Dear editor,
A wooden pedestrian bridge instead of what?
Courtenay council already has a list of spending priorities. If it now intends to reallocate $70,000 for preliminary work on this non-essential project, we taxpayers have a right to know what expenditure they deem to be less important.
Would that be maintenance on the Fifth Street Bridge? Road repairs? Water and sewer system repairs? Provision of more bike lanes?
There is no doubt that the bridge would be a 'feel good' project, but is it necessary or wise right now?
Proponents of the bridge project assert that it would be a tourist attraction and could play a central role in the revitalization of downtown Courtenay. Really?
This would be a pedestrian/cycle bridge located within shouting distance of a perfectly serviceable existing bridge; a bridge which would be out of sight from our main shopping street; a bridge with one end in Simms Park, where there is limited parking for tourists, and the other end at the bottom of the steep Sixth Street hill where there is a great deal of truck traffic.
Think for a moment about why the bottom of Fifth Street gets so much less pedestrian traffic than the upper part.
We are told that a shining example of such a project is the one in Golden. Of course, that bridge is clearly visible from both the Trans Canada Highway and Highway 95 and is at the same level as the shopping district.
Even so, it has been observed that, as a gateway, the bridge suffers from the fact that it doesn't connect directly to the main street.
For a quick look at the size of the project, go to .
I fear that our city council is being led astray by the enthusiasm of the cycling lobby and the timber framers' guild with its promise of a lot of free labour, but we should remember that this has been estimated to be a $2-million project for which no funding is in place and that, nowadays, more senior governments are not feeling particularly rich and generous.
By spending $70,000 now, the City of Courtenay is likely to end up with a drawer full of expensive plans, a lot of angry taxpayers and no bridge.
Ian Pratt,
Courtenay
