RESIDENTS CAN VOTE ON NEW NAME FOR HWY. 420

City residents will get a chance to select the new name for Highway
420, the provincial highway that runs between Stanley Avenue and the
Queen Elizabeth Way.

Niagara Falls council voted Monday to narrow the list to three names
and to get the public's opinion, especially from the Royal Canadian
Legions and other veterans groups.

"We're all going to be driving this highway. Why not let everyone be
a part of what the name is going to be," said Coun. Victor
Pietrangelo, who launched a search for a new name for the highway in
March. The names under consideration are:

* Niagara Memorial Veterans Highway

* Niagara Veterans Way

* Niagara Falls Expressway

With the city planning to decommission the Niagara Falls Memorial and
Stamford Memorial arenas next year when the city opens its four-pad
arena on Fourth Avenue, Pietrangelo suggested some other public
project pay tribute to the city's war dead.

It started out with a list of more than 40 suggestions after city
hall opened up the search for ideas on its website. Pietrangelo and
city clerk Dean Iorfida pared it down to five.

On Monday, Pietrangelo put three names up for public consideration
and councillors agreed.

"A lot of people liked the Memorial, but they thought it was too
long. That's why we included 'Niagara Veterans Way,'" Pietrangelo
said in an interview.

"Veterans" would be appropriate word to use because so many cities
have created Veterans ways, said Diane Condon, president of Royal
Canadian Legion's branch 479 on Spring Street.

But incorporating "memorial" would also be fitting, she said. That
Legion is the A. C. McCallum Memorial branch because it's located in
the old Memorial school, the site of a First World War encampment for
training soldiers.

Sgt. Michael Blais, the head of the Royal Canadian Regiment
Association, said it would be nice to use "memorial," but "veterans"
covers more people.

"Veterans is the key word for me. It would be nice to celebrate all
veterans, not just the ones who have died," said Blais.

The final three names will be listed on the city's website where a
poll will ask for public input on the name.

Coun. Wayne Thomson agreed it was important to attach the word
"memorial" to the highway because of the decommissioning of the arenas.

Pietrangelo said his motivation for changing the name was to
perpetuate the arenas' "memorial" designation, but he was also aware
changing the name could end the association the highway has with the
movement to legalize marijuana. Because pot-smokers consider 4:20 p.
m., the best time of day to toke up, the area near the highway has
been the site of an annual pro-marijuana rally in April.

A provincial government policy permits the renaming of a numbered
provincial highway in honour of of a group or individual. Any change
requires the support of the municipal councils in which the highway
is located, and the area's MPPs.

Because 420 is so short, Niagara Falls city council and Niagara
regional councils are the only political bodies whose blessing is
needed. Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor has said he's supportive of
honouring area veterans. He backed the renaming of Highway 405 to
General Brock Parkway as a tribute to the War of 1812 hero who died
at nearby Queenston Heights.

"In the end, council's going to make the final decision," Pietrangelo
said. "The majority of council has to be comfortable with the name.
The public's going to provide great feedback on what they think."