Editor, The Times
I agree that facts and figures should be accurate but that should apply to roundabout supporters as well. There are seven speed zones of less than 100 km in the reported 300 km toward Jasper. Three of these are towns, which probably don't like being dismissed as nonexistent.
You can compare gophers and grizzly bears but they aren't similar. Just as $250,000 for lights as against $1,700,00 to $2,300,000 (Ministry of Transport figures) for the roundabout cost is not even remotely similar!
This paper has reported snowplowing as being no problem but two consecutive foremen of the people actually doing the plowing called it (the roundabout) a nightmare and said they might have to shut down the highway in a heavy snowfall.
The environment minister should be more concerned with the extra distance (therefore more pollution) that everyone except right turns off Highway 5 will have to travel. He seemed to figure that closer to the Infocenter would be good; any closer would make it a drive-through.
We were told that the province would pay for the entire project, now it's only the "majority of the cost" that's covered. Guess who digs down for the rest of it?
If you only talk to office people (BC Truckers Association, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Environment, etc.) you will only get the uninformed view of car drivers. The BC Truckers Association, having no official policy about roundabouts, is not the same as being in favor of them. If you want the real scoop, talk to the people actually hauling (especially the 53-foot semi-trailers) and listen to all of the answers, not just selected parts.
On two recently installed roundabouts in Kamloops eyewitnesses have said that regular sized firetrucks have to go the wrong direction to be able to negotiate them. Safety?
Maybe the people pushing this expensive fiasco should be held personally responsible for the injuries and destruction of property. I wonder if there is a hidden agenda for this project.
Don Capps
Blackpool, B.C.