Post by northernlights on Feb 12, 2010 23:28:12 GMT -5
Service centre closures tough on workers and truckers
Canada News
Related Links Port Hope Hwy. 401 eastbound rest stop closing
Feb 12, 2010 - 04:30 AM
Workers at the Hwy. 401 eastbound service centre near Wesleyville Road received disheartening news this week with the announcement the rest stop will close for renovations at the end of March.
Although there are plans to rebuild, with a target reopening date of June 30, 2011, the announcement still leaves 200 area residents out of work. And while the provincial government insists we have weathered the recent economic storm and are currently climbing out of recession mode, these soothing platitudes do little to help the local workers who will be on the unemployment line come March 31.
There's no argument the Wesleyville rest stop is in dire need of a fix. After 40 years, it's showing its age. The building is dark and dingy and no amount of spit and polish can erase its circa-1960s motif. And given the facility's age, it is short on environmental and energy saving building options currently available.
What is surprising, however, is the province's decision to close the Wesleyville service centre, at the same time as rumoured rumblings of the pending closure of next eastbound highway service centre located at Odessa, just west of Kingston.
As it stands, at 152 kilometres, it's already a long haul from Port Hope to Odessa. Currently, the closest eastbound service centre west of Port Hope is at Cambridge. Pull Odessa out of the mix and a 467 kilometre stretch of Canada's most heavily travelled highway will have no fully-serviced highway access rest stops through eastern Ontario to the Quebec border.
That's a long way to drive without a convenient spot to grab a coffee, a bite to eat, or take a bathroom break. While a lack of service centres will be a pain to tourists and commuters, many of the small towns that dot the eastern Ontario Hwy. 401 corridor have restaurants and gas stations located close to the highway.
Inconvenient, yes, but insurmountable, no.
However, this situation will pose a greater hardship to the thousands of truckers who travel the Windsor to Montreal corridor every day.
Service centres provide adequate parking areas and wide-open wiggle room for drivers to manoeuvre and park their big rigs for some much-needed rest time.
It's not quite as easy to find a spot for 40 winks in the parking lots of most off-highway fast food restaurants or gas stations. Left with few options, Hwy. 401 on and off ramps may soon resemble a truck stop, as drivers pull off the road for some down time.
Ontario's service centres need a revamp, no argument. But for both safety and convenience reasons, the province needs to rethink its decision to pull the vast majority of them out of service at the same time.
Canada News
Related Links Port Hope Hwy. 401 eastbound rest stop closing
Feb 12, 2010 - 04:30 AM
Workers at the Hwy. 401 eastbound service centre near Wesleyville Road received disheartening news this week with the announcement the rest stop will close for renovations at the end of March.
Although there are plans to rebuild, with a target reopening date of June 30, 2011, the announcement still leaves 200 area residents out of work. And while the provincial government insists we have weathered the recent economic storm and are currently climbing out of recession mode, these soothing platitudes do little to help the local workers who will be on the unemployment line come March 31.
There's no argument the Wesleyville rest stop is in dire need of a fix. After 40 years, it's showing its age. The building is dark and dingy and no amount of spit and polish can erase its circa-1960s motif. And given the facility's age, it is short on environmental and energy saving building options currently available.
What is surprising, however, is the province's decision to close the Wesleyville service centre, at the same time as rumoured rumblings of the pending closure of next eastbound highway service centre located at Odessa, just west of Kingston.
As it stands, at 152 kilometres, it's already a long haul from Port Hope to Odessa. Currently, the closest eastbound service centre west of Port Hope is at Cambridge. Pull Odessa out of the mix and a 467 kilometre stretch of Canada's most heavily travelled highway will have no fully-serviced highway access rest stops through eastern Ontario to the Quebec border.
That's a long way to drive without a convenient spot to grab a coffee, a bite to eat, or take a bathroom break. While a lack of service centres will be a pain to tourists and commuters, many of the small towns that dot the eastern Ontario Hwy. 401 corridor have restaurants and gas stations located close to the highway.
Inconvenient, yes, but insurmountable, no.
However, this situation will pose a greater hardship to the thousands of truckers who travel the Windsor to Montreal corridor every day.
Service centres provide adequate parking areas and wide-open wiggle room for drivers to manoeuvre and park their big rigs for some much-needed rest time.
It's not quite as easy to find a spot for 40 winks in the parking lots of most off-highway fast food restaurants or gas stations. Left with few options, Hwy. 401 on and off ramps may soon resemble a truck stop, as drivers pull off the road for some down time.
Ontario's service centres need a revamp, no argument. But for both safety and convenience reasons, the province needs to rethink its decision to pull the vast majority of them out of service at the same time.
