Dear Editor:
Re: proposed traffic control at Howes and Ewen. I would strongly suggest that the City of New Westminster engineering department investigate the two proposals that are being put to the residents of Queensborough. This investigation should be done in depth prior to the tabulation of any results from the survey now in progress.
At the Nov. 19 Queensborough Residents' Association meeting, we learned that the data used by the city to develop the two options were based on a two-year-old traffic count. In the last two years a lot has happened in and around Queensborough, and a new data set is warranted if we are to make an up-to-date, informed decision.
On top of that revelation, it was also discovered that absolutely no prolonged observations of traffic flow at the intersection have been done by city staff or by any sub-contracted experts. This should have been done prior to the production of the many "story-boards" expounding the merits of the proposed options. Not only is the production of those magnificent storyboards premature, it is also a total waste of resources which New Westminster residents pay for through their local city taxes.
Less than 100 metres away from this intersection is a New Westminster fire hall that is staffed 24/7. One would think that city staff, in an attempt to keep skyrocketing taxes in check, would ask the fire department to assist them in observing the intersection and to do a study of the traffic flows.
Failing that, engineering could put a "traffic cam" on the fire department building tower and video the intersection for a couple of weeks and then analyze the traffic flows to determine the feasibility of the different options before presenting it to the community. It is not too late, as this project has been in the works for a couple of years, and it will be quite some time before the work will commence to finish the job.
Gavin Palmer, Queensborough
