By BARRY DOREY / Staff Reporter

The good news for Shubie Park supporters is that the province is studying a new option for a proposed highway interchange at Highway 118.

The bad news is that the so-called Option C is still not what a newly formed citizens group wants to see there.

"We don't want to see an interchange there," said Dartmouth resident Gayle Collins, a member of Save Our Shubie (SOS).

"We are looking at an option," but she said it was too preliminary to discuss whether the idea involved lane widenings or other possibilities.

The province wants to proceed this spring to build a connector to a new business park slated to open in October 2006 between Highways 111 and 118.

But the proposed ramps and roadways infringe upon Shubie Park, described last month by resident Rhonda Totten as "our gem in the middle of the city."

A handful of SOS members have collected more than 1,000 signatures on a petition asking the province to "go back to the drawing board," said Ms. Collins.

The first plan includes a retaining wall along the highway that would not be inside the park but would be visible to park goers.

The other plan features a natural rocky slope that would encroach on the park and require the realignment of a walking trail.

A third plan, drafted by the independent Shubenacadie Canal Commission, proposes a slope that would hide the wall from sight within the park.

"I am happy that they are looking at it and considering a citizen-initiated solution," Coun. Andrew Younger (East Dartmouth-The Lakes) said Friday.

"Anything that minimizes the impact on Shubie Park is a positive step."

But he also agrees that the job can be completed without a large interchange.

"I don't feel the province has adequately informed the people of Dartmouth about why they are doing this and whether they have looked at other options," said Mr. Younger.

An open house will be held Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Fairbanks Centre, 54 Locks Rd.

Linda Laffin, spokeswoman for the Transportation and Public Works Department, confirmed Friday that engineers are studying Option C and hopes to detail its response to it at the meeting.

"It's a modification of Option B, which pulls back somewhat from inside the park," she said, "and the ramp . . . would be pulled back as well so there would be no encroachment on the park."

She said the proposals presented last month were in keeping with a pair of basic planning principles: don't touch park land at all or develop the project and integrate it with park land.

"We said we would give consideration to any good suggestion if it's workable."

Liberal environment critic Keith Colwell criticized the government for "jeopardizing recreation opportunities for Dartmouth residents."

"Shubie Park consists of approximately nine kilometres of trails that are used extensively for walking year-round," Mr. Colwell said in a press release.

"Premier Hamm is supposedly a great advocate for health promotion . . . yet he allows his transportation minister to bring forward a proposal that will impact walking trails that people use extensively for wellness purposes.

"It doesn't make sense and the premier should explain why this is allowed to happen."