The following letter was sent to Sechelt Mayor Darren Inkster and copied to Coast Reporter.
I've spent a lot of thought since last week's Davis Bay meeting.
There is a good case for extending the sea walk, but not to widen the highway. It should consist of some kind of continuous concave structure to turn the waves back onto themselves instead of breaking over the road and flooding the place.
The present plan seems to be pylons on which to put a bridge-like structure. They appear very flimsy and unsafe. In any case, any kind of work on the beach in winter is foolhardy. You don't under-estimate the power of those winter breakers!
There must be several thousand vehicle trips through Davis Bay per year, and if there were only three accidents, there isn't much wrong with the highway. Inattentive drivers cause accidents, not the highway, and nothing can be done about inattention.
There are several left turns from the highway - onto Bay Road, the Mosaic Market, Beach Buoy and the fruit truck, two motels and Pier 17, all of which exceed turns onto Davis Bay Road.
Would MOTI put turn lanes into them all? If not, then there's no case for one into Davis Bay Road, is there? Ipso facto, there's no case for widening the highway - more especially, when there is such overwhelming opposition to it.
Please, Darren, don't allow the MOTI personnel to badger you and council into this unnecessary and unwanted project. Why not instead badger them into spending their money in Selma Park where there is a real need and where there are indeed some dangerous spots that need fixing. If you could manage that, you would have the backing of the entire population of both Davis Bay and Selma Park. Wouldn't that be better than alienating your constituents?
Tom Wood
Davis Bay
