Editor:
I wish to stand in support of those who are calling for major improvement to our Lower Coast highway system. The major issue to be dealt with by all standards is road safety. We have lived on the Coast for almost 30 years and in that time have witnessed numerous major accidents, including a number of deaths, that have at their root cause an antiquated road system, increasing traffic and high speeds. This combination is lethal and continues to become more severe.
A continuation of the Bypass from the ferry along the Hydro right of way with a proper four-lane highway to Sechelt would do much to lessen the hazards on our roads. We would also call for a reduction of the speed limits on the existing Sunshine Coast Highway. We recommend that our local representatives, government bureaucrats, and safety experts look at these options very closely to determine the safest ways for automobiles, bicycles and pedestrians to interact.
Our family lives in day-by-day fear as we exit our driveway that a big logging truck will come around the corner and crush our small car. We also fear for the children who have to get off the school bus each day and for elderly people who have to cross a road with little time in the face of oncoming fast cars and trucks. Of course, there are also attendant issues of common delays on a single highway system that encroaches upon ambulance, fire, police services and the daily commute for countless employees.
In all of this, we urge policy makers to get on with the vital task of ensuring the safety of those of us who live on or visit our wonderful Sunshine Coast.
One more fatality caused by an inadequate and treacherous highway system is too much.
Gary Pennington, Roberts Creek
