Dear Editor:
The District of North Vancouver has marked out approximately 40 feet of land along the edge of the Mackay Pond Conservation Park on West First Street to be turned into a part of the Spirit Trail. This area is being rehabilitated as a fisheries and wildlife conservation park.
The land is used by fish, kingfishers, beavers, otters, crayfish, skunks, raccoons, ospreys, hawks, eagles, peregrine falcons, crows, ravens, flickers, woodpeckers, alder flycatchers, robins, merganser ducks and geese. All have nested here and raised young. Removing this park land only constricts nesting areas as well as protective roosting foliage. It will affect the enclosed underbrush berries and food sources of insects in the soil. It will disrupt the creek as well as the two ponds and forest habitat. This is not rehabilitating practice.
There are three or four large, established healthy looking essential trees marked for removal next to the east side of the bridge. They support the creek bank where the beavers have burrowed their home for winter and spring use, and they more than likely stabilize the land next to the bridge and sidewalk when the water rises in winter and spring. The water pools inside the base of these trees beyond the bank. Removing them would require landfill afterwards. This applies also to the trees on the west side of the creek next to the sidewalk and culvert runoff from the pond.
There already exists a bike lane alongside the park. By using the space allowed for the bike lane and the existing sidewalk there is no need to cut out trees and clear land for a paved trail through this conservation area. The current pavement can be elevated, so that vehicle traffic cannot cross over the trail and access it. The speed for cyclists and traffic should be slowed through this short area along the Spirit Trail to accommodate walking pedestrians. This would lessen noise and vibration to the park and cause less stress on the wildlife. The landscaping of this project will involve cutting and removing mature healthy trees, and underbrush foliage, then topsoil, and filling in the low ground with landfill. Also adding in a footbridge next to the road bridge over the creek. Finally paving and afterwards replacing the mature established trees with saplings.
The cost-effective alternative is to save the conservation park's treed habitat and the landscaping costs by redeveloping and installing the Spirit Trail in the already available space allotted to the current bike lane and sidewalk foundation. Removal of the sidewalk and laying the pavement foundation, changing the speed zones to accommodate pedestrian safety would cost less and benefit all, including eliminating the already unsafe vehicular traffic habits/speeds alongside the current bike lanes. Vehicles constantly cut into the area of bike lanes, these are fatalities waiting to happen. Raising the pavement and implementing the Spirit Trail along with traffic signals at Lloyd Avenue and First Street will eliminate these possible fatalities.
I am hoping others will visit this little-known oasis a stone's throw from Capilano Mall and pressure district staff and council to make better ecological choices while rushing to complete the Spirit Trail.
Richard Cochrane North Vancouver
