Vision for Lions is WHO says we can’t afford a significantly upgraded First Narrows Crossing? The lame, apologetic noises coming out of Victoria on this issue are both pathetic and insulting to North Shore resi- dents, According to Transportation Minister Lois Boone's tentative recent announcement, we can’t afford much: maybe an extra lane on the Lions Gate Bridge; perhaps only a widening of the . existing lanes. Certainly not an entirely new bridge. And defi- -nitely not a tunnel. The gov- ‘emment can’t afford to spend much money on the project. _ These are tough times, you see. What nonsense! Talk about a lack of vision! If we'd been -: forced to rely on the govern- _ Inent, the Lions Gate Bridge > would never have been built in the first place. If we'd relied on the. NDP, it ‘still wouldn’t be built: : oe Bue ‘vith more than 60,000 vehicles crossing over the First Narrows each day, it : ‘should be cay to justify a me, major upgrading of the aging ” bridge: Aer allie’ ”s one of the major transportation arteries in tele Lower Mainland. Ir’s also avoid its responsibility to tax- -- payers, commuters and the '¥ motoring public. Could it “ have something to do with the fact that we again, absent- ‘nindedly, forgot to vote NDP? : ‘Leaving politics aside, for.a moment, ’m forced to won- der what's happened to the :bold, big-picture thinking that It. British Columbia. We wide, as a place where dreams could come true, where peo- ple could escape from the : stodgy, established, bureau- ~eratic approach of so-called . western civilization. But I -¢: shudder to think what our province would be today if revious generations had been $ short-sighted as our current ‘crop of leaders... When the Lions Gate Bridge was built, almost 60 years ago, it was bankrolled by , “Irish liquor baron Sir Arthur jainness, who was motivated by a desire to develop the real estate potential of the North “> Shore. The bridge cost almost $6 million at the time and its con- struction provided a significant boost in local employment during those bleak Depression years. When the privately-owned structure opened in 1938 it was a toll bridge. The provin- cial government of Social Credit Premier W.A.C. Bennett purchased the bridge in 1955, and eight years years later removed the to thereby i ttnowlecie the province’s responsibility to maintain this important trans- portation link. The current provincial gov- ernment now appears intent on dodging or off-loading that obligation. In fact, it's now being proposed that tolls will be reinstated, even for the rel- atively modest improvement being considered by Lois Boone. How do you feel about paying $2 for the privilege of sitting and waiting in the same traffic jams and lineups that we now tolerate for free? When I served as an MLA, I polled my constituents in West Vancouver on the issue of Lions Gate Bridge tolls. Many peopie were outright opposed to the idea. But a majority of West Vancouver residents said that they would be prepared to pay a modest user fee if it was used only for upgrading the First Narrows crossing and not to help fund the government’s pet projects elsewhere. But they wanted to know why tolls weren’t being proposed anywhere else. Why, for instance, aren’t user fees part of the plan for the new Island Highway on Vancouver Island? Why not on other bridges or highways in the Lower Mainland? T think I know the answer to these troubling questions. 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