Quote:
Originally Posted by Mininari
So who's had a reversal of opinion on this project... I was pretty strongly for it it when it was first announced, but now that we are watching the resource economy tank, and the business case for this bridge / tunnel removal concept getting crushed... as well as all the other controversy surrounding it (tolls, port expansion, deleted emails, expected traffic armageddon at the Vancouver-Richmond Bridges)... is it really a good idea to spend $3.5Billion(!) on this bridge, some widening (that won't help northbound) and a few interchanges? Seems the original plan to add 2 additional tunnel lanes, and rebuild interchanges would be considerably cheaper and effective in conjunction with the supporting highway network.
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That's what happens when people start throwing out misinformation. I'd just suggest being careful with all the rhetoric that has suddenly appeared in recent weeks. I mean where was it last year? It's not like the traffic has vanished because the economy is not as strong lately. And controversy surrounding expected traffic Armageddon? I'm just a little skeptical of motive given it seems to me the only reason people are more vocal lately is because a few other 'hot button' topics have been settled or are resolved and the professional protester group has to focus on another battle to fight. LNG pipeline has been nixed, Site C is basically going forward, LNG in Squamish is likely a go, not much else to protect against right now right?
Anyone who ever claims though that traffic isn't an issue and that there is no problem, I challenge them to go drive the GMT or Alex Fraser every day for just 1 week during rush hour both directions. You'll learn in about 2 days how ridiculously busy both are. You toll an new GMBridge and leave Alex Fraser untolled, and you bet it will be traffic Armageddon. We just hired a staffer who lives in Kits and has to go through the GMT every day now. In 3 weeks now he has averages a 1-way commute by car of 1 hour 15 minutes. That's going 23KM against rush hour... against. In contrast, I live and work South of Fraser (live in Surrey Central) and my 1 way commute takes 30 minutes on the dot and I drive 28KM roughly. So 5KM more each way, 10KM more both directions yet my daily commute is 1 hour and his 2.5 hours.
Yah definitely no problems at the GMT... if there was no traffic at the GMT guess how long his commute would be? 26 minutes.
It already is traffic Armageddon that's just fact. Hell today during a short week with the holiday season, traffic was backed up to 41st on Oak Street heading out to HWY99 and through the tunnel. 41st! People are against environmental impact but how much impact does a line of 3 lanes of cars 20KM virtually idling for 2 hours have? Heck of a lot.
It's super easy for people to armchair advocate unfortunately especially when certain groups start saying "Don't believe them because I say they are untrustworthy and they have ulterior motives I have no proof about but sound good to skeptics and conspiracy theory believers."
I believe my own eyes and simple reality agree or not.
It's actually funny someone was on CKNW just today talking about how he felt spending $3.5 billion on the GMB is a waste of dollars and there are better things to spend the money on like affordable housing. I actually laughed. What does he think the GMB is? It is making living out in the suburbs where it is actually affordable, more affordable. But see sprawl is a bad thing. We need less sprawl and more $1,800 a month studio apartments on Cambie and 12th...
*shrug* we just seem to be a region of "NO" for pretty much everything. Hell how much stink was made about the replacement of St. Paul's Hospital. Hell even transit gets people against it! I can't think of any major positive initiative anywhere in Metro-Vancouver that hasn't had some group against it claiming the end of the world. Unfortunately I just tend to tune them out today and not give the nay sayers a lot of air time in my head and stick to the facts.
Edit: Sorry missed your point about the economy and wanted to counter that the economy of BC has a far more muted affect on Port Metro-Vancouver than most other industries here. It may have "Metro-Vancouver" in its name but it is really port "Pacific Canada" because it is the gateway for the entire country to the Pacific Ocean. That means even if our economy struggles and Alberta's tanks, Quebec and Ontario will be ramping up manufacturing and all that stuff needs to go somewhere. A lot goes to the US but a measurable amount also gets shipped through our ports along with goods that go into the manufacturing process. That and last I checked, BC's economy hasn't tanked. Again because Alberta's has doesn't mean we tank automagically. BC is actually by the numbers doing OK and by most projections will actually grow stronger in the coming years as we are far less resource dependent than our neighbor Alberta who largely has been a 1-trick pony. What has been hit is the Liberal's magical LNG utopia. But our economy doesn't rest on an economy the Provincial Government invented and actually doesn't exist today.
So unlike a lot of industries in the Metro-Vancouver area, the ports are a lot less affected by our local or even provincial economy. And anyway these things go in cycles. Commodities are low right now, in 15-20 years they'll go up again. This bridge won't even be complete until 2022 and likely 2023/2024 with some delays. That's 8 years away and a lot of time for things to ebb and flow. That's why large capital projects can't be as focused on today and focus far more big picture.