South Fraser Perimeter Road/Highway 17 Extension | Completed

[mr.x]

Previous Gateway thread: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...=97491&page=20


The $3-Billion Transportation Plan for Metro Vancouver



The Gateway Program is a $3.0 billion regional transportation project for Greater Vancouver that is being run by the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation. On January 31, 2005 the British Columbia Ministry of Transportation introduced the Gateway Program as a means to address growing congestion. The scope of the Gateway Project includes building a second bridge to double the capacity of the Port Mann Bridge.

$300 million of the project is a dedicated contingency in case it goes out of budget.

Completion: 2012








Port Mann Bridge/Highway 1
- $1.5 billion

The program includes a plan for the Port Mann Bridge to be expanded from 4 lanes to 8 lanes to alleviate congestion and frequent delays. Currently, the Port Mann Bridge is congested 90% of the time between the hours of 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.; the definition of "congested" has not been specified. Since 1985, traffic on the bridge has increased 65% from 77,000 vehicles per day to 127,000.

Two of the new bridge lanes would be for HOV as part of the BC Ministry of Transportation's goal to expand Greater Vancouver's HOV network from the McGill Street to 216th street in Langley, a distance of 37 kilometres. Upgrades to interchanges are intended to increase safety, improve connections between municpalities, and reduce backups onto local streets. The Gateway Program also includes a $50 million investment in cycling infrastructure including separated cycling lanes across the Port Mann Bridge.

The new bridge is designed to be able to accommodate LRT in the future. In addition, the Port Man twinned bridges may be tolled to help pay construction costs.














South Fraser Perimeter Road
- $800 million

A new 4 lane highway approximately 40-km long, 80km/h route along the south side of the Fraser River extends from Highway 17 in southwest Delta to meet up with the Golden Ears Bridge connector road. It would help the rapidly growing port facilities, rail and industiral yards.

Opponents argue that this route will increase pollution near residential neighbourhoods and schools; destroy the hydrology of Burn's Bog, a threatened and sensitve ecosystem; and pave over valuable farmland.












North Fraser Perimeter Road/Pitt River Bridge and Marry Hill Interchange
- $400 million

The North Fraser Perimeter Road is a set of proposed improvements to existing roads along the north shore of the Fraser River, to provide an efficient, continuous route between the Queensborough Bridge in New Westminster and TransLink’s new Golden Ears Bridge in Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows. Proposed upgrades would improve safety and reliability along this key goods movement corridor and better serve growing communities in the northeast sector of Greater Vancouver.

The Pitt River Bridge and Mary Hill Interchange Project includes a new bridge to replace the existing swing bridges and an interchange to replace the existing Lougheed Highway and the Mary Hill Bypass intersection. The project is a stand-alone component of the North Fraser Perimeter Road Project.

The new cable-stayed bridge will be located between the existing bridges and will have 3 lanes of westbound traffic and 4 lanes of eastbound traffic on opening day. It will also provide up to 16 metres of vertical marine clearance, as well as providing facilities for cyclists and pedestrians. The bridge will be designed to accommodate different lane allocations and future light rapid transit.

The existing intersection at Lougheed Highway and Mary Hill Bypass will be replaced with a grade-separated interchange with on and off ramps that would allow for free-flow of traffic, while also providing for future connection to the Fremont Extension, to support development in Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam.

Combined with the new bridge, these improvements will allow for the elimination of the current counterflow system.

The project is being funded by the federal and provincial governments. As part of its recent Asia-Pacific Gateway & Corridor Initiative, the Government of Canada has committed $90 million in funding for costs associated with the construction of the bridge and a new grade-separated interchange at Lougheed Highway and Mary Hill Bypass. The Province is providing $108 million.






Official website: http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/gateway/

[mr.x]

Port Mann toll likely $3 each way


Easing traffic congestion will cost drivers who benefit
Frank Luba, The Province
Published: Tuesday, September 25, 2007

The proposed toll for the new Fraser River crossing at Port Mann, due to open in 2013, will be about $3 each way, Gateway Program officials told The Province editorial board yesterday.

Drivers will cut between five per cent and 30 per cent from their travel time, but the cut won't be cheap.

A commuter who crosses the bridge twice a day, five days a week for 44 weeks a year would pay $1,320 a year -- or about $120 a month -- in tolls.

The original proposal in 2005 was for a $2.50 toll -- 20 per cent less --that would be linked to inflation.

While the Port Mann twinning and expansion of the Trans-Canada Highway from Langley to Vancouver carries a price tag of $1.5 billion to $1.6 billion, fewer than 100 people attended the first open house and question-and-answer session in Langley last week.

