Editor:
I have lived on the SCRD side of east Chaster, near Mahan Road, for 12 years. I have also been aware of the Town of Gibsons’ plans to build a housing development at the top of Gospel Rock using east Chaster and Pratt Road as the only access to 250 to 360 new homes (numbers vary) on Lot 7, the first stage of the development.
I have expressed my concerns with this plan (and previous, similar versions) directly to the Town Council more than once beginning in 2006 (without a response) and I know that other people have as well. My main concerns are twofold. One is the unnecessary extra greenhouse gas emissions that this roundabout route using Pratt would generate. The second is the negative impact on the people who live in Area E.
In my 12 years living on east Chaster, I have found that even though I am retired, I still average one car trip a day. About 75 per cent of my trips are either to Upper Gibsons, east to Sunnycrest Mall and other destinations east of Shaw, or to Lower Gibsons and the village. There are numerous services and amenities at Shaw Road or to the east of it including the ferry, gas stations, banks, building supply stores, schools, the library, the public market and many more. Each trip east starts by going west to Pratt and backtracking either on Gibsons Way or Gower Point. The distance from Pratt to Shaw is about 1.5 km and to Gibsons Landing would be about the same. From Mahan the round trip for me is about 4.5 extra kilometres. From Lot 7 near Shaw at the top of Gospel Rock, it is about 6 km extra. So for 300 new homes and cars making just one trip each day, that would mean 1,800 km of roundabout backtracking every day. These are extra, unnecessary kilometres of driving because more direct, shorter routes are not being provided by the Town of Gibsons. To put this in perspective, the distance from Vancouver to Winnipeg is 1,865 km. That is a lot of needless carbon emissions going into our environment from 300 cars making just one trip a day. There could be many more cars and trips. And, it could be avoided with more direct access routes.
The east Chaster/Pratt route for all these destinations at and to the east of Shaw will also have an enormous negative impact on homes on this route. This would include all the streets and roads that feed only into east Chaster and Pratt, which according to postal code information is around 400 households with an estimated 800 to 1,200 residents. Think of the traffic noise, dust and congestion as we sit and wait at the end of our driveways and streets for a break in the extra traffic from the top of Gospel Rock. As well, access for fire trucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles could be compromised if this route were blocked.
Even if you can find a way to disregard hundreds of people’s quality of life, what about the unnecessary environmental impact? The Town of Gibsons absolutely needs to be responsible and realistic about car routes and the negative and unnecessary impact on the environment and climate change, and the local population.
Joan Richter, Elphinstone
