Dear Editor:
Re: City concerned about safety, The Record, May 16.
Someone needs to tell Mayor Wayne Wright he can’t have it both ways when it comes to transportation issues like the single-lane Bailey bridge at United Boulevard.
Wright cannot, on the one hand, oppose a two-lane bridge because of concerns over congestion, while on the other hand reject millions of dollars in federal money for every option offered for the United Boulevard Extension, which would have addressed that very congestion. This is like complaining about a fire after refusing to accept a free fire extinguisher. A one-lane temporary bridge in a major industrial/commercial area is clearly unsafe and inefficient and doesn’t belong in the 20th century, never mind the 21st. Wright demonstrates the same ill-informed obstinacy when he rails against the idea of a new six-lane Pattullo Bridge while at the same time complaining about congestion.
Wright should remember that bridges go both ways and a six-lane Pattullo would direct three lanes of traffic out of New West. The idea that the third lane coming in from Surrey would chew up Queen’s Park is scaremongering.
The third lane would most likely direct traffic coming off the bridge to Columbia Street and Royal Avenue in the same way the inbound right lane of Pattullo does now.
Wright and his supporters also demonstrate they want it both ways when they bluster about congestion while at the same time approving millions of dollars’ worth of developments, including the Brewery District, the Anvil Centre, the logistics centre in Queensborough and several major condo projects, such as Plaza 88, all without a single major road improvement to handle the resulting increase in traffic. In fact, they have worsened the situation by narrowing roads from four lanes to two (Columbia Street) and adding curb extensions on major routes (Royal Avenue, 12th and Sixth streets, and East Columbia Street).
You can’t put traffic calming measures on major streets and then complain about the resulting back-ups. No one wants major highways through New West, but we must at least have clear arterial routes that allow traffic to flow in a safe and efficient manner while keeping the same cars and trucks off residential streets.
In short, we need roads and bridges that go both ways, not politicians who speak out of both sides of their mouths.
David Lang,
via email
