Dear Editor:
Re: No trucks on Royal Avenue, Letter to the Editor, The Record, Feb. 3.
I read the letter by Catalina P. Trinidad with interest because it intrigues me and affects me in a number of ways.
She presents a NIMBY (not in my backyard) attitude quite clearly, but she does little to offer any present solutions to the problem she finds, which is trucks being present on Royal Avenue and presenting a supposed pollution problem, which she has also not addressed.
Had Catalina done her homework, she would find that the street which she argues about is only a truck route during certain hours, which is from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., I do believe.
After or before those hours it is a city bylaw that trucks are not to be present on this route, which if she finds is a problem then she can bring this up to the city bylaw officers who can make a case to the New Westminster Police Service for enforcement action.
Secondly, this is a truck route, and thus city engineers have determined that this particular stretch of road is more than healthy enough to sustain the weight of heavy vehicles.
Thirdly, as a major thoroughfare for all vehicles, New Westminster happens to be a hub of vehicle activity no matter which vehicle from light-duty cars to heavy trucks.
It just so happens that I also live in New Westminster, and I live on the 22nd Street side of New Westminster, which makes it a hard route to get home through during rush hour as many light vehicles are on the routes I need to get home.
I could argue that New Westminster should allow only city residents to travel through New Westminster so that my travels home are unhindered, but in the practicality of it, this would be irrational. I could argue that there are too many cars trying to cross the Queensborough and the Pattullo Bridge, which were not designed to handle the present-day traffic.
I drive a truck also, and the argument she presents is unsatisfactory. I could argue that the city hall lawn she may live across provides pollution from all the maintenance derived from the gasoline engines used for lawn care and the amount of pollution caused by cars that barely pass AirCare sit idling during rush hours.
The bottom line is, New Westminster has been a hub for vehicle traffic probably longer than most of us at present have lived in the city, and it was your choice to move here.
If you would be willing to pay the excess travel and excess fuel consumption of thousands of trucking companies who are trying to get through as quickly as they can, I am sure they would be willing to circumvent New Westminster. By the way, on a side note, take a look around your house/apartment, and give thanks to the truckers who brought it all.
Canada's economy runs on the backs of trucks, and if it wasn't for trucks, Canada's economy stops, period!
Roger Simmons, New Westminster
