Editor:
Both the Editor's note and the Community Comment (Optimist, Jan. 26) supported thousands of people’s experience that the Fraser River crossings are inadequate.
It also looks like neither Richmond nor Vancouver really want to avoid inconveniencing the Delta and Surrey residents who work or shop there because commuters immediately meet dense traffic exiting Highway 99.
Transit is not much different. The system favors travel within the regions rather than commuters to destinations from outside the system. The planners will find my analysis amusing, but the thousands of drivers in single occupancy cars will not as they fight the traffic at the tunnel, then the Oak Street Bridge and finally stop light after stop light into the city. The entrance from the Westminster Highway into New Westminster is not much better.
While the commuter is lined up in traffic listening to the traffic reports of bottlenecks, the politicians are still debating the environmental impacts of the crossing, and the subtle differences between a bridge or tunnel, but always delaying the now anticipated $4.15 billion expenditure.
The out of the box thinking is that what if the travel across the Fraser River were vastly reduced by offering comparable employment and the $4.15 were spent on creating the employment opportunities in Delta and Surrey avoiding the need to travel to Vancouver or Richmond. It is not difficult to visualize centralized business centres surrounded by communities offering lower cost housing in preplanned, pre-serviced subdivisions.
Carbon emissions would be decreased as the commuters had shorter commutes and decreased traffic congestion. Employees and shoppers would have additional hours for leisure time rather than sitting in traffic. Transit could focus on providing better service within the Delta/Surrey region with shorter transit routes between the homes, work place and shops. Transit could also be more flexible varying routes between workers and shoppers needs.
Bill Sharkey
