?No justification? for Liberal plan, alternatives needed: regional district
KELLY SINOSKI
The Vancouver Sun
Metro Vancouver directors are raising concerns about the planned $3.5-billion bridge to replace the George Massey Tunnel, saying the proposed 10-lane crossing will negatively affect everything from transit ridership to salmon and birds in the Fraser River estuary.
Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore, chairman of the Metro board, said there’s no justification for the bridge, which was proposed by the B.C. government.
He called on the province and TransLink to find other mutually acceptable solutions to reduce congestion on the Highway 99 corridor, saying “you can’t reduce congestion by simply building more roads.
“This project represents an expansion of car-oriented infrastructure and diverts crucial funds from transportation projects that support the regional growth strategy,” he said.
The regional district plans to send a letter outlining its concerns to the B.C. minister of transportation and infrastructure, the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office, Premier Christy Clark, and the federal ministry of environment and climate change. The move follows an earlier request by the Metro board that the federal minister of environment and climate change order an environmental assessment review process in which the regional district can participate.
Metro is already involved in the provincial environmental assessment review. However, a report from Metro Vancouver released Wednesday argues the province hasn’t considered alternatives to a 10-lane bridge, or the potential ecological disruption to the Fraser River estuary and Deas Island Regional Park, or financial impacts to moving Metro water and sewer lines, which could affect $500 million to $1 billon worth of regional infrastructure once the tunnel is removed and the area dredged.
The mayors have also raised concerns with the lack of transparency and consultation regarding the bridge’s design and business case, which was only released last December — two years after the project was announced.
“We know there’s a congestion problem on that corridor,” Moore said, but noted the regional district believes it should have a say in the scope of the project to ensure it doesn’t have massive effects on issues such as air quality, climate change, utilities, parks and the environment.
“It is our job to comment on the aspects of (the project) that will affect those areas we do have responsibility for. We have to look at this with a regional perspective.”
However, Delta Mayor Lois Jackson, the lone supporter of the bridge, said Metro is not considering all regional views, noting that a larger bridge is needed to handle the increased traffic volumes now clogging up the four-lane tunnel. She maintains Metro has been debating the merits of the bridge in secret and not giving her any chance to rebut their claims.
More than 40 per cent of traffic going through the tunnel in the morning comes from Surrey and White Rock, she said, while 60 per cent of those drivers go to jobs in Richmond. Yet those cities aren’t in support of the bridge.
“They’re not looking regionally anymore. The province understands what’s at stake here with goods movement and getting people to and fro and not sitting for two hours in a lineup,” Jackson said. “This is all about politics and all about money. I don’t like going through that tunnel at any time, day or night.”
Premier Christy Clark maintains the tunnel needs to be replaced, saying in 10 years time it will no longer be safe to navigate. If there were an earthquake of more than magnitude 7.0, she said, the tunnel “risks failing completely, which means Tsawwassen and Delta and communities on the other side of the river would be completely cut off.”
Transportation Minister Todd Stone added a bridge will remove “the worst traffic bottle neck in B.C .” and include 200 lane-kilometres of new, improved and rehabilitated highway to relieve congestion.
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