After an 11-year absence, it is nice to be back at the Delta Optimist. Since I left at the end of August 2001, I spent nine years with the Business in Vancouver Media Group and almost two years pleasantly retired.
When I left, the Optimist and its fellow newspapers in Lower Mainland Publishing were owned by CanWest Global, which unfortunately imploded under a mountain of debt. Late last year, the Optimist, among others, was purchased by Vancouver-based Glacier Media, the company I worked for prior to retiring.
In a rash act, they asked me to come out of retirement and put in some time back at the Optimist. So a day after my 64th birthday, I was back at work. I thought I was a bit long in the tooth to be going back to work, but I recalled that back in 1989, I convinced Edgar Dunning to restart writing his column when he was 79 - and he kept doing it for over another 20 years!
Although much has changed since I left, much is familiar. Back in 1989 when I started the South Delta Today in competition to the Optimist, I hurried the start date because I wanted to have the newspaper up and running during the original Southlands hearings, which I thought would last a couple of weeks and be good for readership.
I needn't have hurried. The hearings went on for months and set some kind of record for the longest public hearings in Canadian history - if not the Western world. Now, 23 years later, we're still discussing the future of the old Spetifore property now owned by Century Group.
One of the main complaints against the development proposal then was the increase in traffic it would bring. Those who commuted from South Delta to north of the Fraser River were stuck with using the George Massey Tunnel, which was typically clogged during rush hours and was destined to get worse.
Last Friday, the Page 3 story in the Optimist was the ongoing congestion for vehicles trying to exit the Tilbury industrial area either to head south to South Delta or head north through the tunnel.
Supposedly some tinkering with the traffic signals has helped mitigate the problem.
However, in the same issue of the Optimist were stories on the Roberts Bank port expansion and the densification of the Marina Garden Estates. These plus other proposed developments will no doubt tax the tunnel further - although the South Fraser Perimeter Road should get much of the truck traffic off Highway 17 when it is complete.
Our premier has said they will begin discussions on the tunnel in the next 10 years. Perhaps in 20 years we will have increased crossing capacity, but don't hold your breath.
I think they should reopen my old favourite, the 72nd Street cow tunnel under Highway 99 so at least cars could avoid the mess at highways 17 and 99. It's a lot cheaper - and could be done in my lifetime.
