Saturday’s letters: Costly 50 Street rail overpass isn’t needed


Article content

Re. “Cost to build 50 Street rail overpass doubles,” April 5

Advertisement 2

Article content

I read the item regarding the extra 34 million dollars that the current estimate is for the railway crossing on 50 Street. The new total cost was estimated at $179,000,000. That is a huge amount to avoid a train crossing delay!

Circumvent this railway crossing. It is very easy to avoid driving 50 Street where the train crossing is. I drive south on 75 Street, then turn east onto Whyte Avenue and then exit onto 50 Street. And for northbound traffic, there are turning lanes from 50 Street onto Whyte Avenue and easy-flow lanes to turn onto 75 Street northbound to join Capilano freeway.

So here is more of my simple solution. Make 75 Street a truck route. Give the 118 homeowners on 75 Street free taxes for compensation. If my math is correct, $4,000 annual taxes for 118 homes would take 379 years to equal the cost of $179 million.

advertisement 3

Article content

Block off 50 Street for local traffic only. Otherwise, we taxpayers will be paying dearly for the construction of this proposed overpass that doesn’t need to be built.

Janet Hardy, Edmonton

Removing school resource officers a mistake

I am not naming names but those ignorant public school trustees who voted to remove the police resource officer (SRO) may be feeling partially responsible for the death of the innocent McNally school student. Without a thorough review and with a knee-jerk reaction, trustees did not do their due diligence nor exercise good governance by kicking the SRO out.

The Catholic school board saw the positives in the SRO, and while there are always negative reactions, they wisely chose to continue their use, and continually monitor the effectiveness of an SRO. Well done.

advertisement 4

Article content

Vince Paniak, Edmonton

Where are women in the sports pages?

I am an avid reader of the Edmonton Journal and read the paper daily. As I get to the sports section, I see story after story about men in sports — men in tennis, men in hockey, men in basketball — you get the picture. The only story about women in the sports sections today is about a tennis player who was abused by her coach. I’m sure that there are more stories that you could have covered — not all women in sports are victims of abuse.

Are there no women doing amazing things in sports? Are there only men achieving their goals? I am disgusted by the obvious and continuing bias against women in sports and the coverage given them by national news media. I’m tired by reading article after article about men. I’m tired of watching men chasing pucks, chasing soccer balls, chasing baskets. And I love watching sports.
Please work towards some type of balanced reporting so that women who love sports see some representation in your media.

advertisement 5

Article content

Mavis Averill, Edmonton

Albertans paying more for UCP policies

The UCP Kenney government removed the cap off insurance payments and companies make billions. The cost of utilities skyrocketed and companies make billions. Oil and gas companies swim in profits while consumers drown in debt. Drug plans for seniors are eliminated while companies make millions.

Tuition fees for post-secondary increased while staff see reductions and terminations. Regarding health, education, economic policy — the UCP pander to the slim minority at the expense of the majority. Everyday taxpaying Albertans are smothered with exploding bills, inflation and frozen wages. There is ever-increasing disparity and economic inequality.

advertisement 6

Article content

And, how does the UCP address the situation? Offer a rebate that is a pittance of utility costs, drop fuel by 13 cents (while the price more than doubled). What we see in Alberta is government by the few for the few.

Maxine Newbold, Edmonton

Headline on PM’s travel mixes up hours and kms

Re. “Burning the jet fuel with Trudeau,” April 21

Your headline stating “the PM logged 127,147 hours in the air in less than a year …” is wrong and misleading. That many hours equates to 5,297 days. Sorry, but there are only 365 days in a year. You did mention the same number as kilometers, but that too is misleading as that would equate to 12,714.7 kilometers per month. Big deal when you are the prime minister of the second-largest country in the world.

Stephen Crocker, Edmonton

letters welcome

We invite you to write letters to the editor. A maximum of 150 words is preferred. Letters must carry a first and last name, or two initials and a last name, and include an address and daytime telephone number. All letters are subject to editing. We don’t publish letters addressed to others or sent to other publications. E-mail: [email protected]

advertisement 1

Comments

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user follows comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your e-mail settings.


Leave a Comment