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LETTER: With the B-Line, critical thinking better than emotional debate

Dear Editor: The single most effective solution to the traffic dilemma on the North Shore is to find ways to reduce single-occupant car traffic. The concerns expressed by residents on the proposed B-Line through Ambleside deserve attention.
B-Line 8

Dear Editor:

The single most effective solution to the traffic dilemma on the North Shore is to find ways to reduce single-occupant car traffic.

The concerns expressed by residents on the proposed B-Line through Ambleside deserve attention. However, moving the B-Line terminus to Park Royal may be counterproductive.

As a 32-year resident of West Vancouver and the chancellor of Capilano University, I am a regular user of public transit to attend business meetings and events at Capilano University and downtown Vancouver. The 250 bus is often filled up along Marine Drive. I have missed a few appointments trying to get on the 250 at 15th and Marine or at Park Royal, especially in the late afternoon. Many of the riders are homebound service workers who cannot afford to live in West Vancouver. At Park Royal, many of the riders will disembark for connection to the 239 bus for North Vancouver. A B-line from Dundarave will substantially reduce the number of these riders who are not going to downtown Vancouver and reduce the need for more 250 buses along Marine Drive and through Ambleside.

Similarly, the 255 bus is a highly used route with a couple of bus loads of bus-rider changes by the time it reaches Lynn Valley. The B-Line from Dundarave will substantially reduce the number of users destined for Marine Drive in North Vancouver and leave room for those going to Lion’s Gate Hospital and Lynn Valley.

The B-Line to Lonsdale Quay will offer an alternative route to downtown Vancouver without the need for more 250 buses through Ambleside.

If the B-Line terminates at Park Royal, more West Vancouver transit users will take the 250 along Marine Drive or drive to Park Royal. The extra car traffic will further increase the burden at Taylor Way and Marine.

To avoid the ferry traffic jam on Taylor Way, exiting the Upper Levels Highway at 15th Street will further snarl the car traffic at Ambleside.

 Should the B-Line avoid Marine Drive at Ambleside by going up 13th and along a one-way west bound Duchess before returning to Marine Drive at 18th? The east-bound B-Line would go up on 18th and along a one-way east-bound Esquimalt and back to Marine Drive at 13th.

No traffic lane will be lost other than the two one-way segments of Duchess and Esquimalt. As a community, more critical analyses are preferable to the increasingly emotional debate.

David Fung
West Vancouver

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