Developer Bob Cheema is proposing a second access road from Highway 99 to the Garibaldi Highlands as a ‘common sense solution’.
Cheema said many community members have asked him on how Cheema Lands can provide a solution to reduce traffic and speeding in the Highlands.
The solution, he says, is a second access road from Highway 99 along Dowad Drive to the Highlands, which he is willing to fund.
Cheema applied for an OCP amendment for his property in January, and says he is willing to work with the district on any issues related to potential development.
If council amends the OCP, it would change the land classification and include the Cheema Lands within the town’s growth boundaries.
Cheema said the community has raised concerns to elected officials on a regular basis regarding speeding and traffic along Highlands Way North, Perth Drive and The Boulevard. Yet, nothing has been done.
“A second access road can be built to municipal standards and paid for by the Cheema family. It is the most common-sense solution to reducing traffic as it will provide residents with a secondary connector route to Highway 99.”
It will also enable faster response times for First Responders in case of emergencies, he added.
Cheema was granted a quarry permit in April, which allows the proponent to extract a maximum of 2000 tonnes per year for five years from a portion of the land.
The council has yet to debate the OCP amendment, and Cheema is hoping to work with council, although he plans to mine the land if the OCP amendment fails.
Ralph Fulber says
Squamish will come to regret that they did not require a master transportation study in allowing all this development in such a short period of time. Difficult to undo. Would be ironic if in the end we do see a by-pass highway along the proposed Indian Arm route. Imagine a road through Brackendale to Powell River and the nightmare of traffic congestion in our immediate future.