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Letter: City must do this to avoid chaos with sewer project in New West

Metro Vancouver has a new project in the works
columbia
Columbia Street in New Westminster.

Editor:

Re: New West begrudgingly supports Metro Vancouver sewer project in 2021, Record News

From my address near Moody Park, over the past couple of years I've seen peak-hour traffic snarls from sewer work construction on several main thoroughfares up at this end of town (and with construction blocking up several streets at one time - doubling or tripling the effects).

What happens is that it drives traffic across residential streets, many of which only allow one lane traffic because of parking on both sides. Private residents are left to deal with high volumes, high speeds, and with hassles to drive out of the neighbourhood themselves. 

Once Columbia is further constricted - because it's regularly somewhat constricted - the traffic will have to go somewhere, and a lot of it will go through residential streets up the hill that shouldn't be handling that traffic.

I would like to ask the city for three things:

1. Columbia detours that are clearly evident, marked from a long way back and directing traffic to appropriate streets for peak traffic levels (Front Street and where else?).

2. Decide on a few alternate bypass streets up the hill and, where the streets are narrow, put no parking signs on at least one side, so traffic can pass through both ways. Fourth Avenue should probably be one of those bypasses.

3. Make sure the construction crew paves the road properly afterwards. I mean like brand new - not just like a crappy patch job. 

4. Oh and don't put other construction nearby at the same time. 

Amanda Gray, New Westminster