Editor:
Re: “Proposed Largo Road connection sparks resounding concern,” Feb. 15.
At the heart of the discussion regarding Largo Road becoming a through road connector from the highway to Lower Road is the Roberts Creek Official Community Plan (RCOCP). Over a four-year period (2008 through 2011) citizens of RC sat in committee (70 times = 3,500 volunteer hours) re-evaluating the existing RCOCP and making amendments where deemed necessary. The OCP is a provincially required document that every municipality must have.
To date, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) has not included the RCOCP in this discussion and has thus far declined a meaningful consultation. RCOCP 15b: “In cooperation with the province, the SCRD should ensure that any proposed changes to the road network are the subject of consultation with local residents at a scale related to the proposal.” MOTI is not required to respect the document. So the province says RC must have an OCP; MOTI is not required to observe its conclusions.
What does this tell me, someone who sat for two of the four years it took to complete this document? Why bother? What’s the point of volunteering my time for something that will ultimately be ignored?
Safety is at the heart of this issue. Point 15.20 of the OCP: “Any new road accesses onto the Sunshine Coast Highway should be discouraged for safety reasons.” Increasing traffic onto an existing dangerous access road surely qualifies as such. Largo Road will become the shortcut for many drivers driving north wanting to get to the RC village, the beach or home. A removable barrier at the top of Lot 6, to enable emergency vehicles and to divert traffic in the event of an accident from the highway, is easily done. A cul-de-sac already exists within the new subdivision application being proposed for Lot 6 on Largo Road. That scenario is acceptable to the vast majority of existing residents on Largo Road.
What is not acceptable is Largo Road becoming a connector road.
Ed Lands, Roberts Creek
