The Editor,
How long are the province and TransLink going to permit the City of New Westminster to frustrate the flow of traffic and transit through Metro Vancouver? Recent delays in inter-municipal Pattullo Bridge replacement meetings and continued squabbling about the bridge size, position, configuration, and structure - as well as an insistence that the bridge be tolled - have been engineered by New Westminster to keep traffic off its streets. These delays are costly for taxpayers and impede the long-term efficient flow of traffic throughout Metro Vancouver.
New Westminster feels that it has more than their share of Metro Vancouver traffic. What community doesn't have traffic through it from commuters from adjacent municipalities? Look at Burnaby with Marine Way, Kingsway, Canada Way, Highway 1, Lougheed Highway and Barnett/Hastings coursing through it. Look at Vancouver with all of the arterial and collector streets crisscrossing the city. Every municipal jurisdiction has more traffic than they wish but most look at the greater picture and know that we must have an efficient flow of people and materials through Metro Vancouver in order to ensure the city's viability.
I urge our government representatives to cut through the delays and have the larger picture in mind. If New Westminster fails to co-operate in this important project, then the province and TransLink should ignore New Westminster's isolationist determination to have the Pattullo Bridge moved and tolled so that they reduce commuter traffic through their community.
Allan H. Woodbury, Delta