Editor:
With ever increasing numbers of residents and visitors on the Coast we urgently need infrastructure upgrades.
Undoubtedly, our water supply is of primary importance and we acknowledge that our regional district staff and directors are dealing with this. However, our inadequate road system is also of great concern. The Sunshine Coast Highway Society appreciates that the Town of Gibsons and the District of Sechelt have formally expressed their concerns to the provincial government’s minister of transportation. We also acknowledge the support of SCRD chair Lori Pratt and look forward to attending a meeting with the directors of the SCRD in the near future, to obtain their formal support.
Our communities need a proper highway designed for the future – to handle growth, be designed to accommodate new modes of transportation and something that will enhance the sustainability of our environment. Efforts to repair or “upgrade” with what is rather optimistically referred to by some as “Highway 101” is like putting a Band-Aid on a serious wound.
Are we prepared to wait 10 or 20 years and then leave it to our children and grandchildren to deal with these issues? They deserve a safe, convenient, reliable future on the Coast.
There is no question this issue has strong support across the Southern Sunshine Coast. For example, in the Coast Reporter’s Question of the Week, 81 per cent voted in support of the need for a highway. As well, 6,400 signatures were collected on a petition that we presented to the B.C. legislature in March.
We can’t continue to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that this vital infrastructure requirement is not needed. Now is the time to get moving. “The Sunshine Coast Needs A Highway.”
Robin Merriott, Sechelt,
On behalf of The Sunshine Coast Highway Society
