LETTER: Easing congestion
Congestion on the roads and highways the South Delta area will only get worse, notwithstanding the well over one billion dollars on the very poorly designed South Fraser Perimeter Road. What not has been addressed of course is the choke-points that are causing the gridlock; the Massey tunnel and the Alex Fraser Bridge.
Blaming a light controlled intersection at 72nd and the 99A in East Delta for gridlock is utter nonsense; if this were to be true then every light controlled intersection would cause gridlock. What is causing the daily traffic back ups on that route is the growing number of commuters who are now living in the massive new housing developments in South Surrey, such as Morgan Creek, and travelling across the river.
With the TFN, Southlands and Tsawwassen Springs developments, gridlock will be endemic in south Delta.
For all the billions of dollars spent on the SFPR, it does not address the choke-points and the hugely expensive highways scheme is more and more looking like good old BC black top politics at work. Example: The ludicrously massive and expensive interchanges at Hwy 17 and Hwy 99 have been deliberately overbuilt to suite BC Liberal political needs rather than commuter needs. Despite the massive amount of money spent on the SFPR, the capacity of the tunnel and the Alex Fraser Bridge remain the same, thus gridlock will increase as the population grows.
Political interference and bureaucratic hubris has brought us endemic traffic chaos and it will only get worse. There is no magic bullet, but trying to blacktop one's way out of gridlock will fail, as it has elsewhere. There are solutions to alleviate gridlock, but the government has remained deaf, preferring to make important transportation decisions, political events.
The future is bleak, massive gridlock throughout Delta, all brought to you by the BC Liberal party and the NDP before and I am not holding my breathe that things will change. Provincial transit and transportation projects have always been about winning elections; Blacktop and SkyTrain politics at its best.
D. Malcolm Johnston,
Delta
COMMENTS
Let's keep comments:
We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters.
We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.