Dear Editor,
We are writing in regards to the proposed multi-use bike lane on Steveston Highway.
As a resident of Richmond on Steveston Highway for more than 44 years, I feel our input has value.
Over 30-plus years ago, the city expropriated the land and expanded Steveston Highway to four lanes. It has been a racetrack ever since.
It has an inadequate amount of crosswalks, especially given the number of multi-family homes and new townhouse complexes that have been popping up like multiplying rabbits.
The main sidewalks on the north side of the highway are decrepit and not maintained in the least. For a person in a wheelchair or with a disability, it is almost impassable in many places.
The letdowns between roads point out into the highway instead of pointing to the next sidewalk.
Hedges, trees, fences and weeds hang out forcing the user to dangerous angles and or forcing them onto the road.
Grinding bumps and patch-filling is not maintenance, is not repair. It is a temporary fix and should be properly fixed in a timely manner… which has not happened.
The expansion of this road will also destroy many trees, hedges and homes of many wildlife. It will ruin many residents’ natural pollution/noise barriers and privacy with the destruction of their hedges with no promise of any help or protection from the city.
Hedges that were planted when the road was expanded and traffic got worse. The last thing Richmond needs is less vegetation.
The farmers will no longer have the safety of the ditches for flood drainage and to keep out thieves, which was a major problem when the first expansion happened. Those farmers have had to put up fencing out of their own pocket and still have issues.
To use more land to build the multi-purpose path is insane.
The multi-purpose lane on Westminster Highway went into disrepair for many years and was only recently finally repaired.
There is a perfectly good bike lane on Williams Road that runs the length of the city and has much less traffic and speeding.
Leave Steveston Highway as is and simply repair what is already there.
Karon Linley & family
RICHMOND
