Building a bridge on Main Street will kill the heart and soul of Sicamous.
Consider the implications. The Trans-Canada Highway with its hundreds of transport trucks, recreational vehicles and cars daily, will proceed up a greatly elevated Main Street. The result will be significant noise and air pollution, and a severing of the downtown. Businesses on or proximate to Main Street will not survive. We will be left with a town divided and no downtown. The eventual completion of the four-lane bridge will not undo the damage to the social fabric of our community.
It is expected the province will sweeten the pot by offering to cover the maintenance costs for a defined period of time, but make no mistake, this ain’t no Solsqua-Sicamous bridge. The load demands to handle the Trans-Canada traffic will require a bridge with heavy duty structural support, which translates into high maintenance costs that will eventually be paid by the Sicamous taxpayers.
The solution is deceptively simple. Say no to the community bridge.
This bridge cannot be built if it is not supported by the people of Sicamous and its council. Let the federal and provincial governments figure a way to build their bridge at the existing Bruhn Bridge location while accommodating the Trans-Canada and local traffic requirements during the build. Let these governments pay for the bridge and its upkeep.
This is not our problem, so why make it our problem? I do not believe town council has made up their minds as suggested by MOTI, so let your views be known.
If we as a community do nothing then it’s a done deal and we will all suffer the consequences.
Robert Batting
