To the Editor,
It was wonderful to see the ribbon cutting on Bamfield Road. Once upon a time I rode that bus to Bamfield Marine Station on that same field trip. It is tragic that those two families and the others involved have a much different memory than mine.
We should not have to wait for tragedy for action. Those are the same words I heard expressed by Ditidaht residents to consultants for the government this summer during the forum on inter-community transportation.
The sorry state of the Lake Cowichan road never got looked at by the transportation ministry except when the fire happened this summer. That’s unacceptable.
The benefits to Huu-ay-aht, Bamfield, Ditidaht, Port Alberni and the whole region from the Cowichan route are obvious. The goal should be extending Highway 14/18 to Port Alberni. And here’s a bonus: if those highways entered Port Alberni at Ship Creek and joined Highway 4 at Johnston Road, that’s a big chunk of road maintenance off Port Alberni taxpayers’ backs.
Let’s all paddle together and go with where the money is already flowing. For the larger topic of more efficient and resilient transportation to the entire Island and beyond, the best and cheapest option remains an electrified railway which is still the only corridor not cut off by fire or flood for weeks at a time over the past 110 years.
Chris Alemany,
Port Alberni