Other means of saving lives

I live on the proposed corridor 4 highway and if this becomes tolled it shall cause undue hardship financially to me as I live in Kenzieville and travel back and forth to St. Andrews, N.S., five days a week for a 28.5-hour weekly pay.

My sons and their families also have their homes in this area, which is about halfway between New Glasgow and Antigonish, so this proposal shall affect us greatly! Every time we would go anywhere, for work, groceries, my grandchildren’s ballet or skating, appointments, etc., everything would be a toll.

They say there would always be an alternative route, but how safe would that be (for example, the old road through Wentworth now with the Cobequid Pass) as 100-series roads always are the first priority and I’m pretty sure there will be no new salt trucks bought and drivers hired.

I attended the meeting in Antigonish and the resounding consensus was that if they saved one life they were worth it. I too believe that a divided highway would be good, but not a toll. If I may… I too know the horrific sorrow of losing a loved one. My son became addicted to prescription drugs and he was told in his hotel rood where he was staying overnight waiting to be admitted in the morning into a program for substance abuse, that he could not attend, and he committed suicide!

The death rate from mental health and prescription drug addiction is staggering. Could we maybe put an extra fee on every doctor or hospital visit, on every painkiller or every prescription filled, etc., and put all this money toward this very tragic and overwhelming problem and hopefully save many lives? Joyce Ross

Kenzieville