Controversial intersection will not expand: MacKinley

A controversial traffic-light intersection in Cornwall, which the Opposition claims will eventually increase the value of property owned by P.E.I.'s transportation minister, will not be expanding, says the minister.

The traffic lights were at the centre of a conflict of interest complaint, dismissed because the intersection does not lead into the property owned by Transportation Minister Ron MacKinley. MacKinley said there are no plans for further changes to the intersection.

"We're not going to do it. And the answer was loud and clear to them, and the answer is no," MacKinley told CBC News Thursday, after the conflict of interest commissioner's report was made public.

The Opposition cried conflict of interest when MacKinley approved traffic lights for the intersection, which is adjacent to property he owns. MLA Mike Currie filed a complaint to the conflict of interest commissioner, saying property values would go up due to improved access provided by traffic lights.

But commissioner Neil Robinson said there was no conflict, because the three-way intersection does not lead into MacKinley's property. Robinson said he could find no evidence of plans to make the intersection four-way.

MacKinley has always argued the lights were for the safety of people coming in and out of the Cornwall business park, which is across the highway from MacKinley's property. He said there is no safety issue requiring a four-way intersection, so it won't be built.

"I was quite confident when the information got out that it would all come for the best, because basically what I was doing was for the safety of the people getting in and out of the industrial park," he said.

MacKinley said that while the controversy didn't affect him personally, it was difficult on his family, in particular on his mother-in-law.

"She thought it was awful. She had nightmares about it," he said.

"That's why it's hard to get people into politics."

If anyone had taken the time to do their homework, said MacKinley, they would have come to the same conclusion as the commissioner.