Editor:
We are writing in response to the letter concerning the “New Sidewalks for Burnaby” initiative.
We and many of our neighbours on Smith Avenue are also opposed to this initiative of Burnaby Council.
No meaningful consultation or solicitation of input from residents has ever been sought, and our street is already served by a well-constructed sidewalk, while other streets in our area have no sidewalks at all.
While the project mandate states that priority will be given to "streets close to schools, parks, community centres and transit facilities,” our section of Smith Avenue is not in any of these categories.
We have corresponded with the City Manager and staff several times since January 2020 to state our (and our neighbours’) concerns but have not received any substantial feedback nor any information about why our section of Smith Avenue has been singled out.
The “New Sidewalks in Burnaby” initiative approved by Council will deploy 275 kilometres of new sidewalks in the City. This represents a loss of almost 102 acres of green space - enough to pave one half of Central Park. This is environmentally irresponsible.
The City needs to:
Reconcile the loss of green space with their stated goals of becoming more environmentally sustainable;
Provide residents in our neighbourhood with better justification as to how and why their neighbourhoods were chosen for additional sidewalks;
Provide the same information to residents of other affected neighbourhoods;
Explain why some qualifying streets in our neighbourhood without any sidewalks were bypassed in favour of streets with one already viable sidewalk;
Present residents with a fully documented plan, an environmental assessment, and a cost benefit analysis to justify the expenditure of $10M a year on this project.
Community consultation and buy-in are key to any taxpayer-funded project. The City needs to press “pause” on this initiative until the citizens (whom Council represents) have been given a full and meaningful opportunity to learn about (and provide comment on) the initiative and its overall financial and environmental impact.
Kevin McQuiggin, Burnaby
