Editor:
While walking my dog today, I noticed a big mess at a local park.
As a homeowner and taxpayer in New Westminster, I am concerned about the status of Albert Crescent Park.
I applaud the city’s decision to make Albert Crescent more family friendly and walkable.
But as you can see from my pictures taken on Jan. 1, the park needs a better maintenance plan.
Approximately two years ago, the city built a new blacktop pathway through the park for people to walk on. But as they were building the path, I noticed that there was no drainage being installed and pointed it out to the contractor on the job.
This is a picture of what happens to the path in the winter after rainfall. The trail is completely covered over with water. When it freezes, the city now has to salt the area of ice that is formed.
As you can see, the city had a crew planting trees in the park before the Christmas break. But you can also see the destruction that the equipment caused by working on wet grass. Did the site supervisor not do a walk through to check for wet grass?
With the city now having to send another machine to clean up the mess, would it not make sense to break some of the pathway and install proper drainage with a ditch and pipes?
Also as you can see in the bottom pictures, the urban trail off Columbia needs proper drainage. This is another path that isn't walkable in rain storms.
How is it that the City of New Westminster deems these pathways walkable?
Trevor Morgan, New Westminster
