The Town welcomes tourists, but council members are angry that a decision by Niagara Region to designate Victoria Ave. (Reg. Rd. 24) in Vineland as the route to the August 1-4 marine heritage festival was made without consulting the municipality.

Canal Days will be underway at the same time as the August 2-3 Welland Race, an event that will see the Welland Tunnel, the usual route for traffic to Port Colborne, closed down for a bike race, a conflict that prompted the decision to reroute traffic from the QEW through Vineland.

"We do welcome tourists, but all those responsible need to ensure there is no conflict between the haulage of aggregate and tourists through the Town," Mayor Hodgson said at a Council meeting Tuesday. Victoria Ave. is a route used by trucks transporting gravel to the QEW construction project.

He's not amused the Town had to learn of the decision from the mayor of Port Colborne. "I'm surprised no notice was given to us in advance before the decision was made," Mayor Hodgson said. "It's important the community knows there will be an increase in traffic." Businesses need to be prepared and residents need to be aware, but the town was not part of the discussion, Mayor Hodgson said, stressing the need for a coordination of movement between aggregate and tourists.

Councillor Wayne MacMillan said there may be positive offshoots to redirecting the traffic from the QEW, but they're overshadowed by potential negative consequences and he's angry the decision was made without consulting the municipality.

In what Mayor Hodgson called completely coincidental timing, there's news this week of a push by Welland MPP Peter Kormos to designate Victoria Ave. as a tourist route to Niagara Falls.

Mayor Hodgson said businesses are spending time and money to entice tourists to the Vineland area but there needs to be discussions, and he's relieved that Transportation Minister and St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley has indicated that meetings would be set up in the next couple of weeks and any plan would include input from the Region and the Town of Lincoln.

"There are consequences when traffic is being directed in off the highway in a pro-active way," Mayor Hodgson said, adding he's heartened by Minister Bradley's direction to include Lincoln in discussions about transportation.

In a letter to Minister Bradley, Kormos called for the official scenic route that would take tourists off the congested QEW and direct them past local businesses through the heart of the region.

Lincoln Councillor Peter Randall said the decision to reroute traffic for Canal Days "circles us back to the abject failure of the Region to deal with the issue of the escarpment crossing".

"It's so obvious it's a very important road to get people up to Hwy. 20 and Hwy. 3," Randall said, asking why would the Region delay the mid-peninsula crossing.

Mayor Hodgson said he has urged the Region to discuss the need during this term of council. "It's an important issue."