Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin reports that the $42-million Blue Bridge replacement is a necessary investment that will have no incremental impact on Victoria taxpayers.

He bases this on the fact that the city has been amortizing other capital debts and has the capacity to afford this debt increase.

Just because you have the available credit does not justify that spending. There is an enormous debt on the near horizon for all Capital Regional District taxpayers for sewage treatment.

We also have a reported 1,500 homeless folks and beggars on every street corner downtown. Housing for the difficult to house will cost easily $100 million.

There are higher priorities than the questionable need of a replacement for the bridge.

Finally, there is the lack of fundamental planning around the Johnson Street Bridge. The destination of a lot of the vehicular traffic on the bridge is not downtown, it's through traffic. Much cheaper (no need for a lift span) and better for downtown and through traffic would be broadening or twinning the Point Ellice Bridge and routing the cross harbour traffic via an improved Bay Street roadway.

The Johnson Street Bridge would become strategically unimportant for vehicular traffic and the reduced through traffic on Wharf, Pandora, Johnson and Fort streets will contribute to a much more people- and pedestrian-friendly downtown and leave millions of dollars to start to deal with the real problems eroding our city.

Mark Brown

Saanich