Editor:
I urge Delta council to reconsider the expenditure of $48,000 of our tax dollars to install a fence on 12th Avenue west of 56th Street. I question the wisdom and motive of this project.
Daily we are exhorted to get out of our cars, to ride our bikes and walk. We do this to reduce waste (and reduce our waists).
I am a dedicated pedestrian, yet I feel continually marginalized by the lack of sidewalks and crosswalks in our little town. Most streets, other than collector routes and main thoroughfares, have no sidewalks at all.
In other cases, sidewalks are only on one side of the street and often just disappear for no apparent reason, leaving us the option of a gravel shoulder or the street.
I love living in this community because I can commute to work, shop and recreate on foot. I am a licensed owner/operator of several pairs of shoes.
I am also an avid jaywalker. Before you judge me, let me explain my rationale.
In the last three months I have been nearly kneecapped by a black Porsche, had to yank back my children to avoid being mowed down by a Suburban, stopped suddenly to allow a white Mazda to cut in front of me and came close enough to a blue Honda to smack its side with my hand. All these events happened on sidewalks.
In the last six months my companion and I were nearly mowed down by a silver Honda Civic, I jumped out of the way of a green cab and witnessed a red Honda force a woman with a child in a wheelchair and a developmentally challenged child to jerk back to avoid being run down. All these events happened in clearly marked crosswalks, the last one in a school zone.
I feel safer jaywalking and I do it well.
I served on the traffic safety committee in Port Moody for three years and at Ecole South Park for two. I understand how decisions are made using actuarial data from ICBC and TransLink.
If council can provide hard data regarding the injury, damage and death rate on this particular strip of road and how this fence will mitigate those factors, then I will heartily approve it. Otherwise, it seems like a waste of money and a further inconvenience to folks that would rather walk than drive.
But I will probably vault the fence anyway. I'm pretty nimble.
William "Billy" Mitchell
