The news behind the news. Exploring the political issues, debates and voting records in the Township of Langley and sometimes beyond.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

When You Can't Have It Both Ways

It was a very simple decision to make, but somehow Mayor Rick Green has managed to complicate it. Staff issued a report about upgrading the TransLink Major Road Network (MRN) now that the Golden Ears Bridge has been completed. Obviously the new bridge will impact the surrounding area and everyone knew this. As roads are placed into the MRN, TransLink is now responsible for paying the bills for those roadways.

Green frustrated the decision-making process to place 208th Street into the MRN, that would also allow some truck traffic, by insisting on a public consultation process. These are issues that the average citizen does not understand the implications of. The decisions regarding the MRN are best left with professional staff and a sober second look from Council. This is how every other municipality handles MRN decisions.

The reality is clear to anyone that uses 208th Street. That reality is that currently more truck traffic travels along 208th Street with the massive ongoing construction than there ever will be with an MRN truck designation. Residents in and around 208th Street want the roadway widened to 4 lanes for safety and efficiency. As land must be acquired for a right-of-way along the route, the Township has no ability to pay this bill without help.

Mayor Green complains often about other orders of government "downloading" costs to the municipalities. In fact, he took a pop shot at the provincial government just this past Monday during his 2010 budget rant. So the socialist-leaning bailout rants go forth, but Green and others can't manage the millions that the GVRD has already! Can you imagine the nerve of government legislating health and safety? The nerve of them, right Mayor Green?

The BC Provincial government is under constant attack by Mayor Green. So here is the much-needed MRN expansion that is a no-brainer for most. There is money to make 208th Street safer and more productive. Money will flow from TransLink to pay for the much-needed infrastructure upgrades.

So why does Mayor Green oppose saving Township taxpayers millions by putting 208th Street in the MRN? He pouts when other governments say no - and when they say YES!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another day, the same stupid logic from this man. If the MRN oesn't pass we taxpayers will have to pay more out of our pockets to pay for the upkeep and ongoing maintenance of the road. Richter wants revenue streams, what better idea than this - how much are we talkiing about, $500,000 - wow, I am not interested in paying that bill. Combine this logic with Richters absolutely dumb letter to the editor and the conclusion is-typical of these two, there is no trusting them.

UrbanDweller said...

I hear that after he offered his hollow opinion regarding public consultation Green then took a step back and talked about being careful about losing the money. Is this true?

Long Term Langley Citizen said...

Langley Record Editor

The Township of Langley does not absolutely require funding from translink in order to build out 208 street to four lanes. For the land aquisition, the township receives actual title to the portion of land required for road widening at the time of development for the particular parcel of land that fronts 208 street. This is always a condition of the rezoning process. As for the costs of widinging the road; ie, curbs, pavement, sidewalks etc. the Township has funding available to itself from it's own tranportation DCC. These are funds that are collected from previous development projects as well as current and future projects. The township does not really require 208 street to be a truck route. It can leave the existing truck route designation in place and still build out 208 street to it's four lane designation. 216 street, which is the current north/south truck route, can serve as the north/south alterate to 200 street. Given that there is a Hwy 1 interchange in the works at 216 street it makes logical sense for 216 street to remain the designated truck route. In the long term plan, 208 street does not need to be an added north/south truck route. The only reason it is being proposed by the Township is to so that the Township can receive what amounts to "free money" from translink.

Regarding your blog. Before I wrote these comments to your blog, I read the entire blog (none of the archives) and all of their related comments. I also read your complete profile.

First off, your profile is incomplete. It doesn't idendify who you and your colleuges are. It is obvious to any objective viewer that you yourself wish to remain anonymous. You also claim to have an editorial board of 15 persons, again none of whom are identified. The comments to your articles are all submitted by anonymous posters.Makes one wonder if these are actual posters or just fabricated responses. It is for this reason that I conclude that this site is a fabrication designed to promote a specific agenda. It does not come across as a credible representation of the opinions of the citizens of the Township of Langley.

Long Term Langley Citizen

Anonymous said...

Dear Long-term Langley Citizen:

I think with the posting of your comments in full, we do in fact credibly represent the opinions of the citizens of the Township. We are also not going to discredit your comments as some blogs do and we don't feel the need to comment on each and every post also like an old "editor" of the past did.

We used an Editorial Board that is anonymous because a certain Township Councillor (female) had a blog that attacked many people. When they complained she told them some other people ran her blog and she did not have much control over what they did. So, we decided to do the same and present the other side.

Blogging is by nature opinions and just like you, we have ours. We would like people to post at least a pseudonym to their posts, but not everyone who comments is tech-savvy to do that. We could force ID's, but that would discourage some from commenting. I think if you examine the style of writing, etc. you will see there are certain posts that can be attributable to distinct individuals.

We know that as you said, some land was there for ToL use from developers. But the right-of-ways that are required today may not match what is available, as we are told that land acquisition needs to happen and it will be costly. Also, the Official Community Plan (OCP) for this area calls for some commercial uses like stores, perhaps the Irish Community Hall, etc. How will these businesses get their goods if trucks are not allowed along the route? We don't believe this will become a tractor trailer route (look at gradient on the highway overpass). Rather, it would be smaller trucks that serve local businesses and ultimately their neighbours. 216th will not help these people. Please keep an open mind and be assured that the widening of 208th will not occur without money from other orders of government. We can state this for a fact. Thanks for your detailed and well-written post.

Anonymous said...

Long Term Langley Citizen is not your real name either buddy. Get off your high horse.

Melissa Jerome said...

Today (May 11) at around 8:11 am, I was in traffic on 208th street near 52a Avenue when I looked to the left side of the road. As always, there was construction, but what caught my eye made me want to scream.

Years and years ago, my friend Semantha died a very tragic death and in her room there was a little potted tree. We planted this tree along the road she used to live, all 31 of her friends and myself included. This tree has stood for years and served as a private memorial to Semantha for us, even though it is just a tree. She loved that little plant and cherished it when she lived because it made her think of Christmas and happiness.

Not today.

The claws came down on our tree with ruthless speed and ripped it out of the hole we dug for it so many years ago, chucking it into the chipper. I started to cry and screamed something at them, but they didn't even look at me. That tree meant the world to us. It meant that she was always with us, through good times and bad. That tree has served more than once as a comfort, and now it is gone forever.

There was another identical tree beside it that was a bud off of the first, and that was gone by the time I saw the original one die.

Have these construction companies no mercy? This was OUR TREE. I don't care about billion dollar road deals, this tree was supposed to stand forever. We are all outraged at the fact that they would let the only greenery along this road that meant more than shade - two cone-shaped pine trees, no higher than an average man - die for the polluters of the earth.

I want answers. Why were these trees, and others along 208th, taken down, and why, when it was common sense to many people, did they tear down this memorial to our friend? This is getting to be like Avatar. All they want is a paycheck. All we wanted was for them to leave our trees alone.