MAIL BOX north shore news Locals led down garden path Dear Editor: . North Vancouver mayor and council- @ lors appear to have been led down the & proverbial garden path by the NDP. : Last month they met with the Government Highways/Transportation # Authority and all appeared to be well for improving the Second Narrows traffic congestion. I went to a meeting in Victoria in mid- December: to discuss the immediate need to. construct an. overpass at the bridge’s. “north end so as'to prevent the cross low | of North: Shore. traffic from entering the main bridge traffic fow. }was informed that no capital monies been “allotted for any Second Narrows improvements or approaches. Any reports, studies or pscudo- ‘ promises that were made were just that, promises, and likely five or 10 years from .the planning stages. Subsequently on Dec. 20, another source informed me that they won’t have tolls on the Lions Gate Bridge, as a recent study indicated that if tolls were put on lion. - So much for NDP accounting/cost- . ing. the bridge the traffic diversion to Second Narrows could be as high as 45%. Even with the government’s mainte- nance plan of $70 million there would be heavy diversion, whether the work is at night or day. The Minister of Highways has said, “The government will only pay $70 million, regardless of whether it is maintenance or a new bridge.” My sources state that the NDP’s orig- inal $70 million, with the constant delavs, would now inflate costs to over $125 mil- Three firms will now submit plans and costs for a four-lane base bridge over the existing Lions Gate. The existing bridge will be torn down as they build. There will be a cable-stayed style, sim- ilar to the Alex Fraser bridge and the SkyTrain bridge over the Fraser River. No more Lions Gate as we know it. Cable-stayed is nice looking, but there is a certain esthetic value to the present style which is part of Vancouver’s her- itage. Now we will have the same very mod- ern style everywhere as you enter the city. What will they do to all the old postcards? In place of tolls the NDP want to put a fuel tax (one or awo cents) for the whole Province. A one cent tax would raise approximately $53 million, and over 10 years — $500 plus million. However, Premier Clark has two problems, firs first a tax would be obvious so is “no tax” promise would be openly broken, and the rural areas outside of Vancouver would object to paying for a new bridge in the Lower Mainland. So in order to be magnanimous, he will go for a regional tax and monies collected will be spent or directed to the regions, i.e. Okanagan, Peace. Therefore, we can see 30% coming to the Lower Mainland, ora two cent tax for 10 years equals $300 million. Time will tell, but with this gang in Victoria, “Murphy's 's Law” will probably prevail. Daniel M. Jarvis, MLA North Vancouver-Seymour A councillor’s job is just never done . Dear Editor: Re: Buss : Brouhaha. After I read your article about the proposal fora BC Transit washroom at Lynn falley ‘Road and Dempsey Road Biffy Raises T finally appreciate the dif- ficult job of our council and I strongly. recommend to at least double the councillors* salary. What is necessary in this case is not only the detailed justification for the washroom by BC Transit, but the follow- ing: wm fal public review and pub- lic hearing in GVRD; @ council should approach UBC for consultation and perhaps a new department for BC Transit washrooms should be funded. An application for the study grant to the federal government could heip; council should seek an advi- sor from the Fraser Institute and ask for an economic feasi- bility study; Bthere is no question that the federal and frovincial min- istries of environment should be involved because there is a possibility of the need to replace a shrub and cut two branches off a urce; & obviously it will not hurt to approach Statistics Canada and the local heritage com- mission. Milan Schiller North Vancouver Cheers and jeers for News columnist dri- ver who might get in her way. Dear Editor: ‘. Three. cheers for your decision to. begin including riter Shannon Humphreys asa regular contributor to the North Shore News! She is such: a welcome relief from what seems to be your usual line-up of tired, grumpy old men, carping on’ endlessly about the war, women, the decline of moral standards, and the “good old ; , days" in lesser. Tiddley Cove. Thank goodness you’ve realized that a large propor- tion of North Shore residents are wrapped up in the busi- ness of raising families and making a living here and now, and you are finally get- ting somconc of our age to write chartningly and wittily for us. Let’s hope that Shannon Humphreys’ column is just the start of a more interesting and relevant local newspaper. J. Kristin McCahon West Vancouver Dear Editor: Re: Shannon Humphreys’ column Jan. 16. So Shannon was just mindlessly cruising past a school at 65 klicks when a “police girl” had the audacity to pull her over and give her a ticket! Sixty-five klicks is speeding on any street in the Lower Mainland, never mind a school zone. Pecan just sec her “mind- lessly” tailgating and giving the finger to any “slow” {think Shaun Conlin would call her a bonchead. I would call her dangerous. What a role model for young drivers and for her children. You should have edited her column into the garbage. 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