I disagree with Ian Carter’s premise (“A More Pedestrian- Friendly Wesbrook Village” – The Campus Resident, March 6). The underground parking is already close to maximum in its use. With the increased residency over the next few years, without the surface parking which he advocates eliminating, it will become inadequate to serve the community.
Then what happens?
Residents, especially those who need to use their vehicle to buy groceries, will travel to Dunbar, West Point Grey and Kitsilano to shop where they can park. Increased traffic and increased emissions are the result.
This shopping area doesn’t just serve the Wesbrook neighbourhood, but all the neighbourhoods on the campus. Why should those residents be targeted with the negative impact?
Mr.Carter by his own admission acknowledges that the current situation is not dangerous. Finally, has The Campus Resident asked the opinion of local merchants, like Save-On Foods, Shoppers Drug Mart, or the BC Liquor Store? The problem with this article is that it presented only one point of view.
If you are a commercial tenant with UBC Properties Trust and they suddenly eliminate one of the reasons you set up shop and lose business due to a reduction in parking, you will likely seek legal recourse. If the UNA is publicly supportive of a pedestrian mall, it may also be drawn into litigation.
We are dealing with The Jim Pattison Group and Loblaws. These are large, multi-billion dollar corporate giants.
RON BOURGEOIS, RESIDENT AND UNA DIRECTOR
Nice article about the proposed redevelopment of the surface parking in the March 6 issue.
The idea of a central area as outlined seems feasible, keeping the easternmost driveway for businesses, disabled parking, small children with parents, and emergency vehicles.
The University Hill Secondary School dropoff points should be reworked so they are all accessed from Gray Avenue, and none come into the already congested centre of Wesbrook. This might require the school to have a traffic monitor to expedite the flow.
Recently, the moving ramp was out of service for a prolonged period of time; when this happens again, what will the access to and from the underground parking be for folks using walkers, wheelchairs or scooters, aside from the vehicle ramp?
LAWRENCE BURR, RESIDENT
While I appreciate and share Mr. Carter’s interest in ensuring that the urban design in the community is generally “pedestrian- friendly,” a more thorough and formal public consultation should be conducted before imposing Mr. Carter’s idea on residents or even using it as a serious “reference point.”
To encourage planners to move forward with an unsolicited proposal and commission feasibility studies (paid for, I presume, with taxpayers money) without the idea being ever subjected to the public for scrutiny seems self-serving and irresponsible. I trust that the UNA Board will not proceed with using this proposal as a reference point without as much as asking residents at large how they feel about this specific approach to ease legitimate traffic concerns in the area – and allowing other perspectives to come to light before dedicating any tax revenues to exploring this particular alternative.
Some important points that the proposal overlooks include the fact that not all elderly residents and people with disabilities can walk the distance between the underground parking and Shoppers Drug Mart or Save-On- Foods – never mind manage the experience and hazards of navigating the moving escalator, a challenge also experienced by families with small children.
It does not mention that when the escalator breaks down it may take months for it to be repaired, as demonstrated earlier this year, nor the scarcity and inconvenient location of the escalator from the parkade to ground level. It remains silent on security concerns associated with using underground, more secluded parking in late evening hours. It overlooks the fact that the risk of collision between cars and pedestrians does not disappear simply by moving parking underground. It also fails to account for the impact of eliminating what he considers a current “surplus” of underground parking spaces at the time when the community is about to double its population.
I am also puzzled by the purported need to create more public gathering spaces, considering how exceptionally well-provisioned Wesbrook Village already is in this regard. It is hard to imagine a community better equipped to facilitate social connections.
I have lived in the UNA area for 25 years. I am one of the first members of the UNA and I know how much good this organization can do for the residents of this area. But to do so it is critically important that initiatives advocated by individuals be appropriately consulted with the community before any efforts or investments to explore their feasibility are made.
I trust that UNA leadership will exercise good judgment and ensue a proper public consultation before taking any steps that would advance Mr. Carter’s proposal.
ANDRZEJ J. WROBLEWSKI, RESIDENT
(Editor’s note – In the article “A More Pedestrian- Friendly Wesbrook Village” Ian Carter said he would like to see planners “move forward with his idea, refine it through further traffic studies, and eventually implement a plan that will remedy problems with the area.”)
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