27 March 2007
Bridge Should Have Come with Toyota
Cambridge Ontario - Just a few thoughts on the Hespeler
Road bridge. When the plant was built, did the city and the region not understand that Toyota products would be moved by rail? Let's
look at the math. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. moves between 50 and 100 loaded cars a day from the plant. Each car is about 100 feet
long. That means that between 5,000 and 10,000 feet of train have to cross Hespeler road.
But wait, double that number because the empty cars have to get to the plant. That means between two and four miles of train have to
cross Hespeler Road. It's slow track, maybe five miles per hour, and won't get any faster because it travels through Preston and no one
wants faster trains in their backyards, or in the middle of their streets for that matter. And these numbers only deal with the auto
cars.
What about the other cars required at the plant? So, under ideal conditions, Hespeler Road will be blocked for almost an hour a day. If
the train has to stop and throw a switch, or couple a second group of cars to get out to the mainline, well the time will add up
quickly since groups of cars that weigh 50 tons each don't start and stop quickly.
And what is this nonsense about the railway moving its yard? What difference will that make? Move it to Cleveland if you want, but
Hespeler Road will still be blocked by cars that must move to and from the Toyota plant.
In short, the bridge should have been built with the plant. Because of short sightedness or plain incompetence, it wasn't. There would
be money available to start tomorrow if it wasn't for Doug Craig's Taj Ma' City Hall, but that is another story along the same lines.
Write the cheque and get it built or close Toyota; those are the only solutions.
Dave Brook
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