Vancouver
A billion-dollar road project will do one of two things - ease the city's increasingly unbearable traffic congestion or turn the region into a motoring mess.
The C$3 billion (HK$21.74 billion) Gateway Programme is a planned gigantic road expansion from the eastern tip of the city to Fraser Valley where much of the growing population has settled.
For residents and politicians, the issue is whether making better roads will lead to a better city. It would appear to be a simple proposition. Faster-moving traffic means an easier commute, right? But should a city be aspiring to making roads better for drivers?
Critics say that putting more vehicles on the road ignores the reality of global warming. Some hardliners say roads should be reserved for bicycles and buses.
The debate over who should be served by the region's roads is one that the transport industry says it has been losing for too many years. For 20 years, infrastructure had veered towards supporting public transport, said Paul Landry, head of British Columbia province's Trucking Association.