Let me just say this, - you can't call yourself a green city when you put up illuminated digital advertising signs the size of Winnebagos. Yes, I'm talking to you, the City of New Westminster. The city which takes great pride in its recycling awards, green spaces, chicken-friendly policies and verdant hanging baskets.
A green community isn't just one that promotes backyard composting - complete with red wrigglers - it's a city that, well, looks like an oasis in the ever-growing urban scrapyards we have come to expect, or at least endure, as city dwellers. It's a city that not only builds a sustainable green infrastructure, it looks to the future.
The humongous digital bill-boards perched on immense columns that sprouted seemingly overnight in three locations may sport advertising messages, but the overriding message is one of excess and disdain for the view.
The first one went up right at the north end of the Pattullo Bridge when you enter the city, another sprouted like something out of War of the Worlds snuggling up to the Alex Fraser Bridge exit, and a third now juts out right beside the Queensborough Bridge, about midway on the span. A fourth is on its way.
The city's plan, of course, is to raise bucks to help avoid raising taxes while still being able to fill all those irritating potholes and pick up garbage. An admirable goal, to be sure. Who wants their taxes raised, or their garbage to sit stinking on the curb?
The advertising on the signs is supposed to raise over a million dollars in revenue per year. And, of course, the city gets to put up its own messages as fillers while the space is being hawked.
But major cities throughout the world are trying to remove such eye-litter, not put up more. Billboards are called 'visual pollution' and LED digital signs 'light pollution.' The combination of huge moving lit images and text on a massive billboard is not a pretty sight. Particularly at night.
In my opinion, the move is a giant step back for a city hoping to build a green reputation - not to mention the issue of safety.
I commute over the Queensborough Bridge daily. It's not as bad as the Pattullo, but its narrow lanes, short-merging lanes, curves and confusing exits can make it a challenge. I hate to think what a tourist unfamiliar with the area must think as they try to navigate into New Westminster. Add a downpour, a semi-trailer and rush hour and you have a potentially dangerous drive. I regularly encounter accidents - some minor, some major.
To put a huge flashing digital sign smack dab in the middle of a location that deserves a driver's full attention is just plain dumb. And I find it hard to believe that the Ministry of Transportation allowed it - if, indeed they had a say over it.
We don't allow drivers to use their cellphones while driving, but we think it's intelligent to encourage them to read flashing advertising messages while they're manoeuvring through heavy traffic on bridges?
All it takes is one glance at the flashing sign on the right while the fellow in front of you is braking, and you can end up with an ugly chain-reaction rear-ender at the very least.
This is all a moot point now, of course. The signs will be there for 20 years. They will raise some much-needed funds, but pollute the view and diminish our vision for a more intelligent treatment of our airspace. But, perhaps other municipalities who have not yet considered installing their own versions will at least rethink following in New Westminster's rather large, flashing footprint.
Pat Tracy is the editor of The Record and its sister paper, the Burnaby NOW. You can follow her on twitter @PatTracy, or email her a letter via [email protected]
