Open letter to Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation & Infrastructure:
I’d like to address the inadequacy of Highway 91 (AKA the Richmond Connector), specifically the stretch between the Westminster Highway interchange and Shell Road.
When the second phase of the highway was built in 1989, the population of Metro Vancouver was about 1.5 million.
Today, with over a million more residents, the highway remains as it did when opened 33 years ago. I find this unacceptable.
As one of two highways to Richmond and YVR, I strongly feel Highway 91 should be widened and several interchanges be improved.
Access ramps eastbound from Highway 99, Knight Street, and No. 6 Road currently cause major bottlenecks — the equivalent of five lanes of traffic narrows to two.
Some believe limiting the number and size of Metro Vancouver’s highways will discourage the use of single-occupant vehicles, and therefore have a positive impact on our environment.
That belief is more and more irrelevant as the availability of alternate-fueled vehicles becomes a reality and citizens continue to want the freedom of their own vehicles, especially when public transit is not an option.
We are “behind the curve” in keeping up with the current volume, let alone coping with future volume as the area grows continually.
Bradley N. Ross
NEW WESTMINSTER
