Dear Editor:
After reading Elizabeth Soden's comment re: North Van Roads and Bridges Can't Handle OCP Population Target, Dec. 27, I realized what huge traffic jams most of the North Shore will see in the near future.
Major roads on the traffic corridor between Lions Gate and Ironworkers Memorial bridges are overloaded even today. Every second day, the Upper Levels Highway's traffic leading to the Ironworkers Memorial bridge is stop-and-go.
The unwillingness by our politicians in Victoria, and the shortsightedness of our regional traffic planners re. long-term transportation planning to include developers to carry some of the financial burdens, must share the blame of our existing traffic woes.
I do not criticize the spending of more than $100 million on the Lions Gate Bridge overhaul, but had the plans for a third crossing been carried out in the 1960s we wouldn't have to deal with this mess now and at potentially huge cost increases. And why wasn't a direct connection from the Lions Gate Bridge to the Upper Levels Highway planned/included during the last bridge deck replacement project? Traffic at Taylor Way and Marine Drive would have benefited tremendously.
If the projected population increase of 42 per cent in North Vancouver comes to pass, it will cause traffic mayhem unless this 42 per cent population growth is restricted to Lower Lonsdale and can be dealt with by SeaBus for transportation. But this is only the City of North Vancouver. What about the district? There are apartments, condominiums and commercial buildings going up everywhere on the North Shore and I fail to see how our roads in today's conditions can handle all the increased traffic. And please do not tell me to ride a bike! One suggestion: establish a North Shore streetcar system - even I would have fun riding it.
I realize that there are costs involved to carry out my suggestions, but unless there are gutsy politicians saying "damn the torpedoes, we are going to fix Vancouver's traffic mistakes once and for all" - I don't see a solution to the problem. (Where is Phil Gaglardi when we need him?)
Michael Stichnoth
North Vancouver
