To the editor:
Re: "Residents rally against Greenway project," Sept. 7.
A bicycle greenway running past an elementary school! What a brilliant idea! I sure do wish my municipality would run a greenway past my front door, funding courtesy of GVRD taxpayers. It would be a huge improvement over the rat runners' raceway that's there now. Neighbours of the local school that is about to become graced with a greenway will start to enjoy some of the benefits immediately, in the form of a few less motor car operators smoking through their neighbourhood, dropping off their darling children at the front door of the school each and every morning of the school year.
And the very same wheelchair users that our protesting neighbour is so concerned about will also enjoy the immediate benefit of the greenway as a quieter, more peaceful route as compared to trying to navigate the existing sidewalks adjacent to our noisy, stinky motor roads.
In the medium term, I'm sure our protesting homeowner will realize the benefits of a nearby greenway when he starts to see his property value increasing out of proportion to other properties that are farther from the green, closer to the asphalt. And in the longer term, all of us will benefit from reduced health care system costs as the cycling and walking children of that school grow up just a little bit healthier. And happier.
C. Van Ihinger, Burnaby
