Re: letter to the editor, Gail Meston “Oak Bay should embrace alternative transportation options.” It amazes me how anyone can think the destruction of a couple of neighbourhoods (not only Oak Bay but Fairfield Gonzales) to build an unnecessary bike lane will resolve so many issues reflected in Ms. Meston’s letter.
The destruction of residential neighbourhoods will benefit few, but it will create chaos and inconvenience to many. Example: I, and many residents on both Trutch and Linden streets, park behind the buildings in which we live. We need access to the alley between the two streets in order to access our parking areas. Having no left turn from Cook Street southbound onto Richardson as a result of bike lane construction will be a daily issue. We will still need to make a left turn from Cook, then down a narrow residential street, etc.
Not all of us have the luxury of being able to walk or bike far. I am pushing 80, live alone and have health issues; my vehicle is absolutely vital to my mobility.
Destroying neighbourhoods is wrong, unfair and undemocratic. There should have been a vote for the residents of the areas to be destroyed, not an arbitrary decision by the mayor and council in collusion with the cyclists’ coalition.
It is hard to believe that thousands of dollars will be spent on an unnecessary bike lane instead of being spent to address homelessness or drug overdoses, to name just two serious issues in Victoria.
Margaret O’Flaherty
Victoria
