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Let's not be afraid we now have Langley Transportation Champion Mayor Kurt Alberts demanding fixes for Langley on the Board!
I'm frightened to death now.
The bridge doesn't need twinning. The bridge is not the problem, the freeway is the problem. Have you ever noticed , going west, the solid line of traffic coming in from 152nd st? Once all that traffic hits the bridge, everything straightens out and the traffic flows freely, only to be jammed up again once it's over the bridge and all back on the freeway. We need more lanes, and better and longer entrances and exits.
Its that darn last exit from Surrey onto the bridge that just slows it down, but with all the new people out here and the new fraser crossing they just have to twin it. Especially in time for the Olympics.
Realistically the bridge and its feeders (104, 152, and 176) were built to handle far less traffic. Clearly the bridge needs twinning and the feeders upgraded to address the lack of capacity.
But don't worry....the parking tax to help pay for all Translink's plans comes into effect this week....too bad we out in the suburbs get virtually no bus service but get to pay extra because our offices/malls have lots of parking spaces. I would suggest that our representatives (that would be you now Mr. Mayor) request that the tax be pro-rated based on bus/skytrain service. That way a parking space on Broadway downtown (where a bus passes every 2 minutes) would get taxed more highly than a parking space in Walnut Grove (where we see a bus fve times a day).
My two cents
Brodie needs to spend a week or so out in Langley trying to go anywhere when the bridge is the only way. He has the same narrow vision as the others on Translink, and that is that his future in politics lays with the people of his own community. Another way to put is that each member has the good of his own community to worry about first, and only then will the big picture get any attention. I see no reason for this to change one iota under the present representation method. We'd be 100% better off with a Transit Commission made up of people from outside the Lower Mainland.
Blair, write a letter on your suggestion of prorated based taxes to the Mayor and copy the print media. Excellent Idea. I have talked to some businesses in Langley who are really peeved about this new tax burden and they tell me that they just pass this on to consumers, you & me. If it was prorated based on public transit service Langley's tax would be 90% lower! Great Comment you just won the coveted "smiling Gumby" award!
If only they would listen Blair. My earlier comments about the interests of so many municipalities looking out for themselves first, will always interfere with good suggestions regarding the whole area of Translink's influence. I firmly believe this can best be decided by a group with the appropriate knownledge from a position where they are not influenced by the emmisaries from our little fifedoms. I'd be very tempted to look as far away as Europe for guidance, and change the whole make-up of what the Translink Board is today. It might be hard to believe, but even Brazil has solved transportation problems equal in size to ours.
Blair took us up on our suggestion and wrote a letter to Mayor Alberts and local media. Lets see what happens.
It would go down quicker if someone would show the mayor how to read this blog! Kidding aside, I'm sure he sneaks a peek though, but would never admit it. His pride you know.
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