Lakeshore Advance, 2011-10-12, Page 9Wednesday, October 12, 2011 • Lakeshore Advance 9
Two letters regarding Grand Bend traffic mobility
Lynda Hillman -Replay
Lakeshore Advance
'I\vo letters cattle to l,amhton Shores coun-
cil In regards to sighted assistance at Grand
Bend intersections.
Valerie Anderson, a blind woman from
Exeter wrote, "1 ant a totally blind woman
who is a resident of Exeter in 1luron County
and has mobility lessons in the town of
(;rand Bend. 1 have a Guide Dog and ant
learning to acquaint thyself in Grand Bend
with the Guidance of Paul Perna, who is a
CNIB Mobility Instructor.
1 have noticed the cornet of I lighway 21
and 111 is extremely busy and very difficult to
cross 21 without sighted assistance. There-
fore, I am requesting that audible lights be
installed on that particular corner:'
Anderson explains that a visually impaired
person has to listen to the traffic flow to judge
when it is safe to cross. "Sometimes, by the
time we are aware it is our turn the light is
beginning to change. Also, some corners
have advanced greens etc. Audible lights
bring the security of knowing when to cross
intersections safely," she said.
At the saline meeting, a letter was submit-
ted by Grand Bend resident Jacqueline Pent-
land who also has complete vision loss. She
told council she is a resident of Grand Bend
who uses a long white mobility cane for
identification.
"I find it very difficult to cross 1 lighway 21
at lake Road going west or east." She too is
requesting that an audible light be installed
there.
"Because l have to listen to the traffic flow
to judge when it is safe to cross, 1 am depend-
ing on a parallel traffic surge front Lake Road.
However all 1 get is slow turning traffic,
sometimes waiting for ate to cross first. But 1
ant waiting for a car to surge to inform one
when to start. 1 ant not informed with an
audible sound."
She says only people with sight are allowed
to cross there. "1
should have a walk signal warning in
format of choice, which for me is through my
sense of hearing." Pentland says she would
like to frequent the stores on the east side of
the highway but cannot.
"As for thyself 1 would like to be able to be
in Grand Bend to walk around without
sighted assistance and fear crossing the junc-
tion of highways 21 and 81," concluded
Anderson's letter.
Council said they would refer the letters to
the Accessibility committee. Deputy mayor
Elizabeth Davis Dagg suggested they also
contact other sources such as the CNIB and
Councilor Doug Bonesteel said they should
act on this quickly as it is an important issue.
Statistics Canada: Ontario harvest set to shrink
With combines set to roll in the next
couple of weeks, Ontario farmers are
expecting to harvest considerably less
corn and soybeans than last year, accord-
ing to a Statistics Canada report released
Tuesday morning,
The two crops, worth hundreds of mil-
lions of dollars, have been hit by tough
weather conditions this season.
According to the Statistics Canada sur-
vey, corn yields are expected to fall 13.8%,
a drop of 23.4 bushels per acre.
The area harvested will remain almost
unchanged from 2010 at 1,9 million
acres.
Soybean yields are also expected to
drop 5.5 bushels an acre to 40.5 bushels
an acre.
Quebec farmers, in contrast, are expect-
ing a record soybean yield.
Western farmers are anticipating a
larger canola crop, as well as larger vol-
umes of barley and wheat compared to
last year.
Total wheat production is expected to
hit 21.7 million metric tonnes, up 3% from
2010.
E-mail john.miner@sunmedia.ca, or
follow JohnatiFPress on Twitter,
Stop losing money
to an inefficient home
Get up to 55000 to make your
home more energy efficient
The Government of Canada's ecoENERGY program is creating
jobs and helping Canadians save money now and on future
energy bills. Act now, don't delay. Your evaluations and retrofits
need to be completed before March 31, 2012.
Visit ActionPlan.gc.ca/homes
or call 1 800 0 -Canada
to learn more.
NEXT PHASE OF
CANADA'S ECONOMIC
ACTION
+PLAN
H.ml, noir map-. u.w1 .uw1 altl`N`lt NiIh (11911N..I,N1 Lt ttle C Kink 01 ( .vla.t.I
I so Government Gouvernement a���
1 of Canada du Canada Ca1 lil(lia