To the Editor,
Re: Floating bridge a solution, Letters, April 4.
The cost of building a fixed link from the Lower Mainland to Vancouver Island would be horrendous.
That being said, can we afford to not do it?
Until the last few years the B.C. Ferries system has been good, but with the many changes coming in the near future we will probably not be able to afford the cost of that service any more.
Fuel, maintenance, labour, fleet renewal, and expansion to meet growing demand will eventually drive costs out of reach.
When ferry fares reach $150 each way for a car and driver and the taxpayers are still subsidizing the operations, a fixed link will begin to look very good.
But by then with escalating costs, it may be too late.
Since the last decent study was done, we have new technologies, new innovations, lighter, stronger concrete as well as engineering that with new products may make a floating bridge possible.
So yes, it may now be feasible.
Financing, another big problem, may be solved through the issuing of government bonds thus eliminating the added cost of the massive profits that the eastern banks would necessarily take.
We may even find some of our own personal retirement funds would be used should they fit into an RRSP plan.
So let’s re-think the fixed link, before it’s too late.
Alan MacKinnon
Nanaimo