A BUMPY RIDE TO CHURCH

From Yesterday’s Tecumseh Tribune (unedited)

Before I write too much here you will have to pardon me for just a second….there…sorry about that! I had to readjust my kidneys. No, I was not in the bathroom! I just drove down St. Mark’s Rd. to my church and my organs are all displaced from the rough ride. Have any of you driven down St. Mark’s Rd. lately? By lately, I mean in the last twelve to thirteen years. I have to think that in the dozen plus years that this little street has belong to Tecumseh, it deserves some attention.  I was proud to move to St. Clair Beach in December of 1998. A month later, in January 1999 I became a proud resident of Tecumseh. In the summer of 1999 I was feeling a little agitated by the bumps on our street. By the summer of 2000, I was getting more than a little agitated, I was fully annoyed. By the summer of 2003 I stopped driving down our street, for the most part, and took the smooth drive down Edgewater instead. Every culvert on our street is sunken, creating a washboard effect when you drive the street.  I was assured years ago that our street is on ‘the list’ to be renewed. I guess I am now wondering where that list is and how far down on it our street is. I have watched Pentilly and Brighton and Tecumseh Rd and Manning Rd renewed – all of them in need of the work completed, so bravo to council for getting the job done. Now I am wondering if St. Mark’s Rd is even being considered as a road in need of repair.

It ought to be on some list. It is getting to the point where we need to offer anti-nausea meds before church on Sundays for those who were brave enough to take the drive down our street. Not to mention the parts we pick up in the lot that have shaken off the cars (OK – you get the point that I am exaggerating for effect – I am a Newfoundlander and that is a part of how we tell stories). To be more serious, when I tell people how to get to the church, I steer them away from driving down our street.  We have a beautiful town and we have a council that has been working toward fixing infrastructure where it needs to be done. I have a memo for town council from the residents of St. Marks Rd. – Our Street NEEDS to be repaired.  It MUST become a priority. While I have taken pains to direct others who come to St. Mark’s by-the-Lake via any route but St. Mark’s Rd., I invite our mayor and town councillors to ‘come on down’ St. Mark’s Rd – reinforce your struts before you do! Then let me know if it is a priority for council.