Spend money on transit, not interchange

Re: “$26 million in upgrades for Victoriaarea transit,” July 20. It is good that the B.C. Liberals have finally committed to starting on the highway bus lanes they promised “soon” in 2008. But provincial transportation priorities are still backwards.

We are in a climate emergency that threatens everything humanity values, but public funds are still going to projects such as the McKenzie interchange that increase carbon pollution and make congestion worse. Everyone knows you can’t build your way out of congestion, so why would we spend millions trying again?

The $85 million committed to the McKenzie-interchange boondoggle dwarfs the $10 million just promised for bus lanes to bypass the three kilometres of “Colwood Crawl” from Tolmie to McKenzie. Shoulder bus lanes on the next 4.5 kilometres from McKenzie to the Six Mile Pub would cost only about $15 million.

The McKenzie interchange should be cancelled and the $85 million used for bus lanes and other projects that reduce carbon pollution, and make this a better place to live. Eric Doherty Victoria