Editor:
I’ve seen a few letters recently decrying Parks Canada’s decision to close the eastern half of the Bow Valley Parkway to vehicles and I wish to add my support.
The Bow Valley Parkway is one of the greatest treasures in the park, and the eastern half is one that I know is a bucket list for many visiting by vehicle.
The Muleshoe bathrooms, the full minute you get to see the Sawback burn, the forest, the forest, the forest, that spot where the road splits in two – not the cool one with the tree, the other one – the forest again. These are things that should not be reserved solely for the use of those spandex-wearing yuppies.
Might I, as a member of the community, be supportive of this reduction in passenger vehicles in a wildlife corridor given the tragic events where two grizzly bears and two cubs were killed in Yoho National Park? Perhaps, but what good are those bears to me if I can't go and see them myself?
Also, what am I supposed to do if I’m unable to bike? Take the Roam transit Route 9 bus? It’s not like there are seats on those things. Plus, they only depart every hour-and-a-half. Parks Canada cannot possibly expect me to plan my day around that.
It was pointed out that bicycles do not pay insurance or for licence fees to drive on the road. This is true, given that bicyclists are well known to not own cars for use under any other circumstances. Their lack of licensing is a concern, too, given the notably high incident rate of bicycle-pedestrian and bicycle-wildlife collisions.
As a final note, I understand that the Cascade Fire Road was originally planned as a scenic highway connecting the Town of Banff to the Red Deer River Valley. I call on Parks Canada to upgrade the road and open the backcountry of Banff National Park to all Canadians. I don’t ride a horse and I can’t hike for four days, after all, so why should I be denied the right to see these valleys or the bison herds that roam within them?
Alexander Lanceras,
Lake Louise
