Editor:
Re: Tunnel wake-up call needed, Guest Editorial, Oct. 14
While I respect the right of your editorialists to express their opinions in the Optimist, I do think some basic reality checking is required before publication.
In the recent guest editorial, the writer persists in spreading the myth that completion of the South Fraser Perimeter Road will improve traffic conditions in the George Massey Tunnel.
Despite his 25 years of driving the tunnel, your correspondent still doesn't understand his local geography. The SFPR is being built to carry Port Metro Vancouver traffic, ferry traffic, soon-to-be Tsawwassen First Nation traffic and anyone else in this corner of the Lower Mainland that wants to travel east onto the transCanada Highway at the Port Mann Bridge.
All of the Port Metro Vancouver traffic, ferry traffic, soon-to-be TFN traffic and anyone else wanting to go north through the tunnel to Richmond or Vancouver will still be using the tunnel long after the SFPR is in operation.
They will just arrive at the tunnel along a slightly different route.
While I agree with most everything else in this editorial, I dispute the writer's claim that, "drivers go 110 km/h or faster, especially while going through the tunnel." In my 30 years of daily commuting, my experience is that many drivers slow down going into the tunnel. This is due to the very poor lighting and to the fact one cannot see the light at the other end of the tunnel due to the relatively steep grade.
