This is a letter to all who are lobbying to have the speed limit increased through the community of Wentworth. You say the speed limit through my community should be increased because the road itself will handle it. You are right, the road would handle it, but the community would not.

The Cobequid Pass has been open approximately 20 years now and people forget. Cast your mind back to the 70s and 80s when 99.9% of all highway traffic entering Nova Scotia was funneled through Wentworth Valley. Remember? The speed limit at that time was 60mph, equivalent to 100kmh. Think of what that meant in my community.

First there was the noise, constant day and night, seven days a week. You could wake up any time in the night and hear the truck traffic growling past our homes. In the local school, built beside the highway, the windows could not be opened because the traffic noise drowned out the teachers. Most people here would tell you they became accustomed to the sound and did not hear it after a while, but I suspect that constant noise has an effect on your body whether you are aware of it or not. I live on the side of the west mountain in the valley. Because of the shape of the hills, noise was magnified to where we live. Trucks have gears...noisy gears... and air brakes. We could hear the trucks plainly gearing down from Folly and again gearing up for the rise in the road at the junction of Hwy 246. We did not have quiet, restful nights.

Then there was the air pollution. A constant stream of traffic emits a lot of fumes. These fumes are spewed out on all the people along the road. In the valley proper, the fumes would be trapped on the valley floor at night by air inversion making breathing difficult. During these years there was an increase in lung related problems in children who lived along the highway. We did not have clean air.

But most of all there was the constant movement of the vehicles at a fairly high speed. The area which is presently covered by the 70kmh speed limit contains 6 intersections, 7 public buildings and numerous private driveways. Many of these have poor traffic visibility. During my working years from 1971 to 1990 I had to travel from our home at Wentworth Station to the local school at Wentworth Centre. This I did every week day. It is about a 10 minute drive and involves accessing the highway from Valley Road by a left turn. When you get to the highway at the end of Valley Road, to the right is a hill. You cannot see over the hill. The road at that place is three lanes wide. Making that left turn during these years was a challenge. With large trucks traveling at 100kmh or more, it was a very scary proposition. Many a time I have been halfway across the road and had a truck bearing down on me from the right. Starting from a dead stop, it is not easy to reach 100kmh in a road width to stay ahead of a speeding truck. People were killed trying to cross the road or walking along the road. Local drivers were rear-ended when trying to enter their driveways. The valley became known as 'Death Valley'. We did not have minimal, slow traffic.

I remember, and I do not wish to live like that again.

Since the opening of the Cobequid Pass, we have had a reprieve, some of it caused by the speed limit. Granted, the amount of traffic is considerably less, but with a raise in the speed limit it would no doubt increase. At present, most traffic through our area travels at more than the speed limit....if the limit were increased it would go even faster.

So what I want to say to you is I think your wanting to have the speed limit increased in my home community is a selfish aspiration. Perhaps you feel entitled to travel at high speeds on good roads. You need, however, to consider where those roads are situated. If a road runs through a community, the health and safety of the community should come before any wish for speed. Where are you going in such a hurry, anyway?

Carol Hyslop, Wentworth Valley