The Editor,
Re. “Burke boom battle: Coq. fires back at PoCo council” (The Tri-City News, July 19).
We, members of the Oxford Street extension community opposition group, are disillusioned after attending the Coquitlam council meeting July 17. The consultation process we participated in appears to have no weight in the final decision to open Oxford Street to an estimated 2,000 vehicles per day.
The Northwest Burke Mountain Vision (NBV) is a go.
The NBV is to build another 3,600 housing units on Burke Mountain, the last vestige of green space remaining in Coquitlam. Phase 1 of the four-phase development comprises up of 950 homes. The homes will be located directly above Parkridge Estates and will turn Oxford from a dead end to a thoroughfare.
An extra 2,000 vehicles per day travelling through our community would disrupt our tranquil neighbourhood, creating noise and pollution, and jeopardizing our children’s safety. Consideration for the property owners below the development area in both Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam has been marginalized and runs contrary to the “liveability” cornerstone of the NBV.
Ninety-four per cent of Parkridge Estates home owners signed a petition opposing the opening of Oxford Street. We provided alternative access options to the new development, but to no avail.
The city of Coquitlam’s solution to our concerns and suggestions, thus far, is to post signs on Oxford Street, one of which states, “Temporary Road End — To Be Extended In The Future.”
City planners will attend a walkabout to listen again to our safety concerns in August. We are calling on all Parkridge Estates residents to join us in defending our community and showing that our neighbourhood is worth saving.
Timon Azmier, Jorden Hearsay, Cathrine Coombe, Coquitlam
