A road weary group is trying to cash in on the current construction on Cootes Drive with a call to permanently close the road.
"It is absolutely the worst place for a road, let alone a four lane 80 km/h expressway, right through two sensitive natural areas full of wildlife and forest streams" says group founder and Dundas resident Randy Kay.
The two areas separated by the road are the nature preserve of Cootes Paradise, and the Spencer Creek watershed.
Construction on a new sewage system pipe has temporarily closed the two Dundas-bound lanes on Cootes Drive.
The Restore Cootes Coalition would like to see the lane-losses expanded to include a permanent closure of the roadway between McMaster University and Dundas Street. They propose a restoration project to follow which would mend the cut between the natural areas.
The group's premise is that we must reverse negative human impact on natural habitats; "We can't be content with stopping destructive new roads like the Red Hill Valley Expressway, we need to rip up the mistakes of the past."
Car addiction and the accompanying roads isolate people from the beauty and healing property of nature. "We'd be much closer to paradise if it wasn't for the impact of the automobile."
"So that car drivers can save two minutes we put up with the noise, massive pollution and death associated with motor vehicles (3,000 to 4,000 Canadians die on the roads each year.) It is not a fair exchange if you consider we are part of a delicate web of life," says Kay. "Flora and fauna haven't made demands on humans; it's their turn now."
The restoration plan would rehabilitate the natural floodplain, lost when the road was constructed, thereby reduce water pollution in Cootes and the Harbour.
"Imagine the quiet, soul restoring calm of Cootes Paradise reaching right into the heart of Dundas. That's something to fight for.
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