To the editor: Re: "Vision not doing math on Pt. Grey Road, says NPA," July 19.
The city's proposal to close or partially close Point Grey Road from Macdonald to Alma in the name of safety for cyclists and pedestrians is not based on fact. From 2008 to 2012, ICBC reports no crashes involving cyclists or pedestrians on that stretch of PGR.
Furthermore, city proposals will dump up to 15,000 more cars a day onto four intersections with the highest crash rates of any intersections west of Granville. It appears that city proposals for PGR west of Macdonald are largely about removing cars from the "Golden Mile." It is well known that the proposal to close PGR came from homeowners who have long been agitating to close their road to through traffic. While we would all like to get rid of traffic in front of our houses, it is not an equitable solution to take traffic off one road and divert it onto alreadycongested roads elsewhere. This is especially senseless when traffic is being moved from a relatively safe road to already dangerous ones.
If traffic calming is a goal, let's talk about ways to calm traffic. If access to the waterfront is a goal, let's talk about ways to increase beach access. If an upgraded active transportation connection between Burrard Bridge and Jericho Park is the issue, we can achieve this without massive infrastructure changes, disabling of a key arterial, and huge negative impacts on the community.
Let's not make this into a polarizing issue about bike lanes.
Linda Light,
Vancouver
