Re: “$8M Malahat upgrade not enough, critics say,” Jan 13.

People rant on and on about why the Malahat is so bad — the drivers, the weather, the narrow roads, the government — but the real problem is that the Malahat can no longer handle the amount of traffic using it.

When we first moved here, about 12,000 cars a day were using the highway. Now there are nearly 30,000. Even if the highway could be upgraded to handle that much traffic, what will happen in another 15 or 30 years? Can the Malahat handle 50,000 or 60,000 vehicles a day?

We now need to think beyond temporary patches. This current upgrade is only another finger in the dike, and does absolutely nothing to prepare for the future. No one party is to blame. The Liberals are dragging their feet, yes, but so did the NDP before them, and the Social Credit in their last days. Millions have been spent on studies, workshops, public meetings and engineers, and they all come up with ideas, but nothing is ever accomplished but lip service and another Band-Aid.

The only viable option is a new highway, as has been suggested by Chris Foord. The logical route is the abandoned CN railway grade, a choice looked on favourably by studies commissioned by both NDP and Liberal governments. The government already owns the land — no expropriation costs. The building can proceed without disrupting traffic.

Charles and Dolaura Boas

Malahat

© Copyright 2013