Every time West Vancouver council is asked to consider any kind of development project, there is much blowback from the community and handwringing on council.
How could they consider further development on the North Shore when Lions Gate Bridge traffic is already so bad?
Yet, the population of West Vancouver is actually shrinking, according to the most recent census. Meanwhile, since 2011 the District of Squamish has grown by 2,354 people, or 13.7 per cent, making it one of the fastest growing communities in Canada. And traffic on Highway 99 from Squamish has gone up by 25 per cent in the last five years, according to the province. Similarly, the populations of communities in the Fraser Valley are growing far faster than North Vancouver’s.
That goes a lot further to explaining our bridgehead traffic woes than local development does.
With our working class being pushed farther and farther away from the North Shore, we have to be prepared to accept more commuters here.
But they don’t all have to be coming here in their single-occupancy vehicles, clogging up arterials.
BC Transit has launched a consultation process at BCTransit.com/SeatoSky to gauge whether there is an appetite for transit service on the Sea to Sky corridor.
To us, it’s not a question of whether there ought to be bus service but, rather, what is the optimal schedule and price that will woo Squamish commuters out of their cars? We suggest everyone who has a concern about local traffic log on and take the survey.
It’s time we stopped repeating the same parochial discussions and started addressing traffic as the regional problem that it is.
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