To the editor:
Re: "Strathcona residents want more transparency in viaduct removal plan," March 28.
I'm writing in support of the Strathcona Residents' Association position on the demolition of the viaducts. To demolish the viaducts without a comprehensive plan is simply absurd.
Coun. Geoff Meggs' position that we should demolish and then plan is horribly reminiscent of Wile E. Coyote running off the edge of a cliff in the vain hope that gravity will be suspended and not hurl him into the canyon below. A rushed and foolhardy decision to move ahead - primarily to serve the needs of the developments around the stadium - could damage the eastern parts of the city for a generation or more.
At a recent public meeting of the Grandview Woodland Area Council of which I am a director, city engineers explained that the rush to remove the viaducts had caught them by surprise, that they had considered this a project that would take several more years to consider and plan. It is clear, therefore, that immediate demolition of the viaducts is a political decision rather than one that focuses on the traffic and social needs of the community.
To rush this decision today would be as rash as Tom Campbell's decision to build them in the first place.
Jak King, Vancouver
