Editor:
Re: Can't wait for bridge construction, letter to the editor, March 15
The urgency expressed in the letter is misplaced. Estimates are that a bridge will not be completed for at least four years. This would make it a third time election promise.
By 2021 the costs could be $6 billion to $7 billion, but an additional tunnel could be constructed much sooner and for a fraction of the cost. At the same time a rapid transit system could be afforded and developed.
Rush hour traffic can be eased immediately:
1. Restore 601 fast buses to/from Delta to Downtown Vancouver.
2. Stop trucks using the George Massey Tunnel during rush hours.
3. Re-establish the weigh station to stop trucks in rush hour, stop oversize trucks and dangerous loads using the tunnel and force all trucks to use the slow lane.
The tunnel is only hazardous because maintenance is deliberately neglected. After the recent earthquake upgrade it was estimated to be good for another 50 years.
The tunnels will protect the Fraser River, the greatest salmon river in the world, from becoming an industrial sewer for the Port of Vancouver.
Rapid transit will reduce air pollution and global warming.
The current local, provincial and federal governments are facilitating the destruction of the Fraser River. We must stop them using our money to build a bridge that will be the headstone to the death of the Fraser River, its globally significant estuary habitats and its vital delta farmlands.
Mary Taitt
