In an Aug. 2 letter, “MacArthur project is misguided,” Ernest Badolato called the resurfacing and restriping of MacArthur Boulevard a “massive project” conflicting with a tight city budget. Not true. Those costs were already budgeted as annual pavement management. MacArthur is getting preventive maintenance treatment and restriping which involves no extra expense.
Badolato sees cyclists on Evergreen and few on MacArthur and concludes that the issue of safety on MacArthur is bogus, otherwise why would more cycle on Evergreen? Several factors make the eastern section of Evergreen popular for cycle team endurance training: longer stretches between stop signs, less population, and fewer intersections. Conversely, MacArthur spans dense neighborhoods with two schools, a pool, a commercial area, and it is part of the key east-west cyclist commuter route making safety a genuine issue on this corridor.
MacArthur and Evergreen are “apples and oranges.” Different user groups. Different surroundings.
People want safe places to recreate and commute. The city had three public outreach meetings and engineers conducted a new traffic count and speed study before arriving at this final plan that Badolato calls “butchering.” I see it differently. The MacArthur Boulevard project is an acknowledgement of community needs and an opportunity to encourage healthier lifestyles for our residents.
Jan Verrinder
Vancouver
