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Opponents
gear up to fight expressway on Escarpment
By KEN KILPATRICK
Special to the Globe and Mail
Tuesday, August 5, 2003 - Page A15
HAMILTON,
Ont. -- Opponents of a proposed Niagara Escarpment expressway
have been learning the tricks of the civil-disobedience
trade from a Toronto activist in hopes of preventing the
long-delayed project from starting today.
But
the city of Hamilton has also been gearing up to quash the
protest, sending a toughly worded letter of warning to leaders
of the groups opposing the Red Hill Creek Expressway: Stay
off the construction site or face the legal consequences,
which could involve hefty fines, jail terms and civil actions.
The
four-lane, eight-kilometre highway, which will shoot down
the Niagara Escarpment and along a natural riverbed to join
with the Queen Elizabeth Way, has been a political flash
point since initial planning began in the late 1970s. In
1990, the New Democratic government cancelled funding for
the project, even though two overpasses had already been
built.
Two
groups opposed to the road are planning what they say will
be non-violent civil disobedience today, when construction
begins on a $3.4-million overpass. News that one of the
groups, ShowStoppers, has called in a Toronto activist for
civil-disobedience training prompted city officials to issue
their warning.
"As
of 7 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 5, it will be unlawful for members
of the public to be within the area comprising the Greenhill
Avenue construction project," says the letter, written
by acting city solicitor Elaine Holt.
The
city will seek damages from the people responsible for "incurring
damages and costs arising from unlawful behaviour."
The
eight-page document details a number of scenarios involving
the law and citizens who disrupt construction. Under the
heading Civil Action for Damages, the letter states that
a civil court could order a person's home sold to pay the
court judgment.
The
letter also outlines other legal actions, including injunctions
and criminal charges.
It
also says it is prepared to make city-owned land available
where protests can be carried out without interfering with
construction, neighbours or traffic.
"It's
a heavy-handed letter," said Linda Lukasic, an environmental
activist and vice-chair of the Friends of the Red Hill Valley.
"I've never received anything like this before."
Last
week, her group met with Chris Murray, director of the Red
Hill Valley Project for Hamilton, asking for construction
to be delayed. She believes that residents in the surrounding
area have not been given enough information or time to prepare
for the project.
Ms.
Lukasic said Mr. Murray and others at City Hall have taken
a "rigid attitude" toward the construction start
date. "He gave us a flat-out 'buzz off,' " she
said.
But
Mr. Murray noted that although "we value people's right
to express disagreement, there are laws governing protests.
We hope that everyone respects the law."
The
east-west expressway will run from Dartnell Road on Hamilton's
East Mountain to the QEW, and essentially be a continuation
of the Lincoln Alexander Expressway, which runs east-west
along the top of the escarpment.
Concerns
about the hazards of living along the route have been voiced
for years. At least 6,000 trucks are expected to use the
route daily because it cuts approximately 12 kilometres
off the current route over the Burlington Bay Skyway Bridge.
The
city says the highway is needed for traffic control and
to develop industrial and residential land on the East Mountain.
But
Don McLean, chairman of the Friends of Red Hill Valley,
said the people benefiting most will be private developers
and trucking firms, while the average citizen will be left
with dangerous exhaust emissions and the destruction of
conservation lands.
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