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Ed sent us the following CBC video link about the 16th Ave residents concerns with 16th ave. You must copy the below link and paste to use windows media player to view:
http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/bc/o...d-rage-
NAGY.wmv
If you can't view it go to the cbc bc webpage at:
http://www.cbc.ca/bc/
and select BC Audio video on the right hand side and scroll to I believe page 5 of 5 that is titled 'Danger Street?' and view the 1:55 min video clip.
That video really brings to light just how miserable it can be for both drivers and residents on 16th ave. The traffic that whizzes by in the background is less that half of what occurs at some times of the day from my own experience.
I am amazed that the decision was made to put speed bumps on O ave. Whoever petitioned for this favor from the township must have had little regard for their neighbors on 16th, who already had enough to contend with. A perfect example of what nimbys are I suppose, but what goes aroud, comes around usually.
Alex is right, it must have been taken at a lull in the day, as usually there is much more truck traffic, which didn't show up on the video.
Since the speed humps were installed the traffic on 16th Avenue has tripled. The mayor and council that voted on this biased decision certainly did give any consideration to the 650+ signatures on the petition, that were against humps on 0 Avenue, compared to 75? in favour.
Thanks to Councillor's Richter, Long and Arnason for their vision to the future. As for the other's, all I can say is that November can't come soon enough.
CBC Radio had an interview with a 16th ave resident this morning. He explained just how trying it can be for residents along the road.
I believe it was a mister Wright who gave the townsips position on the subject. It seem that that position is just the status quo, except for the addition of a traffic circle at one of the intersections.
The very next item that came on the news was that there was a truck accident inside one of the traffic circles on 8th ave at highway # 1.
These tiny little rings that they call traffic circles are next to usless in the opinion of many. If the township has one of these in mind, god help us.
The undiscussed question on the 16th Ave issue is why are there so many dump trucks using that road? The reason is that neither Surrey nor Langley produce anywhere near the aggregate (gravel, road base, pit run) they need to keep their communities going. Anyone who has driven down 176th from Highway 1 to Cloverdale has seen the piles of pit run used to pre-stress for the road; same thing along Highway 10 through the lowlands; the material for the High Pointe Development; the material to fill the new Surrey Industrial complex; the gravel and sand for the concrete of our new commercial centers.... the vast majority of this material comes from several large pits in south Abbotsford and at some point was transported down 16th Ave.
Back in the day, Surrey and Langley produced their own aggregate (that’s what Stokes Pit, Noel Booth Park, the GVRD Passive Park etc.. all used to be gravel pits), but our communities made a conscious decision to cease mining aggregate. Instead we import it from further up the valley. Policies have consequences, and the truck traffic on 16th is a direct consequence of the policy to virtually cease aggregate mining in the Township.
If you want to address the truck traffic on 16th you have to deal with the route cause, that is figure out a better way to get aggregate to Surrey and Langley. If that means barging it from the huge dredging happening in Chilliwack, well then that may be what it takes. Until Langley and Surrey can come up with a better way of getting aggregate there is going to be huge volumes of heavy truck traffic running through the roads of south Langley.
Blair, you are quite correct about the gravel truck being a large contributer to the overload of vehicles now using 16th Avenue. It really doesn't matter whether their loads go to Surrey or anywhere in Langley, 16th is the choice route to many other parts of greater Vancouver as well, when shipping from Abbotsfords gravel pits. Like most other vehicles, their numbers keep increasing.
Other types of semi trailer trucks frequent 16th also, and their numbers are increasing rapidly as well. Things really get overloaded though in the morning and evening rush hours when commuters mix into the melee.
There is only one solution, and that is to give motorists an optional route to go east or west through South Langley. That route (Zero) has always been staring the township right in the face, but they seem to have dug their heels in regards allowing the natural flow of traffic on that perfectly good connector road.
Township traffic engineering has lost their way IMO, because rather than showing ways to improve traffic movement, they simply patch up what is in place hoping the pain will go away. It seems not to occur to them that traffic safety has a close relationship with density, and that 16th Avenue is nowhere near capable of safely handling today's density. What on earth do these experts(???) have in mind for the 16th Avenue traffic that will develop next year and the years after?
I noticed on the radio interview that our 'prominent Township Engineering department representative' mentioned NOTHING about the future plans of upgrading 16th Ave to 4 lanes.......he had every opportunity to when asked about future fixes, but steered away from it completely. With contracts to gravel miners in Abbotsford (where 16th ave abruptly ends at Mr Lehman) not be completed until maybe 2018 I think they'd better start looking for another route. A good start would be 0 Avenue.
Edited By Siteowner
Even without the trucks there is a large volume of commuter traffic from Mission, Abbotsford, South Aldergrove and South Langley who only have 16th and Zero Ave for choices to get to their work on the south side of Vancouver. Zero Ave is a much better choice for the major route as there is only access from the north side. 16 Ave is far more populated and has access to both sides of the road. This is not an issue for the Township to solve. Translink and the GVRD should take the lead as the commuters come from several municipalities. As the Abbotsford airport expands its operations the traffic will only increase. Traffic between YVR & the Abbotsford airport will use the southern route not Hwy #1
The real answer to the problem is to build the four lane highway on Zero Ave.
The rich landowners on Zero Ave have bought a few years of relative quiet at the expense of the poor landowners on 16th ave. It's high time to do the right thing! Would you buy a property that fronts onto 16 Ave? Probably not!
This Comment is related to the March 17th letter to the editor from Ed Monteith -LFP ED. Actual link to original posting is ---> http://www.kimrichter.com/Blog/2...th-
langley.html
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