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I have some very strong concerns that don’t seem to be addressed by our voted-in Midland council.
I’ve seen article after article that folks have written about the traffic problems in this town. I’ve seen ‘slow down’ signs up all over town from fed-up citizens and nothing changes.
So, who is not doing their job? Is it the police, or is it council? We as citizens vote them into power and if they are not listening to us, then it is time to put in some new blood to be proactive and do their job. I don’t think putting the speed limit down to 40 km/h is going to combat the problem when there is no one enforcing the law. They don’t slow down for 50 km/h, so why would they slow down for 40? I live on the corner of Fifth and Victoria and the traffic is getting so bad from all the extra citizens coming into Harbour View and the folks of Penetanguishene. Why don’t they use Highway 93 or Vinden?
Everyone travels this route because there are not many stops to get up to the shopping malls, so the route is very convenient for folks to race on up to shop. The noisy bikers and cars without mufflers and punks with their tricked-out mufflers that bang every time they shift gears. I know there is a noise violation and who is enforcing that one? We are getting dump trucks and huge transports coming and trying to make the turn around the corner coming up onto the lawn because it is just too big to navigate the corner.
Why aren’t there some one-way streets to divert the traffic over other streets and not all on one? Why aren’t speed bumps put in? They work in Toronto. Radar can be put in to slow the traffic. If the radar machine can capture your speed limit, then it can be made to capture and print your licence plates and send the ticket in the mail. If you start to hit the perpetrators in the pocket book, then the traffic will soon slow down, lessening the need for more traffic cops.
What about all the houses here in town that are being sold to outsiders that change single family homes into duplexes that collect the rent but don’t live in the neighbourhood, nor do they take responsibility for keeping up their home’s maintenance? My area down on the west end of Fifth is starting to look like the slums and it won’t be long before it is. We have renters that move in and bring a junkyard with them. I see mattresses on their porches, junk, old broken toys/bikes that have been there for years.
I’ve seen grass waist high and no one to cut the grass. How fair is that to others that take pride in how their place looks and want to increase the value of their home? The value of my place just goes in the toilet because no one gives a damn about how their homes look, and it doesn’t encourage folks that look after their homes into our area because they don’t want to look at all the junk and the trouble that comes with folks who don’t give a damn and are not respectful.
The companies that are supposed to be finding tenants for these rental houses don’t care about who lives in the homes because they don’t have to live here with them. We get drug dealers, squatters and users showing up at our door in the middle of the night looking to get their drugs.
In the cities like Orillia, Barrie, Toronto, if you do not cut your grass the city fines you, cuts your grass and sends the offender the bill. Why aren’t these rules applied here?
I have sent a letter to our mayor and he couldn’t be bothered to answer me back about issues.
Gayle Raven
Midland
