© ~ Wednesday, March 13, 1996 — North Shore News 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver, B.C. ' VIM 2t4 PETER SPECK Publisher 985-2131 (191) me fn ary Gian Dowg Fost Parte sopnson mptrotier oné-2151 (183) oe-213t (tl (763) Timothy Ra ong cis Editor aria, DeDESit cia ‘Betera Emo > Jonathan Beil , ccs see tin Cineliied, Aocesnting G Mais Office Fex Kerth Sere Hows, foursied in 1969 08 a0 Msi) Sales Product ‘Agreement No. 06087238, Mailing rates available on request. Enlire contents © 1996 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved, 38 bo, TAX LONG DioTANCe PHONE (ai vi 4\ Viewer FUMeS ar THOUGHT OF HAVING To Pay FoR Ganeace... ge = ESSN MEWS. viewpoint rams} this week on two fronts. If the stated intentions within both camps are hon- ést, those among us who are concerned about the quality of our drinking water will be the winners in the long run. We need as much information as we can get if we are to make sense of what’s going on behind the closed gates of our watersheds.. Friends of The Watersheds are first. up “-with a public meeting on Thursday, March _14, to discuss the issue of logging, road buiid- ing, slope stability and water quality within ‘the Greater Vancouver Regional | District-. managed watersheds. The group maintains watershed logging and read-building have undermined the quality. of water, available . from our watersheds... - Vocal and passionate critics of the GVRD’s watershed management policy and | practices (4) Viglen Dei HELLO AND M WENCOME TO THE B VACUUM CLEANER a pesto Ife) cBc couecrs REVENUE. les s\ ECTS f me \WELCOME Yo THE VACUUIT CLEANER, HOUR, CO el ee a arent Te WATERSHED forest issue heats up have had a rocky relationship with the region- al bureaucratic entity. Mistrust and acrimony define the interplay. Critics are painted as law-breaking tree-hugging enviro-lunatics i in, some quarters. In turn, the critiés view some GVRD bureaucrats and policy-makers. as law-breaking tree-felling enviro-criminals, ;’: ‘The situation is very polarized — which. brings us to the other main event this week. The GVRD water committee will consider. on Friday the funding of a $575,390 public con- sultation program on watershed /Manage- ment. Among the recommendations proposed to the committee is the suggestion that the plan- ning and consultation process be “scrupu- lously transparent.” Anything less than this. commitment from ail sides: of the issue will doom the process te one of empty and expen- sive public relations posturing. $636,000 : maibox Heed hwy. speed limit Dear Editor: The speed limit on the Upper Levels Highway at the Westview crossing in North Vancouver has recently been posted as 50 km/h — con- struction zone. As I travel this route every day to work at the posted 50 km/h, cars speed past. me. travelling in excess of 80 km/h : I wonder if these people. had sons, brothers, husbands « or fathers working.on this ' site would they: travel at the posted speed in the interest of : worker safety. ‘ Not only is speed killing’ us — it can also kill them. Peter Walton West Vancouver - THE REGIONAL: Develop- ment office for Que (FORD: 1993-96 fiscal tare : (A taxpayer year. is th of ‘total personal, income /tax an “average taxpayer pays in-on — about $4,800.) ‘Some: of: the By me eteace Chretien’s riding: °’ to “ the Francophone. ears). _ payer eaaty #3 $39,975 to Guy f Bois, for soun mE eae BEWARE OF trying to please your employer by "Noel falling over backward teo_ Wright far. It can cause tempo- rary blindness. Peter Judd is a case in point. Last month Vancouver city council poured cold water on the idea of any new Lions Gate Bridge — suggesting all that’s needed is to repair the present 58-year-old span. Days earlier Mr, Judd, a city engineer, had told councillo;s in a memo to their transportation plan steering committee ’ exactly how to arrive at the opinion they want- ed to reach. His basic pitch is that the North Shore (population 160,200) can absorb only 45,200 more people under the Greater Vancouver Regional District Livable Region Plan. This maximum of 205,400 will be reached by 2021, if not earlier. Nearly two-thirds of those new 45,000 or so North Shore residents will settle in the eastern portion of North Van District and thus will mostly use the Second Narrows Bridge. Moreover, the steady trend is for jobs close to home and people working at home — the lat- ter now over 7% of the North Shore workforce and more than !6% of West Van's. AA a Nia as rt wR aw © eae eracerd eR ene and yon After more statistical fun Mr. Judd figured that by 202i only 1,797 extra North Shore workers will need to commute “over town” in the rush hour via SeaBus and Lions Gate Bridge. If they all take buses, he sa;'s, this can be easily accommodated with existing toad capacity. A faultless theory as far as it goes — which, however, isn’t even halfway. In his eagerness to tell Vancouver city fathers what they liked to hear, Mr. Judd contracted a bad case of one- way vision.. He completely ignores the fact that a new or enlarged crossing is needed mainly for non- North Shore residents heading north for rea- sons that have nothing to do with increasing the North Shore’s population. The area’s two major shopping malls alone — Park Royal and Capilano — have long attracted a healthy share of visitors from “over town,” especially the West End. So have Grouse Mountain, Cypress Bowl and, in the summer tourist season, West Vancouver's many enticing beaches. But today half a dozen other factors guarantee an ever-increasing flood of traffic from south of the Lions Gate Bridge. Major development of northern Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast and soiatsh is bringing more and more vehicles en route.to’ and from the Horseshoe Bay ferries, 'and- along: the winding Sea-to-Sky Highway. And finally,’ of course, there's the massive, ongoing ‘exp sion of Whistler as a top North American year: round resort. ‘ Probably most North Shore residents ly endorse the population ceiling set for the area. If it’s maintained, any added southbound ; commuting problems over the flext 25 years should indeed be minor. New crossing, capacity at the west end of Burrard Inlet, however, is /- now desperately needed not to serve the North: Shore, but to handle the exploding north traffic originating south of the Inlet.’ The message to Mr.Judd and his Vancouve: masters, therefore, is simply this: You need better way to reach the North Shore far more than North and West Vancouverites need a be ter way to reach you. i = So stop being negative and belp us et on: with it. e HAPPY BIRTHDAY today, March: 13, 10%, North Van composer Michael Conway Baker, celebrating his 59th ... And more of the same . Saturday, March 16, to North Van's Jeanne. Wintemute. : WRIGH T OR WRONG: Better t to be looked” : over than overlooked. ‘