Editor:
The potential costs for upkeep on a potential fixed link as glossed over in other letters appear to be ridiculously understated.
Even with global warming, substantial snowfalls have to be dealt with, as well as winter potholes, from erosion and frost damage, various rockslides, washouts, etc. Not to mention the odd earthquake.
Above and beyond all of this is the incredible increase in environmental pollution. At BC Ferries’ own figures of approximately 1,250 round trip vehicles per day, these vehicles over a fixed link would be covering at least an extra 100 km per vehicle (50 km a minimum distance to get to and from Horseshoe Bay).
This would mean an additional 125,000 km of pollutants daily, from cars to large trucks and motorhomes. It looks to be a poor advert for B.C.’s claim to be environmentally active and shows up the whole travesty of a fixed link to be a pre-election sop to those who wish to replicate their former proximity to big city life. The case for such a small population as ours to have this much infrastructure money spent on them is ludicrous.
Many people moved here to get away from the Vancouver area or the winter climate of other parts of Canada, expecting a quieter lifestyle on the equivalent of an island, hoping the large moat and the transportation cost would dampen down the ingress of potentially undesirable elements.
Somehow this also seems to go hand in hand with the excessive development proposals currently being carbon copied from the North Shore overkill.
D. and V. Webb, Davis Bay
