Editor: Re: SkyTrain is best option for Langley (the Times, July 8).
I would like to have Mr. Dela Cruz expand on and explain comments made in the Times article, which stated “smoke and minions of LRT supporters, who have gone too far in stretching the truth to claims that are awash in fear mongering and divisiveness.”
I am against the great concrete monster because it is ugly as hell and very overpriced.
The condos that cling to the monster stations only benefit the developers, not the people that had to pay for them.
Very few cities the world over have gone this route, while most go for what the taxpayers can afford and provide what is needed.
LRT gets people from A to B with more convenience, as more and safer stations can be in place along a ground route.
If it takes 15 minutes more to get to Vancouver that is no big deal.
I would like to get on the LRT train in Langley and get off close to were I want to shop along Fraser Hwy in Surrey as opposed to having to take a bus or taxi from the a SkyTrain station to my destination.
Here is my plan:
Build the LRT now.
The cost will fit the tax base of the population we have now and as the population grows make sure that growth pays into a future expansion fund.
In 15 years the population will double or triple and the LRT cars will need refurbishing or replacing.
The cash will be there. The ridership will be there. A large tax base will be there to pay for it all and a lot of what is already in place can be used for the new system.
The LRT cars can be easily converted from overhead power pickup to side rail power pickup and rails are rails if in the pavement or in a SkyTrain shoot.
Also, and most important to me, the cars and much of the LRT system can be built in B.C.
John Winter,
Langley
