Your ‘Our View’ editorial (Gazette, Nov. 12) on the Downtown Area Redevelopment Plan (DARP) proposal for modifications to St. Anne Street as being "uninspiring" and "a waste of $4.1 million" was bang on in my view. Your Nov. 8 article by Victoria Paterson on the proposal shocked me to say the least. Why would St. Albert want to spend this sum of money to reduce green space in our civic core? And why on Earth would St. Albert want to stoop to copying Sherwood Park's Centre in the Park complex? The comment that a traffic circle saves the cost of traffic lights is irrelevant when there are none there now. Even if it went ahead, simple stop signs would be more than adequate for the "vast" volume of traffic to be controlled.
With the redevelopment of Grandin mall, I would think the focus should be on improved automobile traffic on Sir Winston Churchill Drive. Any available land adjacent the river should be developed as urban parkland to supplement Lions Park for the expected residential portion of the mall redevelopment. Surely our city watchword of "the Botanical Arts City" and our Environment Master Plan mandate for better use of the environment should guide DARP away from paving over this green space. The recent changes to Perron Street seemed to be a positive move to strengthen a move toward creating a stronger “urban village” concept for downtown St. Albert. I hope that DARP seriously rethink this proposal.
Ivan Hall, St. Albert
