Editor:
Re: Proposed development for 809 to 811 Carnarvon St. and 60 to 70 Eighth St.
First let me get this out of the way. I believe that we have to move away from our current reliance on the automobile. The proposed hotel/condo tower is located as close as possible to the New West SkyTrain station. It makes sense to develop that block.
However, the people who already live on the 800-block of Carnarvon Street have lived through and are still living through the construction of the tower right next door to the proposal. Many, if not most, of these people are still very reliant on automobiles. Their visitors often come by car. Their deliveries and mail arrive via truck and car.
I live across the street from this proposed development in one of three towers that share a single access/egress point for the strata parkade. This driveway was already very complicated to navigate due to Carnarvon foot and auto traffic. With flag people doing their work, with a temporary (two years and counting) crosswalk moved to within two feet of the driveway, with the loss of parking on the north side and the construction/flagger use of parking on the south side, the driveway serving well over 600 homes has been made much, much more treacherous.
We have tried to schedule our deliveries on Sundays because that is the only day the construction stops. Monday, April 18, I changed my dinner plans after a look out the lobby door of my tower showed complete chaos on Carnarvon. No Chinese food delivery that night.
For two years this has been going on, and just as the current project is nearing its end, we hear that an even bigger project will be preparing to start next door to it.
We need a break. We need the pavement that has been destroyed by the heavy truck traffic repaired. We need the sidewalks cracked due to the same trucks repaired and the closed stretch reopened. We need the crosswalk returned to its original location. We need to come and go, to order deliveries without worrying about complications due to the construction.
The new project should be shelved for a few years or the dump/cement truck access should be from Eighth or Agnes.
Let the many residents of Carnarvon have a rest.
A. Henderson
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