Editor:
These days it seems that large projects such as Site C, the George Massey Tunnel replacement and Terminal 2 are going to happen despite public opposition. The public consultation process has turned into a sham.
Now we have the port authority wanting to construct a truck staging area at the intersection of Highway 17A and Deltaport Way. This staging area will accommodate 140 trucks and will be built on a 16-acre site owned by the provincial government. It's aimed at improving safety by reducing truck queuing on public roads and eliminating truck staging bottlenecks in and around the terminal.
In reality, this is a scheduling issue the port needs to address. There is no need to have bottlenecks or queuing on Deltaport Way since every truck has communications via radio or cell phone and can be redirected as needed. Also, there is land currently under development for the port on the TFN that could accommodate this parking area.
To cover 16 acres with leeching asphalt on available farmland for up to 140 idling trucks (when it’s cold and wet they will be idling) is a crime.
What’s really ludicrous and very telling with regard to the port and its commitment to the environment is the staging area will be a short distance from a wetlands area that was established when the South Fraser Perimeter Road was built. A wetlands area sandwiched between two highways, a set of railway tracks and now a paved truck staging area. That’s a bit much.
And where do our mayor and council sit on this? Complete silence. I guess being a combination of provincial and port authority land, they feel they can’t do anything. They might want to look at the mayors of Vancouver and Burnaby fighting the Kinder Morgan-Trans Canada pipeline expansion. These mayors are very vocal in their opposition.
Our mayor and council should rally support in the community against this staging area and show they have some backbone. If they continue to do nothing, then the residents of Tsawwassen and Ladner should write, text or email our elected officials and demand they do something.
The port authority has failed to look at logical alternatives to the detriment of our community.
Glen Evans
