Maple Ridge News, February 13, 2015

Page 1

Community: Local march for murdered, missing women. 12

Cha Charity: Ridge kid on Variety telethon. 9

Sports: Jared Casey bounces back. 37 Fr i d ay, Fe b. 1 3, 2 015 · mapleridgenews.com · est. 1978 · (office) 604-467-1122 · (del iver y) 6 04 - 46 6- 6 39 7

Becker to vote yes on transit plan tax ‘Best deal Metro region will get for a while’ By Neil Corbett ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com

Despite sharing some of the public’s negative views of TransLink, Pitt Meadows Mayor John Becker said he’s voting ‘yes’ in the upcoming transit referendum. The mayor said Becker he’s setting aside his “distaste” for the funding process being forced on the public, and any skepticism around TransLink’s management, and responding to a pragmatic question: “Is this the best deal we’re going to get for the region for a while?” If Metro residents vote no to a 0.5 per cent increase in their provincial tax rate, then they won’t get transit improvements, and they won’t get what Becker calls “general relief ” from congestion in the region. With a rapidly rising population, the Lower Mainland will see traffic congestion either get a little better, or continue to get worse. “There is no such thing as a status quo,” he asserts. Becker clarified he was speaking personally, and not on behalf of Pitt Meadows council. Voters will decide whether to fund the 10-year, $7.5 billion transit and transportation improvement plan by mail-in ballot from March 16 to May 29. See Vote, 11

Tim Fitzgerald/THE NEWS

Mike Gildersleeve, a former Green Party candidate who works in Maple Ridge, travels the highway weekly and suggests, if not medians, then better lane markings or reflectors are needed, especially when conditions are dark or wet.

A call for concrete barriers Mayor, RCMP, petition want highway dividers By P h i l M e l nychuk pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com

A

campaign to install concrete dividers on Lougheed Highway, following a fatal accident a week ago, is gaining momentum. Cory Wik died following a three-vehicle crash in the 25500-block of Lougheed Hwy. Maple Ridge Mayor Nicole

DEBBIE D S SHEPPARD

Read wants concrete dividers to be extended from 240th to 272nd streets. “Given that 85 per cent of our population relies on vehicles, and given that our population is growing exponentially, we need our partners in the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to come to the table with some money to improve the east-west corridor,” Read said on Facebook. Ridge Meadows RCMP have added their voice, calling for concrete barriers along the cen-

LOG DREAM HOME

604-312-3705 6

debbiesheppard.com d Each office independently owned & operated

678,800

$

• Beautiful log walls and beams, finished basement • Open concept, lots of character • Detached garage, over ¼ acre lot • 3 bedrooms plus family room up • View today!

tre line of the highway. They will send a memo to the transportation ministry, asking that barriers be installed and that lane markings be repainted and cat-eye reflectors be installed on lane markings. A copy will go to the B.C. Coroner’s Service. Whether the ministry agrees with the request remains to be seen. However, in 2011, barriers along Lougheed were installed from 105th Avenue to 240th Street to improve safety, partly

by preventing illegal left turns. Mounties say their eyes are always on Lougheed’s intersections and the open stretches from one end of Maple Ridge to the other. People can hit 120 km/h (in a 80 km/h zone) on Lougheed from 240th to 272nd streets. “This is particularly dangerous in rush hour, but we have also seen some terrible crashes in light traffic,” said Sgt. Bruce McCowan, with the Ridge Meadows traffic services unit. See Barriers, 4

2.10

Variable Rate

www.clientfirstmortgages.com/savemoney

%


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.