Re: Sooke on track in effort to save rail corridor (News, Aug. 4)
One would hope that those proposing to re-activate the E&N railway right of way on Vancouver Island don’t blow it in the time remaining. Otherwise, they, or their descendants, will regret wasting a golden opportunity to have a convenient and reliable commuter means to relieve our overcrowded highways.
A typical right of way is about 100 feet wide and can easily accommodate a bike or walking trail alongside, given multi-use needs. What would daily commuters to work, or even shoppers, give to have such a facility which won’t wash out in a rainstorm?
Older Sooke and East Sooke residents can certainly relate to such a proposal as they can well remember the perfectly good tracks in the late 1970s that led from here to Victoria. They were not maintained and eventually turned into a hiking/bike trail.
But anybody sitting in the daily Highway 14 bumper-to-bumper grind can only dream of sitting instead in a high-speed commuter railcar and reading the paper on the way to work in Victoria. So, enough tap-dancing! Let’s not repeat the mistakes of past decades.
Andy Neimers
Sooke
editor@sookenewsmirror.com
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