Jim McConnell would like to see a vote from everyone who lives in Cascade Park on whether to keep McGillivray Blvd. four lanes or spend the millions of tax dollars to make it two lanes

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and do not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com

At two neighborhood meetings mostly made up of people who live in Cascade Park, we handed out a survey about the city’s plan for McGillivray Blvd. Out of the 57 filling out the survey, 51 (89%) wanted to keep McGillivray two lanes each way.

The Vancouver City Council has money and power to bring in people to make it appear that more people want to transform the boulevard to one lane each way. The Transportation Commission’s purpose seems to be forcing people out of their cars and into public transportation or EVs, while they communicate about safety.

I have lived in Cascade Park on McGillivray Blvd. for eight years. I enjoyed watching cars, bikes, joggers, and pedestrians travel on the boulevard harmoniously and safely. Before 2020, I used to see two to five traffic police in Cascade Park every week. Since the government shut down of 2020, I have only seen two or three police cars a month, and there has been a big increase in traffic violations. It’s Psychology 101, reward good behavior and it increases; have consequences for bad behavior and it decreases; ignore bad behavior — such as breaking the law, including speeding and running stop signs — and it increases.

Information to consider from research:

1) In most cities under a million people, it costs more to transport a person 10 miles by public transportation than 10 miles by car. And non-bus-riding taxpayers foot most of the bill for public transportation.

2) Mass transit also creates about as much CO2 emissions per person for public transportation as for cars when including manufacturing, maintenance, government infrastructure, and fuel — whether gasoline or electricity generation – -costs. I continue to regularly see big buses in Clark Country with only three or four people riding them. How does this make sense?

Who should make the decision about McGillivray Blvd.? The thousands of people living in Cascade Park and/or those who regularly drive on McGillivray — the majority of whom want it to stay 4 lanes — or those in power who do not live in Cascade Park, but want to force their political agenda on everyone else?

If I could ask our mayor and city council members four questions respectfully, I would ask:

Do you compost regularly?

Do you drive to work in an EV or hybrid?

Do you have solar panels on your house?

I have been composting since 1981. Most of the time I drive a 2014 Prius. In 2015, my wife and I insulated our home with aluminum solar blankets. In 2018, we paid for 26 solar panels to be installed on our roof and feed about as much electric power back to the grid as what we use.

Final question: Who would you say is more concerned about the environment in Cascade Park, someone like me who lives here or politicians and government employees who do not live in Cascade Park and are wanting to make it harder to travel on McGillivray and to push their political agenda on others?

Our elected leaders do not seem to be representing the majority of citizens on this issue. If they care about us, I would like to see a vote from everyone who lives in Cascade Park on whether to keep McGillivray four lanes or spend the millions of tax dollars to make it two lanes. I would accept the majority’s wishes.

Jim McConnell
Vancouver