Dear Editor:
North Vancouver District council’s approval to cut down 80 beautiful mature trees along Lynn Valley Road is unconscionable beyond belief. When proposed changes to this route were first put forth to the community there was no mention of the need to remove so many trees.
The canopy that lines this road should be considered heritage. As well as protecting pedestrians – the group most often seen walking along Lynn Valley Road – from the torrential rains and providing much appreciated shade in the heat of the summer, they are an irreplaceable sound barrier from the ever-increasing traffic congestion idling along this main artery. More appreciation and thought should be given to what we now have and would take many decades to duplicate.
That all cycling lanes should have to be a part of the main arterial routes should be revisited. So often there are side streets that run parallel, have no traffic and can be quickly accessed by a cyclist. All that would be required is some directional signage.
The Lynn Valley Road gridlock norm has very quickly changed from just under the overpass to now Kirkstone Road. With the increased density at Lynn Valley Centre it is just going to get worse. The lifestyle of many residents of the North Shore simply does not lend itself easily to a bicycle commute.
Changes need to be made to this project; otherwise, we may suffer the same acute loss that we felt when the winds blew through Stanley Park. Simply narrowing or sharing some parts of this cycling lane could be a solution. Better a route along a pathway beside the overpass onto 21st and then Kirkstone. Even cyclists and pedestrians should be capable of yielding to one or another.
Paulette Morton
North Vancouver
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