Re: “Traffic drives one to rhyme,” Chris Bryan column, The Leader, July 11.
It is one thing to complain about traffic through New Westminster, particularly along McBride to and from Surrey, another to look at facts.
Maybe the City of New Westminster should have – decades ago – reserved the corridor in question to commercial or even light industrial use, since none of the residential buildings were built when the Pattullo Bridge was built. In fact, most of them were probably built within the last 20 years (the bridge is 76 years old). Even after they were built, people did not have to move into them. The noise from traffic is not that new, certainly not as new as the buildings.
Now Surrey, in its lack of wisdom, is doing the same thing: zoning for highrise apartments, townhouse complexes and monster homes (mini-apartments) along the noisiest and busiest streets and avenues. Just pick any location – 184 to 188 Streets and Fraser Highway, all along 120 Street from 70 to 64 Avenues – and see all new townhouses on the noisiest streets in Surrey apart from freeways.
New homes are being built all along Highway 10 from 124 to 138 Street. And South Surrey residents are complaining about trucks and noise on 32 Avenue after townhouses were just built on that previously established truck route.
Builders, city planners, and buyers lack foresight. I don’t see any difference between this situation and the New Westminster one, except location and time.