I was horrified to read the headline in the May 1 edition of the Saanich News, ‘Saanich not on board with bus-only lanes to UVic on McKenzie’.
I agree. As an active resident, I am well aware that the area is congested at various times of the day as I live on McKenzie. The congestion started with the introduction of bike lanes to McKenzie thus constricting lanes in various places along the road. It may sound reasonable to highly paid city planners who go to an office every day, but not everyone can take the bus to attend work and appointments, meet their friends, or do their grocery shopping.
In today’s economy, many people need more than one job to survive which makes taking a bus inefficient for their needs. Many other occupations require the use of a car such as salespeople who have to visit many places over a day, as well as those who can’t walk long distances, shoppers, who need to take children to and from school and delivery people just to name a few. I believe that most drivers try to do a series of activities during one car trip due to the price of fuel and yes, less pollution as well.
It’s bad enough that the downtown area is so congested due to the removal of so many car lanes and there is very limited parking to allow shopping/visiting downtown businesses. I would like to be able to get to and from my home in a manner that suits my work and lifestyle not the council’s time constraints.
Stay out of my neighbourhood.
Laurie A. McDonald
Saanich
