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George Massey Tunnel needs more than Band-Aid

Editor: Re: Tunnel improvements underway, Aug. 15 It’s unbelievable and unacceptable that the NDP is in the process of spending $40 million on upgrades to the George Massey Tunnel.

Editor:

Re: Tunnel improvements underway, Aug. 15

It’s unbelievable and unacceptable that the NDP is in the process of spending $40 million on upgrades to the George Massey Tunnel.

Safety maintenance should have been done on a regular basis, not allowed to accumulate to the point where $40 million in repairs are outstanding.

Could it be yet another attempt at forestalling an overdue issue by giving the appearance of moving forward, when in fact this is playing catch-up roulette with the lives and safety of those having to drive through this transportation relic - a wonderful innovation in its day, but long since outdated and completely inadequate today?

This permanent traffic bottleneck is a hyper critical and severely overdue issue that should have been solved years ago.

A tunnel upgrade at this point is insulting and a complete abdication of the government's responsibility to the people, the economy and the environment of this city, this province and this country, not to mention the very real effect on our partners in international trade.

I wonder how many dollars are ultimately wasted, every single day, as people and products wait on both sides of that tunnel trying to reach their destination?

At a time when our planet is experiencing the effects of global warming, how does any government justify prolonging the excess CO2 emissions, and fuel wasted, by all those idling vehicles just crawling along, trying to just reach that inadequate and outdated tunnel?

Instead it's another study: apparently the province has promised to produce a business case for its preferred river crossing option by the end of 2020.

For those having to traverse this tunnel, this situation has gone from urgent to critical, and stands at the cusp of absurd. Where is the sense of urgency?

Ingrid King