laurel Creek, and joining Northfield Drive at the curve. 3)The capacity of Parkside Drive is being increased by some 600 per cent (from 150 to 950 vehicles per hour in the morning rush hour) although the details have not been released. But-what about our community and the natural environment of laurel Creek? Lakeshore is an existing fully functional mixed neighbourhood with schools, playgrounds, sports and recreational facilities, and community facili- ties and programs. Although it is recognized that traffic pressures will be accommodated, the sys- tem needs to be designed to go around neighbour- hoods - not through them. It is well-documented that arterial roads become barriers to neighbour- hood interaction. laurel Creek is an adjacent critical natural fea- ture which needs to be protected and enhanced as an urban ecological corridor. It is protected within the conservation area and within the environmen- tal reserve. However this natural corridor was blocked when the Bearinger Road crossing was constructed in the mid-'80s. Rather than viewing the construction of the Westmount extension as an opportunity to enhance the ecological corridor function of the creek at the Bearinger Road crossing, the regiun's plans show another similar crossing with no eco- logical studies, designs. or plans to determine how these crossings can facilitate the ecological corri- dor function of the creek, or if required, mitigate negative environmental impacts. There is no pro- vision for a naturalized corridor on both sides of the creek bank and there is no attempt at all to mitigate the effect of the Bearinger Road crossing. A study published in this month's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences confirms the critical role of ecological corridors. We wonder where the Grand River Conservation Authority is in advocating real protection of Laurel Creek at this intersection. It would be a disaster if the West- mount extension is allowed to go forward as planned. - With the Northfield Drive plans, the region has once again put forward standard road options which do not take into account the character of the surrounding neighbourhood. Although it can be argued that, in the big picture. there are better ways of handling traffic than routing along North- field, if Northfield is expanded to four lanes. it has to be designed to minimize effects on the neigh- bourhood. For us, the key is our children's needs. N.A. MacEachern and Sir Edgar Bauer schools draw children from across Northfield and neigh- bourhood social interactions mean that our chil- dren cross NortMeld often. Of course we need pedestrian-activated signals at Skylark. We also need crossing guards and both Highpoint and Sky- lark and financial guarantees that these crossing guard remain for the life of the schools and the Mthin a neighbourhood it is totally inappropri- ate to have cycling lanes adjacent to Gallic Inna We will be moving at tio-70kmthr. Our adoles, cents will be biking to school, community activi- ties, and friends. It is much too dangerous for eight- to 13-year-olds to be biking along tmffic. "meme Ges have to be separated Gsm the mf tic. At the same time there needs to be some type Cpntinued on w 9 Tech park threatens Lakeshore neighbourhood VIEWPOINT 1 ity 1 K I 1 can the chill winds will start keening in the trees and then snow or sleet will coat the walks and driveways Then, quick as a fast freeze. all the private snow removers will man the machines and heft the shovels. And that, brethren. is where the people who do landscaping by summer will tum for their winter employment. Well, it isn't quite that neat, but winter creates somejoba TV takes our minds off our minds Say, do you know why Ottawa is never snowbound? I mean, how would that sound -- our frequent-flier prime minister leaving his tomy on flexible Foyer One? On the Sleeve: Well, in the light of recent disclosures it looks as if Waterloo council will finally get what Mayor Lynne Woolstencroft has sought, a stiffer conflict-of-interest policy. lt will also get an ethics policy which goes beyond conflict of interest and should include open communications and a transparent accounting plan, available to every citizen and employee. It'll be a belated win for the mayor inas- much as her first effort at a tougher conflict- of-interest policy went nowhere. And the dis- cussion produced one of the silli- est comments of the season. Someone said a stiffer policy would sound as if the employees werent to be trusted. And, yes sir, subsequent events have proven that employee judgment is not something to risk the rent money You have to look at it in terms of keeping the focus on the inter- ests of the employer. It's silly to declare that employees might be offended by the severity of the policy. If the workers feel insult- ed, they can quit and get a job elsewhere. Maybe they can find a policy that's genteel enough to You know there's lots of problems in work- ingthesedaysTheysayit'shardtofindany- one who'll do an honest day's work. You know something? With two-hour lunches. 20- minute coffee breaks..wash-up time and washroom time. it's even mighty hard to find anlttmestdy.y. 1tlisytoGotTheprovincialdepartmentof educationhasa set obelurbs tellingwhat they'redolngingettingyoungrterstoreadat aneadyage Mes hope it's the real goods because diifi- cultywith readinghasbeen oneoftheweak spots in the ctmiculum.TVhas something tty do with it, but parents could have been "j'is'E,-'i'"'!"2 1133’ .EJL‘JE SANDY doing mom. On the Level? The other day over lunch with a cadre of ex-colleagues, one of them cited a frequently-raised point: When the Region of Waterloo's employment figures are glowing how come the demands on the food bank keep rising? There wasnt an infallible answer. but from bits and pieces it seemed the consensus that the need isn't always proven, and there are too many cases where greed triumphs. After all, reading is the key to knowledge through all the grades, and the gateway to all the garbage you get through the mail. of course. you can say something kind about TV. too: It takes our minds off our minds. And yes, we listened to how the taxi drivers were busy the day the welfare money was dis- tributed. They had to make the trip down to the beer store and wait while the customer picked up the suds Yup. it was also claimed that if you get your name down for a Christmas turkey. you'll get it every year. If you take it. that is. There must be some sort of screening at the food bank, and it would be ----- good to tell the public what it is. hl Ittti l The question of why the demand , _ keeps growing is one that n l El deserves an answer, a The way the world is headed you'd have to bet that there's a bit DY of chiseling going on at the bank m There's a certain percentage of the citizenry that will glam any- thing theycan get for free. The people of this region have been great about giving to the food bank It'd bea pity if it turned out that some folks are taking advantage of their generosity. And it's not good enough, not good enougl at all. to point out the Tories in their first term cut the aid to the jobless. Having that aid trimmed in no way entities the bane ficiary to augment the aid with recourse to a food aid bank Or so it seems to us. Incidentally, it must be rough for Asians coming to live in Omada, First, they have to learn how to use chopsticks to eat a typical Canadian meal: pizza. taco, and kielhasa One news show on TV said that the number of working peo- ple who are drawing supplies from the food bank is increasing. That calls into question our sys- tem of paying for work or calls into question the eligibility at the food bank. 1N5!