15 December 2004
Mackenzie Crossing Issue
Still Contentious
As a resident of Clearview
Heights, (CPR Hill) I am thoroughly flabbergasted that City Council would make the decision to put up
a junk yard fence in the middle of town, in order to prevent whistling at night about 50 percent of
the time.
That's right! After all is said and done there will still be noise in the CPR yard, and there will
still be whistling when there is pedestrian traffic in the CPR yard. Based on my observations, (I
cross at this crossing about four to eight times a day) there are people in the yard at least half
the time. That means that the noise issue, (thinly veiled as a safety issue) will continue, despite
there being an ugly six-foot-high, chain-link fence put up, and a gate,
preventing anyone from crossing at Mackenzie, during whatever hours they deem appropriate. Surely
they won't bother asking us what times would suit us!
And while I am on that subject... who is going to open the gates? Who is going to close them? Who is
going to keep snow cleared from the fence so engineers can see the pedestrians? Based on the level of
maintenance we currently enjoy, I can assure you that they will not keep the snow cleared properly
and the engineers will have to whistle anyway! Once again driving home my point that they have solved
nothing!
Transport Canada has determined that there are some safety issues at the Pearson Street crossing that
must be addressed, so that means to me as a resident, that City council has taken away the only safe
crossing I have.
Public Works has no intention of addressing the safety issues at Pearson until forced to by law. This
by the way, means that there will be traffic lights at Pearson crossing, further annoying people that
don't even cross on the crossings. Along with the added inconvenience of signal controls at Pearson,
there will be more traffic diverted to Pearson, making it a nightmare for cars, and an impossible
situation for my children to cross at.
The public has spoken loud and clear, that they do not support a closure of any kind at Mackenzie,
and that they do not want tax dollars wasted on something that is already the safest crossing there
could be. The do-nothing option should have been left on the table... doing something
for the sake of doing something isn't the answer.
How could our elected officials go against what the residents of Revelstoke have clearly stated
publicly at two open houses along with several letters to the editor?
If noise is really the concern here then why do we allow the noise of helicopters and loud bar music
to interfere with our quality of life? I am continually woken up by the other loud noises in this
city but it seems that there is selective deafness amongst the city councillors of Revelstoke.
I have spoken out continuously about how this decision makes absolutely no sense because they will
have solved nothing in the process. I blindly believed that that common sense would lead the way in
the end... clearly I was wrong. What ever made me think that common sense had anything to do with
politics? This is an issue that will negatively affect my quality of life, my property values, and
more importantly my family's safety and the safety of the people who cross at either crossing.
If there is anyone out there who is as perplexed as I am as to how this decision came about... please
do your civic duty and voice your anger, displeasure, whatever! It is everyone's tax bill that will
be affected, not just those on this side of the tracks. I might be rambling here, but I am still too
angry and hurt to think straight. Please put on your common sense thinking caps and think through
this problem as I have and when you come to the only conclusion that there is... call or write to
your councillors and voice you concern.
Kathryn Tompkins - Revelstoke, B.C.
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