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Here’s my alternative proposal for Maley Drive

So, the Maley Drive extension is and always has been a priority of council, according to Mayor Brian Bigger. No doubt council was holding its collective breath as it awaited what turned out to be a favourable report by consultants AECOM.
Sudbury.com Staff
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Maley Drive Extension critics and supporters will get a chance to vent Tuesday evening as the city hosts a public input session on the $80.1 million project. File photo.
So, the Maley Drive extension is and always has been a priority of council, according to Mayor Brian Bigger.

No doubt council was holding its collective breath as it awaited what turned out to be a favourable report by consultants AECOM. Well, not really.

It seemed like Christmas came early when I first read of Aecom’s roseate findings in support of the project. It found 457,000 hours would be saved for drivers, global warming would be nipped in the bud, and so on. A veritable orgy of optimistic auguries to placate even the most venal of Caesars.

Still, the figure of 450,000 hours stuck in my mind when I considered alternatives to what I deem the boondoggle of all boondoggles.

It is roughly a 900-kilometre round trip from Sudbury to Toronto where the nearest PET scanner is located.

Given the PET’s diverse diagnostic uses and the inevitable need for follow-up visits, it would, perhaps, be conservative to suggest 5,000 car trips yearly are taken from Sudbury to Toronto to access this diagnostic tool.

Now, assume an overnight stay at a pricey Toronto hotel followed by a return trip the next morning — say a minimum of 30 hours total.

In summary, total distance travelled for medical visits: 5,000x900km=4,500,000 km. Time extended: 5,000x30=150,000 hours.

Readers can guesstimate the cost of the visits themselves; it’s all too depressing.

So, here is my alternative proposal:

Use the federal/provincial shares of infrastructure money to reconstruct the existing portion of Maley Drive. Pledge municipal funds up to $2 million to match any further community donations for the Sam Bruno foundation to purchase a PET scanner.

If there is money remaining in reserves (which would otherwise have been spent on the extension) consider using it to address other existing road concerns and/or improve transit services.

I trust that that preceding thumbnail proposal will be regarded favourably. Who knows, perhaps there will no longer be a need to hire expensive out-of-town consultants to examine the messy entrails of our local roadkill to divine our futures.

Peter Desotti
Sudbury