Dear Editor,
Six lanes and a train — it’s a great motto and a reasonable solution, why can’t we even have the discussion?
I sent a lengthy email to all councillors and the mayors of Richmond and Vancouver, as well as key people in the B.C. government. What a disappointment to realize, yet again, that there are no effective ways to get our “leaders” to engage in a conversation with the community that their decisions actually affect.
Only Linda Reid’s office acknowledged my email and Carol Day actually provided some great and helpful information. I’d still like to know why we can’t have a discussion around a real solution for the commuters and commercial users of the Massey Tunnel that will not damage businesses, adversely affect the environment nor further reduce the limited financial resources of many area residents.
The email read: I have just read the Richmond paper and I’m wondering why the focus on the bridge question is not more about solutions that are reasonable? A solution that will actually move people through the corridor and not cars? Isn’t that the goal, to move people and save people time and money?
Having sat in the tunnel traffic back in the 1980s when traveling for school from Tsawwassen to Vancouver, it boggles my mind (no other expression for it) that neither the provincial government nor the cities involved in this project are advocating for rapid transit with park and ride lots along the highway.
Surely, a six-lane bridge with rapid transit is a responsible solution that will actually affect congestion by moving people and not just cars. Re-locating the bottle neck up the highway is simply pointing out the obvious and offers no value to the argument as it doesn’t contribute to a solution!
Further, the comment that the projected tolls are merely an hour’s wages for a minimum wage worker is both insensitive and completely out of touch.
I operate a business in Richmond with employees who commute from Delta and Surrey — $50 a week for them is a huge amount of money, and I don’t expect to be able to keep these staff despite an hourly rate that averages $24. Asking them to spend more than five per cent of their annual salary on an additional commuter expense, with after-tax dollars is, in a word, unreasonable. And yet I cannot afford to offset that by offering to cover that expense — it would be more than $7,000 per year for my company. I cannot afford that additional cost.
Richmond council and our MLAs should be advocating for “six lanes and a train.” If you really want to be progressive, have a long-term perspective, eliminate congestion, save people time and address the bottle neck that vehicles create.
I’m not confident that anyone reading this letter even takes the bus and realizes that commuters wanting to travel by transit from Tsawwassen to Vancouver now have to bus to the River Rock and change to SkyTrain. Buses no longer go into the downtown core from these locations and people are being funneled onto the train at Bridgeport.
Does anyone else not see a better solution here? Have any of you actually taken the bus as a form of transit to try and avoid the congestion? Has anyone else not thought that “six lanes and a train” makes for a catchy slogan and a solution that would help move people and not cars? For billions of dollars to be spent on a toll bridge when commuters have no other reasonable options is narrow minded thinking. I cannot expect my team to go from Delta over the Alex Fraser to end up in Steveston for work on time to be a “reasonable and just solution.”
Again, I find myself questioning whether the people in charge are even aware of what the experience is like. “Six lanes and a train” that’s my prayer, I can at least pray right?
Lynne Jones
Richmond
