Reader offers a 0% solution Dear Editor: Re: Your article in the News on June 9 Shore drive te insanity. Lineups at the Second Narrows Bridge can be reduced by speeding up the movement of vehicles on the bridge itself. This can be done by intreducing the following: @ modification of the merging method at bridge approaches. Replace the present one by one alternate method with a light-controlled system which will let 25 or 30 vehicles to proceed from one fane and then switch to the other lane for the same number of vehicles, I have put forward details for this idea to MoTH some months ago with respect to more efficient utilization of the Lions Gate Bridge; @ improved barricade between the con- "struction and inside lanes on the bridge. The posts presently used for this purpose tend to intimidate the driver and cause him to slow down. Barricades should be solid, similar to that used for a short distance at the north end of the bridge; { discourage heavily loaded trucks from using the bridge during rush hours. ‘They tend to obstruct traffic; @ erect signs along the bridge and approaches urging motorists to drive as close to posted speed as they are personally capable. — “My estimate. is that if above sug- gestions are introduced the movement of bridge traffic will be increased by 40%, and lineups decreased accord- ingly. Peter Strilaeff, P. Eng. - North Vancouver Transit options | fall short | Dear Editor: My company recently moved its head office from West Ist Street’ in North Vancouver to Glenlyon Parkway in Burnaby. Because the Gleniyon site is not reasonably acces- sible by public transit (requires a 20- minute hike along an uninhabited path between the last bus stop and the work place), employees who were public transit riders, and who have access toa vehicle, were forced to drive to and from work. The irregular- ity of our working hours makes car- pooling impractical, hence carpooling. is not a common practice at work. I normally, and stitl do travel by public transit. When work on the Second Narrows Bridge started, | observed a remarkable increase in rid- ership on. the bus, SeaBus and SkyTrain. I believe that if our public transit system takes travellers to within a rea- sonable distance from his or her intended destination, if buses appear when they are scheduled (especially during rush hour travels), and if buses connect at exchanges, I am certain that an even greater number of com- muters would choose to take public transit. ’ The bottom line is: people natural- ly take the easy way of achieving their goals. A great number of individuals choose to pay the high cost of driving to and from work, and io endure the agony of long lineups over. taking public transit, What does that tell you about our public transit system? Julie Dixon : North Vancouver Suriday, June 23, 1996 - North Shore News — 3 Naniaant } ina NEWS photo Mike Wakefield A three-person-per-car minimum rule for high occupancy vehicle lanes in the Second Narrows Bridge construction area has turned many drivers into law-breakers. HOV limit reviewed BY IAN NOBLE News Reporter IN this North Shore summer of dis- content, present standards for high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes haven’t been the answer for frustrat- ed drivers slowed by Second Narrows Bridge renovations. A proposal to move the lane limits from three ' passengers to two per car may see cooler craniums prevailing by the time renovations finish in mid- August. For now, however, the on-the-road consensus is that the much-vaunted lanes on Keith Road, Brooksbank and Mountain Highway don't meet expectations to provide carpoolers. bus passengers and bike riders with a faster lane. And much of the blame is pinned on the single- and double-passenger cars clogging the high occu- pancy vehicle lanes. In a quick, unscientific poll of 70 vehicles in the HOV lane on Keith Road. on Thursday afternoon, only nine met the required three-passenger minimum. Those illegally in the HOV lane had a myriad of excuses for being there. “I'm trying to turn down my Street,” said one. “Because everyone else is doing it,” said another. “There's no way to get over.” said a third. “There's nothing we can do. If all the people were in that lane,” he said, pointing to the shimmering lineup of cars stretching up the Keith Road hill and beyond, “it would go to Lonsdale.” Curtis Day, the driver of a carpool van in the HOV fane, said the lane helps a little, but “not when you get guys like this here.” pointing tu a single- See Minimum page 10, Advice to bridge the gap aman ry BRIDGE BEAT NEWS graphic Cathleen Powell NORTH Vancouver: RCMP Traffic Section Sgt. Bob Beaudoin affers the following advice for North Shore conmnuters crossing the Burrard Inlet: : We are along way from comple- tion of the refurbishing project on the Second Narrows Bridge. It is paramount for all of us using the bridge to remember to observe construction zone speed. limits and do our part to lighten the volurne of traffic, Let’s use transit, carpool and if possible move our hours of travel to be outside the 7:15 a.m, to 10 a.m. as well as 3 p.m, to 6 p.m. periods. Long lineups mean increased fuel consumption. Always keep your fuel level over the halfway mark. We encourage -local residents who need to ‘travel throughout ‘the North Shore to look at alternate routes, away from the main arterial and collector roads. Traffic is bound to increase on these alternate routes so we must all remember iv continue to observe the posted speed limits and watch out for pedestrians. “53 Days to Ga We're 18 days into the Second Narrows bridge upgrade, scheduled to be completed by Aug. 715.