"Reason is always a kind of brute force; those who appeal to the head rather than the heart, however pallid and polite, are necessarily men of violence. We speak of 'touching' a man's heart, but we can do nothing to his head but hit it." --G.K. Chesterton

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Battle brewing over bridge traffic


To no one's surprise, last night's all-candidates meeting in Maillardville centred on issues directly relating to this most historic of Coquitlam's neighbourhoods.

But, while it was no surprise that issues surrounding community planning, recreation, heritage, arts and culture, and crime figured prominently in the discussion, what caught most of us off guard was the news that the provincial government is planning no upgrades* to the Brunette interchange as part of the Gateway Program , even though construction of the new Port Mann Bridge will greatly increase traffic.

Several members of the audience complained that an already-difficult traffic situation in and around Maillardville would become intolerable once the new bridge starts pouring more traffic onto the freeway and, ultimately, over the Brunette interchange.

In response to the concerns, I made it very clear that I would do my utmost to see that the community's concerns are addressed. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease," I told the audience, and I plan to be one squeaky wheel!
*[Update: I should have written 'no significant upgrades']

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