Vancouver Sun

Stop pushing a density agenda, we are already dense enough

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I read with interest New Westminste­r Mayor Jonathan Cote’s letter on the need to keep increasing transit options and that ridership has increased dramatical­ly at five to seven per cent annually.

Why is it, then, with all these people now taking transit, that the traffic on the roads is so much worse? In Vancouver in particular, and all the arteries and bridges leading in and out of the city, it is a constant log jam. I commute by bike when I can, but whenever I do need the car it is always a nightmare, seemingly no matter the time of day. Getting through the tunnel to get the ferry, as I frequently do to visit my elderly mother in Victoria, is almost always a slow shuffle.

I wonder why local politician­s keep pushing the need for more density? To what end? If new transit options can’t keep up with the current increase in ridership and our roads are so full, how are we to move all these new people that will create the density around?

Let’s not forget the pressures on sewage and waste removal and treatment, water supply and lack of housing.

When I ran as a candidate in the Vancouver city election, I could never get this question answered satisfacto­rily.

Do we really need more density? Why? How much more? How will it be serviced? How will a city remain livable?

Penny Noble, Vancouver

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