Raise the Hammer

The Jolley Cut is an undervalued asset to the city, for the views, for the connections, for the name alone. No other city in the world has the Jolley Cut. Regrettably it and the Claremont are currently examples of short, inner-city auto expressways. They were both built with one objective: to move as much traffic as possible as quickly as possible.

There have been plans going back to McQueston to enhance the trip from the escarpment at Upper Wellington, down to the waterfront. The bridge built on Ferguson Ave. N. is part of a vision of the street as a livable parkway. Earlier plans to enhance Sam Lawrence Park with a bridge to the plateau from Concession Street and steps from the park's descending walkways to the Cut roadbed were scotched by mountain neighbours who viewed the greenery as their local domain. But a pedestrian traffic light on the upper Cut connecting these as-yet-unmade steps to the sidewalk opposite could only improve access to one of this city's finest features, as would wider sidewalks and a bike lane.

If I were to dream, I'd like to see a man-made waterfall (along the lines of the bridge waterfall in Edmonton) from Sam Lawrence Park to Charlton, east of the Claremont auto-spill at Victoria. What an enhancement this would be for the Hamilton's proclaimed waterfall status, and right in the city's centre too. But this could be more than a tourism attraction. The feature might also provide more affordable summer cooling for nearby hospitals. In fact, I suspect there is significant geothermal potential along the escarpment through Hamilton that could be accessed without despoiling this ribbon of natural greenery.

Meantime, I give you this:

The Jolley Cut

there ain't no cut like the Jolley Cut
the Sherman Cut and the Clappison Cut
don't make the cut like the Jolley Cut

it winds from Concession down to St. Joe's
the hip trip everybody knows
if you're going from up town to down
take the Jolley Cut, get rid of your frown

'cause there ain't no cut like the Jolley Cut
a mullet cut and a brisket cut
are nothing like the Jolley Cut

start your trip at the tip of Sam Lawrence Park
where lovers like to meet after dark
a slow curve to your right
and already you're into the bite

there's the garden in its glory
and you're in old Jolley's quarry
limestone, fossils get ready for a j-j-jostle to the left

turning left on the Jolley Cut
not Centennial, not Clappison Cut
I wont stand no ifs ands or buts
there just ain't no cut like the Jolley Cut

and suddenly there's the city looking mighty pretty
you can see Toronto on a clear day
the Beachstrip and the lakers in the bay
Burlington Heights and Paradise, both looking very nice
Dundas, Hamilton and just a peek of Stoney Creek

oh! there ain't no cut
none like the Jolley Cut
even a tax cut is undercut by the Jolley Cut

but you are only down by half
at the bridge over Clairmont's lower path
you gotta glide behind Rock Castle
the rotunda with the tassels
a little pressure on the brake
the final turn's a piece of cake

No there ain't no cut like the Jolley Cut
I don't mean to be indelicut
but the Jolley Cut is one hell of a cut

And this last stretch of the Jolley Cut's run
goes by the name of Arkledun
'cause there ain't no done
like Arkledun