The following post represents the opinions of its contributors, and is not the official position of 30 Days of Sustainability.
Search the website of The Vancouver Sun, and you will find that the Gateway project has been discussed in the paper no less than 35 times in recent months. Why are those involved with sustainability and the environment so up in arms about the project? The short answer is that making more room for cars and trucks will bring us, well, more cars and trucks.
The Gateway project is a set of three expansions to highways and bridges that the BC government says will improve traffic congestion on the Port Mann Bridge and Highway 1, as shown on this map. Estimates of the cost vary-- the minimum price tag published by BC Transportation Ministry is $2.5 billion, and others cite costs of $7 billion.
Urban planners, whose job it is to know about such things, predict that the Gateway project will
• spur urban sprawl
• increase the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming
• NOT solve traffic congestion
• soon be obsolete, because the era of cheap gas is over
Carmen Mills, founder of Emerald City Celebrations, a community organizer and a staunch opponent to the Gateway project, told me why she opposes the project: "It's completely insane, crazy. It goes in the opposite direction from everything we know about what we need for the future." In short, the global issue of how to address climate change rears its head right here at home with the Gateway project.
In this sound clip, hear Carmen explain what is wrong with the Gateway project, who really benefits and what you can do to stop it… be active and also celebrate life!
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