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LETTER: Rockwell Drive residents, stay prepared

John Coles urges government to build emergency route, residents to be prepared for emergencies
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Flowing water passes just under Green Point Bridge along Rockwell Drive in the District of Kent during last year’s atmospheric rivers. (File Photo/Harry Maslin)

Editor’s Note: This letter is in response to two articles in the March 11 edition. It has been edited for length.

Dear Editor,

Today, I opened the Observer and two seemingly unrelated articles caught my eye. The first, on page A4, in which the paper’s editor, Adam Louis captured both the increasing frequency of catastrophic events dealt upon Rockwell Drive and our council’s concern for having Rockwell Drive put back in order in a reasonable time frame. The second, on page A5, in which Mr. Louis captures the frustration of tourists who have been unable to visit Sasquatch Provincial Park due to park and winter camping closures that are the result of the same increasing frequency of catastrophic events.

You may then believe that the two articles are related through the storm-related destruction and the length of time it takes to fix the destruction. Sadly, the answer is no. The articles are related in that our District of Kent is and will be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to make an evacuation route that will have the ability to handle the exodus of 10,000 people along Rockwell Drive and out through Sasquatch Provincial Park (once they get the ok to build the road in the Park) if that emergency route is passable.

MOTI may be able to find solutions for Rockwell Drive and if so, it may make a great evacuation route for those living along the road, but there will be no such solutions for the road in the Class A Provincial Park. This is why our District Emergency Preparedness Plan suggests to have food and water for at least a week and also suggests that you should know your risks. I suggest you look at water and food for three weeks.

John Coles

Agassiz