Road fixes too much?

Adding a cloverleaf to the Thunder Bay Expressway has its merits – just not where the provincial government is planning to put it.

The decision to add the cloverleaf at the intersection where Hodder Avenue and Copenhagen Road meet seems misguided at best, and at worst, a terrible waste of taxpayer dollars.

While it can be frustrating and potentially dangerous for drivers trying to turn onto or off of the highway, there’s a simpler and much less expensive solution: traffic lights. It’s a far cry better than wasting tens of millions of dollars to accomplish the same thing.

If a cloverleaf is built on this stretch of highway, let’s start at the Red River Road intersection, where it’s not uncommon to have to wait a light change or two at peak times of the day to make a turn.

It’s not like this hasn’t been discussed in the past.

While we applaud the highway twinning aspect of the project, a total of 20 kilometres and something long overdue, is it really necessary to build a new entranceway, 800 metres to the east, to access the Terry Fox Scenic Lookout?

When asked, the Ministry of Transportation couldn’t even provide a ballpark estimate of the cost of the overall project, which also includes ramp improvements and lighting.

In tough times, that’s the first question that must be answered.