orth Shore News 7. Look at thisssome idiot Wrote a lettcr to the editor suggesting they take | |) \ Pe Dil 1 spell | all ot lhe the bounty oft wolves and put ton smokers NEWS Inlet crossing tg! Pa ay ‘| Whaks funny - | about that Move aside EW PEOPLE would disagree that the men and women who work in our fire, police and ambulance services have tough jobs to do. Aside from their obvious daily contact with injury, death and crime, they must also : find ways to deal with the stress of their own emotions ia these situations. Drivers of ‘response vehicles often encounter another small but significant source of stress while attempting to reach the scene of an emergency. As they manoeuvre through busy intersec- tions and crowded lanes of traffic, they fre- quently encounter vehicles blocking their way. According to the Motor Vehicle Act, upon noticing the siren or flashing lights of an emergency vehicle, “a driver shall yield the right of way” and immediately pull off to the “ ‘Murdered by men’ is the most important phrase in the unhealthy.” government has proven to be curbside of the road until the emergency vehicle has passed. Drivers are also forbidden to stop in the middle of intersections. Why do so many motorists choose to ignore this law? . Not only do these inconsiderate drivers delay the rescue of others in need, their refusal to make way for response vehicles sometimes means the difference between life and death. , . Wake up North Shore drivers, and shew some common courtesy to the folks who are out there to save us. AS soon as you see or hear an emergency vehicle approaching, get out of their way as socn as possible and let them by. Who knows, one day you might be waiting for assistance and wondering where your res- cuers are. Arts Council interim executive director irwin Oostindie with words Women’s Monument dedication... This is not male-bashing.” Mary Martin Sharma, program coordinator of Emily Murphy House, regarding a controversial monument to be erected in Vancouver's Thornton Park. (From an Aug. 14 News story.) “Our reliance on the federal Publisher Managing Editor... Assaciate Editor... Salos & Marketing Di Compitoiler. essen Peter Speck imothy Renshaw «Noel Wright .Linda Stewart ..Daug Foot Burrard Band Chief Leonard George sees native business projects as a way to independence. (From an Aug. 17 News story.) “It’s a very important thing for people to remember. There is no boundary between play and work.” me North Vancouver Community Display Advertising Classified Advertising 986-6222 Fax Newsroom North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an 980-0511 Distribution Reai Estate Advertising 985-6982 Subscriptions 985-2131 Administralion to live by. (From the Aug. 17 Now Spotlight.) “He probably shoved her.” Molly the kitty owner Marilyn Hughes on the possibility that her other cat Simon helped Molly over the baicony of their 12th-storey apartment. (Front an Aug. 19 News article.) 986-1337 986-1337 985-3227 985-2131 MEMBER independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by North Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every door on the North Shore. Canada Post Canadian Publications Maii Sates Product Agreemant No, 0087238. Mailing rates available on request. Submissions are welcome but we cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pictures which should be accompanied by a stamped, addressed envelope. V7M 2H4 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver B.C. North Shore Managed SCNA &RE% Saree ee o hee e SDA DIVISION 61,582 (avarage circulation, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) Entire contents © 1994 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. MONEY IS never a problem to our temporary elected masters -— they have unlim- ited use of ours. Such threat- ens to be the case again this fall when they honor us with their decision on a new inlet crossing. For over a year technical tisk forces, public forums and lobby groups galore have been kicking around the dozen or so bridge and tunnel plans, Meanwhile, Big Sister in Victoria, Highways Minister Jackie Pement, waits patiently to tell us what we're going to get any- how. And the odds are that it could cost us a bundle. All but two proposals have price tags ranging from about $250 mil- lion to $750 million — to be paid for by thee and me with tolls (prob- ably $2) each time we cross. For daily North Shore car commuters, make that at least $500 annually for years. Of the two exceptions, one is the option being urged by a man who knows whereof he speaks — Peter Buckland, whose engineering firm has maintained the Lions Gate Bridge since 1972 (including recent safety tests) and in-between whiles built the Alex Fraser Bridge. The No. ! priority, he argues, is not a new crossing at ail, but major policy decisions on Lower Mainland growth and traffic plan- hing over the next 25 years. In short, keep the horse before the cart. All the present bridge needs to make it sound, he says. is some earthquake-proofing and replace- ment of the roadway. Price tag: around $85 million — which might well not warrant tolls at all. Paradoxically, the other excep- tion is the costliest option of the lot, at over $1 billion and with a con- struction period of at least five years. But it doesn’t matter because we peasants eventually using it would not be footing the bill, either in tolls or taxes. One of the several pluses of the tunnel proposal by Hans Bentzen, builder of the Deas Tunnel, is that it would be financed by “new” money — generated by using’ fill excavated from the tunnel to build a 150-acre island off Brockton Point. One-third would be park- land, the remainder sold for devel- opment to pay for the crossing. As a solution for the needs of the next quarter of a century and beyond, the Bentzen Tunnel offers a greater capacity than any of the other options — six traffic lanes and two rapid transit tracks. Even with a refurbished Lions Gate Bridge still operating. the tun- nel would take much commuter traffic out of Stanley Park. And since Bentzen would also tunnel under the downtown core to the False Creek bridges, traffic conges- tion on West Georgia and its north- south thoroughfares would be sig- nificantly relieved. To get moving on a project of this scale — so much bigger than that of the other simpler, toll-fund- ed crossings proposed — requires a major “design-finance-build” con- sortium. Benizen says at least six contractors in Canada and the U.S. are capable of putting together such a group to carry out the project, and are willing to bid on it. There could be others, maybe in ~~ offer far too _| good to ignore Noel raeg i 6 HITHER AND YON Europe or Asia. Which is why he's now urging Highways Minister. Pement to hold a worldwide com- petition to find the best mix of skills needed fer the complex ° undertaking. If being $500 a year poorer while watching North Shore busi- nesses bleed doesn't appeal to you much, wish Hans Bentzen lots of luck. His concept of a free Cadillac-quality crossing paid for by creating entirely new wealth sounds like an offer far too good to ignore. : Whatever the final answer, a bil- licn dollars worth of vital infra- structure at no cost tu the public is not an idea you throw in the waste basket without exploring it thor- oughly. ; SCRATCHPAD: Volunteers are needed, one hour a week, by North Shore Health for walks, visits, dri- ves with persons with health prob- lems, also volunteer grocery shop- pers, two hours weekly — call 986- 71 if you can help ... On display this month in West Van Library gallery is “Monet's Couch,” an unusual collaborative exhibition by North Shore artists Michael and Jennifer Judge well worth seeing ... Hillside °74 Grad Reunion takes place Sept. 23-24 —for details and tickets phone Dalayce, 929-9137, or Jayme, 922-2414 ... And many happy returns of tomor- row, Aug. 22, to Horseshoe Bay’s Monica Drane. WRIGHT OR WRONG — Cardinal Spellisan’s Three Ages of Man: Youth, middle age and “you're looking wonderful.” t JACKIE PEMENT ... invite the world to bid. .