The Editor,
Re. “Study of alternate routes to Ioco lands” (The Tri-City News, June 16).
To Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay and councillors:
I hope residents of Pleasantside are not being pitted against Friends of Bert Flinn Park in the selection of routes to the Ioco lands. Neither expansion of Ioco Road or driving a four-lane roadway through Bert Flinn park should be on the table.
Ioco Road is narrow and dangerous. Traffic should be reduced on this road — not increased — and any plans to expand Ioco to accommodate development is not conscionable. We have already seen deaths on this road and if you add the anticipated population of the Ioco lands, it will become a death trap. Too many cars and CO2.
This road currently serves Buntzen Lake and its growing number of users. We had looked forward to the summer traffic eventually being diverted to the new access built for Ioco lands. Freeing up the road would calm traffic and allow bicycle paths.
Our hiking group walks up Ioco for our twice-annual trip to the Ioco heritage site, always hoping that a trail would be developed to keep us off the increasingly busy road.
There has been so much attention to Bert Flinn that city councillors who are new to the job might be unaware that Pleasantside exists. Our Pleasantside Community Association had best get active, lest we see an already dangerous road turned into a thoroughfare.
I urge Port Moody council to take Ioco Road off the study of options.
Yvonne Harris, Port Moody
