The Editor:
Re: “Port Coquitlam seeks public input on future transportation projects” (Tri-City News, March 18)
Port Coquitlam has asked for public opinion in an open survey as the city prepares to update its Master Transportation Plan. City council needs to make some tough choices during this time.
Downtown Port Coquitlam has been a recent target by city council for upgrades with significant changes being considered for McAllister Avenue, as well as City Hall and Leigh Square. The purpose of this is to stimulate new development and attract visitors to the downtown core. Meanwhile, Fremont Village commercial space remains woefully vacant and incomplete with tenants there struggling.
The Fremont Connector has been a contentious issue in this city. The actual road itself, whenever it gets completed, will have very little to do with connecting Fremont Street after previous councils pandered to the nimbyism of residents from Sun Valley and Lincoln Park.
With the city of Coquitlam planning to have as many as 50,000 residents on Burke Mountain, you have to wonder why Port Coquitlam city council seems determined to make it as convoluted as possible to actually attract those people to Port Coquitlam businesses. When you consider the questionable alignment of the Fremont Connector along with the continuous traffic calming measures being implemented along Prairie Avenue and Cedar Drive, it appears as if the opposite is being done to attract people to the Fremont Village.
Coquitlam has been patiently waiting for Port Coquitlam to catch up in development. If you want to see a strong contrast between the two cities, just stand on Westwood Street between Lincoln and Crabbe and then look east and west. Port Coquitlam continues to shelter aging neighbourhoods with detached homes in the middle of a housing crisis, and land continues to be uninviting for developers because of our road networks. It's a major contributor as to why statistics show that Port Coquitlam population growth significantly trails behind other municipalities in the Lower Mainland.
Significant transportation infrastructure upgrades are needed to attract and connect people while stimulating growth. Projects like additional Coquitlam connections (Fremont Connector, Lincoln Connector, Lougheed Highway widening) and upgrades to rail crossings (Westwood, Kingsway, and Pitt River Road) are essential. Cars, bikes, and buses need better routes to increase travel efficiency and encourage more development and business.
If you want to see an example of how development in Port Coquitlam has stalled, look no further than the Fremont Village. Plans to move the cenotaph and plant more trees at City Hall are not bad ideas, but it might all be in vain if people from surrounding areas cannot conveniently get there. As a longtime resident looking with a growing family, it is disheartening to see the lack of growth on the horizon in Port Coquitlam. City council needs to focus on making those tough decisions in the Transportation Plan that may upset a few, but will benefit the city's future.
Tim Wilson, Port Coquitlam
