Port Mann twinning a bridge too far: GVRD : WC Mediawire

The province’s plan to twin the Port Mann Bridge and widen Highway 1 west of the crossing now faces formal opposition from the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD).

A report by policy and planning manager Hugh Kellas that comes before the GVRD’s land use and transportation committee today (Friday) gives qualified support to some Gateway program elements – including the north and south Fraser perimeter roads and the widening of Highway 1 in Surrey and Langley.

But it concludes the $3-billion plan’s goal of increasing traffic flow via the twinned Port Mann, the wider highway in Burnaby, and the proposed Pitt River bridge go against the Livable Region Strategic Plan (LRSP) that guides regional growth.

The report argues the twinning and western highway widening be shelved while impacts on growth are studied and other congestion controls – like more tolls or road pricing – are pursued.

“There is no clear strategy for maintaining the anticipated gains for goods movement over the longer term as congestion levels on the new/expanded highways rise,” the report says.
Kellas warns accepting the full Gateway package outright would send a signal that the GVRD is prepared to radically alter its growth plan to align it with Gateway, which critics say will fuel urban sprawl further up the Fraser Valley.

The report recommends the GVRD support the Pitt River bridge replacement, the perimeter roads and freeway widening south of the Fraser only under conditions:

- The new Pitt River bridge come with HOV lanes or at least a guarantee they be added when warranted.

- A strategy be drawn up to compensate and mitigate for the South Fraser Perimeter Road’s impact on agricultural, park and Green Zone land.

- A traffic control strategy including “regional transport pricing and tolling” be developed in concert with TransLink.

- A regional goods movement strategy be drawn up to ensure congestion gains for cargo haulers from Gateway won’t be lost as traffic increases.

- The province agree to compensate the GVRD for relocation of water and sewer lines affected by Gateway projects.
The GVRD report has also asked TransLink to advise it on the twinning and widening implications.

Specifically, it asks whether building Gateway at the same time as other major transportation projects – the region is already committed to two new rapid transit lines and the new Golden Ears Bridge – “is the most efficient and cost-effective phasing of these initiatives for achieving regional transportation objectives.”

Kellas’ report also asks whether a better option might be to defer Gateway and instead improve transit, add tolls, and build the Golden Ears and Pitt River bridges, which together create an improved route to the Burrard peninsula that bypasses the Port Mann.

The Livable Region plan called for eventual tolling of all bridges leading to the Burrard peninsula.

“We won’t do it,” responded transportation minister Kevin Falcon in an interview.

And while TransLink could toll more of the bridges it controls, Falcon said he doubts local politicians have the stomach for the increased transportation demand controls the GVRD report urges.

“I’m not going to hold my breath to see which of the politicians is going to have the courage to stand up and say they’re going to put tolling in place where there is no new infrastructure,” Falcon said.

“If you think the parking stall tax created a firestorm, you’ve seen nothing yet.”

He said he won’t back away from the Port Mann twinning, either.

“Eliminating the twinning of the Port Mann would drive a huge amount of traffic on the South Fraser Perimeter Road and create a traffic calamity for the Pattullo and the Alex Fraser,” Falcon said.

And he held up the proposed toll for the Port Mann as a mechanism that will help control traffic and channel commuters toward transit.

Falcon said the Gateway program is indivisible and won’t work if “you try to cherry pick what pieces you want and don’t want.”

The GVRD report asks the province provide the underlying land use and growth assumptions it used and that staff further study impacts.

They range from air quality and greenhouse gas implications to waterfront accessibility impacts of the South Fraser Perimeter Road, to reduced access to regional parks.
The report suggests the South Fraser Perimeter Road may impact Burns Bog, eliminate up to 80 hectares of farm land, and limit access to Deas Island and Tynehead regional parks.
The Highway 1 widening could likewise impact Burnaby Lake and Colony Farm regional parks, it said, as well as other wetlands and habitat areas near the Pitt River.

- Port Mann Bridge and Hwy. 1 – $1.5 billion for new four-lane bridge and two to four extra lanes from Langley to Vancouver. Tolls of $2.50 proposed for new bridge. HOV lanes extended. Completion: 2013.

- South Fraser Perimeter Road – $800 million for new four-lane express truck-oriented route along river’s south shore through Delta and Surrey, linking ports, industrial areas, highways and the new Golden Ears Bridge. Completion: 2012.

- North Fraser Perimeter Road – Series of road improvements in Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows and New Westminster (TransLink-led) including a new Mary Hill interchange coupled with a new six-lane Pitt River bridge, with additional eastbound truck lane. Total cost $400 million.
Pitt River Bridge completion: 2009.

- $300-million contingency fund.

Stormy relationship:

- Four previous resolutions from the GVRD board – two in 2004 and two in 2005 – have expressed concern about then-unrevealed Gateway plans and asked a series of questions.

- The GVRD board also requested a meeting with transportation minister Kevin Falcon, who has declined.

- Gateway officials last briefed a meeting of GVRD directors in October, 2004.

- Gateway reps did meet staff from local cities and the GVRD at meetings of the Gateway Program Municipal Advisory Committee. But that body has not met since mid-2005.

- Neither Falcon nor program officials have directly met with GVRD reps since detailed Gateway plans were unveiled in January, 2006.

- Gateway community consultations are now under way around the region, wrapping up at the end of April. Open houses in Surrey are Saturday, April 8 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Guildford Recreation Centre, and Tuesday, April 11 from 6-9 p.m. at North Surrey Arena.

Western Canada Wilderness Committee

Western Canada Wilderness Committee