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Letter: Action to improve pedestrian safety in New West is rushed and illogical

This New West resident believes a “well-thought-out plan” is needed for pedestrian safety – not “panicked” decision-making
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A resident believes the city's plan to address safety on a stretch of East Columbia Street is a kneejerk reaction to a recent pedestrian fatality.

I am writing to express my disagreement with the seemingly rushed and panicked decision of New Westminster’s Mayor, Mr. Johnstone, to spend citizens’ money on an expensive engineering consultation to study an intersection where a pedestrian death recently occurred. This decision seems highly illogical and raises questions about the mayor's priorities and motivations.

Firstly, it is important to note that the intersection in question is not even in the top 20 list of dangerous intersections in the town. So why would the mayor choose to spend a large sum of money on a study for an intersection that is not even considered to be a relative risk to pedestrians? This decision seems highly irrational and wasteful of our citizens' resources.

The mayor's rushed decision looks to be reactionary panic to the pedestrian death, rather than a well-thought-out plan to improve pedestrian safety in the town. If the death was due to a pedestrian suicide or impairment, no safety study would be considered. This raises questions about whether the mayor's decision is rooted in vanity, self-aggrandizing posturing, and a desire to appear virtuous, rather than a genuine concern for public safety.

In conclusion, I urge the mayor to reconsider this decision and to focus on improving pedestrian safety in the town based on sound evidence and data, rather than knee-jerk reactions that waste citizens and taxpayers' money and may not even be effective in reducing risks to pedestrians. The mayor could prioritize practical solutions that are backed by research and expertise, rather than grandstanding and making expensive gestures that do not actually address the root causes of pedestrian accidents.

Sincerely,

Ian Platts

(Editor’s note: At its March 13 meeting, city council unanimously approved a plan to direct staff to proceed with the next steps for addressing safety concerns at this location, which were outlined in a staff report.)