Hamilton Spectator
Letter to the Editor
Saturday 2019-06-15
Newly-paved road a disaster
RE: Red Hill
I had the displeasure of using the newly paved down-bound portion of the Red Hill Expressway. It is a disaster.
In my normal day of work, I teach bus and truck driving for a large trucking company here in Hamilton. Today I transferred one bus to London and returned with another to Hamilton. The bus is a beautiful Thomas coach. I had no trouble driving and handling it from London via 401, then 403 to the Linc in Hamilton. But once getting onto the new pavement of the Red Hill down-bound, it felt as if my tires were out of balance and the steering started to shimmy, plus the ride was a bit bouncy. My conclusion is that the paving was rushed and not tested at high-speed driving. This is why the pavement is uneven. I predict that there will be some anxious moments by drivers in the next few days.
To further exacerbate the Red Hill’s down-bound problem, the road marking where the road comes up to Barton Street is incorrectly painted. This intersection since its inception has had three lanes, one left turning lane, middle lane turning both left or right, and the curb lane turning right. The pavement markings were correct prior to repaving. But now there are two left turning lanes and one right turning lane despite the signage on the post advising drivers otherwise. Tsk, tsk, tsk, rushing things causes a big mess that will have to be corrected later.
I suggest that the City of Hamilton should have some big vehicle go downhill, obeying the speed limit and see what is the experience.
Dez Miklós, Hamilton