Just "50 to 60" people turned out on Saturday in Surrey, said Gateway executive director Mike Proudfoot.

The next stops on the Gateway comment tour are Vancouver and Burnaby, communities which have expressed deep reservations about the Ministry of Transportation plan.

Burnaby council, afraid of increased traffic flooding its neighbourhoods, has passed a resolution declining to co-operate with the Ministry of Transportation until certain conditions are met.

Proudfoot acknowledged that should make for some interesting meetings. "I expect that attendance will be up," he said.

Anyone using the new Port Mann crossing will enjoy the benefits of an eight-lane highway -- four lanes in both directions -- from 216th Street in Langley to Vancouver.

The eight lanes double the size of the existing Trans-Canada Highway between Langley and Surrey but add just one lane in both directions from Coquitlam through Burnaby to Vancouver.

The new bridge and highway will allow for continuous high-occupancy-vehicle lanes from Langley to Vancouver. There could be price breaks for using the HOV lane as well as for travelling at off-peak times.

There are five lanes on the existing Port Mann Bridge and the same number are envisioned for the new bridge. One lane on each bridge will accommodate light-rail transit, although no one is planning for LRT on the corridor yet.

These lanes should be more than sufficient for the volume of traffic until 2021, according to Gateway.

"Depending on where you are in the corridor, you'll see increases [in traffic] in the range of 15 to 25 per cent," said Proudfoot.

Gateway's studies have shown that without a demand-management tool like tolls, the new bridge would be congested in five to 10 years.

Tolls and options such as transit will keep traffic manageable, according to project environmental consultant R. Scott Hanna.

"It won't be half empty, but it will definitely be able to move vehicles across it at a better rate than we're seeing right now," said Hanna.

Currently about 127,000 vehicles cross the Port Mann Bridge daily and congestion lasts about 14 hours.

E-mail reporter Frank Luba at [email protected]

STILL TIME TO COMMENT

The Environmental Assessment Office is accepting submissions until Nov. 13 on the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge and widening of the Trans-Canada Highway from Langley to Vancouver.

Another part of the process involves open houses followed by question-and-answer sessions. Two sessions have been held and three more are scheduled:

- Tonight in Vancouver from 5 to 9 at the Italian Cultural Centre, 3075 Slocan St.

- Thursday in Burnaby from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Executive Hotel and Conference Centre, 4201 Lougheed Hwy.

- Saturday in Coquitlam from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Executive Plaza Hotel and Conference Centre, 405 North Rd.


© The Vancouver Province 2007

[twoNeurons]

I think you will see grumbling, but I REALLY hope that Evergreen LRT goes across the Port Mann, and that means likely taking the South Route. If people paying a $3 toll see the LRT everyday on the bridge, they will be inclined to think about using it, if it goes where they want to go.

This would be especially so if there is a Park and Ride South of the Fraser with close proximity to the station.

After all, if you're going to pay $6/day in tolls + ($3/$5 gas), you will quickly re-evaluate whether or not rapid transit is a viable option. Whereas, you would be less inclined to consider it as an option if you had to get to a skytrain station deep in the heart of Surrey.

[mezzanine]

It does look like there is going to be a power play for the south route for the gateway/evergreen LRT. A coquitlam/surrey/langley/abbotsford block is forming. We'll see on Friday...

Suburbs unite to push green values
Group hopes to build sustainable communities
Frances Bula, Vancouver Sun
Published: Monday, September 24, 2007
Vancouver's fastest-growing suburbs have banded together to come up with their own plan for building green communities.

Surrey, Coquitlam, Langley Township and Abbotsford will be going to this year's Union of B.C. Municipalities conference as a new creature -- not individual cities, but as a distinct coalition of high-growth communities that will be pushing government to give them the services they need to absorb that growth in a sustainable way.

"The issues of high-growth communities are very different from communities with a declining or flat rate of growth," says Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts.

"We have to have the infrastructure in place to deal with that if we're going to grow," she said. "We have six kilometres of SkyTrain track for 700,000 people."

The four municipalities, working with former B.C. premier Mike Harcourt, have signed a "livability accord" that will be formally announced Oct. 2. But they will be going to the UBCM this week to lobby ministers for the special needs of their sub-region.

Coquitlam Mayor Maxine Wilson says the last regional plan was developed in the 1990s when the focus was all about how to connect the suburbs to the downtown.

"Since then, the region has shifted and the commuters are going from suburb to suburb," she said.

[Canadian Mind]

I like it, although I still would much prefer it if it is Skytrain tech over standard LRT. Will the southern route go to the King George Skytrain station before it continues it's trek east through Langley to Abbotsford?

[SpongeG]

Gateway what???



VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) - It seems Vancouverites may be losing interest in the Gateway Project after what appears to be a poorly attended public open house on the transportation expansion plan.
It’s the third of five such open houses held across the Lower Mainland. At times, there were more BC Government employees than members of the public at Tuesday’s event.

Merv Therriault says he’s concerned the Government will try to bulldoze the controversial plan through any opposition, “Well, I’ve lived in Vancouver for 60 years and there’s 40 times more traffic now. And so, we’re on an up cycle? Is this just going to continue? I don’t know, you know.”

The Gateway Project, which includes the controversial twinning of the Port Mann Bridge, is undergoing an environmental assessment.

Public submissions will be collected until November 13.

http://www.cknw.com/news/news_local....news_local.cfm

[Cypherus]

This project is definitely ambitious, and is severely needed to accommodate lower mainland's growing population. The fact is that you need rapid transit and highway systems. You can't have one over the other. The best case scenario is to have an equal ratio of highways and rapid transit in order to provide an array of transportation options that is tailored to the needs of people.

[Mike K.]

I had no idea there was this much investment going into the lower mainland's roads.

[deasine]

well we should have had improvements long before, but I don't think we need the "updates/improvements" the gateway is advising...

[East Van]

the proposed Cape Horn interchange is massive, it will rival some of Canada's largest. this is a mini 401.

- http://www.eao.gov.bc.ca/epic/output...d70a214df5.pdf

the proposed grandview - willingdon section is badly needed.

- http://www.eao.gov.bc.ca/epic/output...d70a214df5.pdf

[SFUVancouver]

Re: poorly attended open houses.

What's the point, honestly. The Gateway open houses are exclusively seeking public comment on the Environmental Assessment report and comments pertaining to the project as a whole, let alone negative comments, will not be considered. This Provincial Government's entire public consultation process for the Gateway program is about informing the public as opposed to seeking their input and I doubt anyone can say differently.

It is too early to know for certain if the Gateway Project will respond to the growing and intellectually sound criticism it is receiving, but it would take the rumored redesign of the Evergreen Line LRT with a line across the Fraser to Guildford and Langley to convince me that the call for more rapid transit south of the Fraser has been heard.

I'm opposed to the Gateway Program in its current form while being fully cognizant that further transportation capacity is desperately needed south of the Fraser. Let's do it right: build the twin, the NFPR, a tolled SFPR, widen Hwy 1 to have an HOV lane the entire length and rebrand them as High Priority Vehicles lanes (bus, freight, commercial-tagged vehicles, car pooling, taxis), and build bus/freight-only exits and entrances. Most importantly, plan the LRT/SkyTrain extensions now so land-use planning can respond and be ready for when the lines are built. Build the LRT/SkyTrain approaches to the Port Mann Twin when the bridge is built and rough-out the central median LRT line down Hwy1 to Abbotsford at the same the time the road is being widened.

If we're going to do it, let's do it right. We'll spend $3+ billion of our money on something that won't help congestion, while exacerbating our auto-dependency, increasing air pollution, and doing nothing to further our region's duty to become environmentally sustainable.

We can do so much better.

[Edit]

It is also worth noting that the Gateway Program's evaluation, and subsequent dismissal of a "transit-only" alternative was based on the use of express buses that were envisioned to carry approximately between 440 and 660 passengers per hour during the peak periods. This works out to between 9 and 13 2/3rds-full buses, between 6 and 8 full 40ft buses, or between 4 to 6 full 60ft articulated buses running per hour during rush hour. This option was modeled and found to reduce the number of cars on the road by between less than 100 to 350 vehicles per hour.

That is not a realistic transit-only option. That is an absurd misrepresentation of the Livable Region Coalition's transit recommendation report, and it is an asinine exercise in showing they looked at a transit option without every truly doing so. A genuine transit option would include light or heavy rail, or frequent bus rapid transit service, not a handful of half-hourly express routes converging on the bridge during rush hour.

The consultant used the George Massey Tunnel as an equivalent water crossing from which to gauge transit ridership and service levels. This is not a valid comparison. Between 4 and 13 buses an hour from several different routes using a major highway bridge does not equal a viable rapid transit program. I take this report to be proof that there was never serious consideration of a rapid transit option as part of the Gateway Program. It was going to be a highway-only project from day one.

The Gateway Program "Transit Only" option study report: Here

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by East Van

the proposed Cape Horn interchange is massive, it will rival some of Canada's largest. this is a mini 401.

- http://www.eao.gov.bc.ca/epic/output...d70a214df5.pdf

the proposed grandview - willingdon section is badly needed.

- http://www.eao.gov.bc.ca/epic/output...d70a214df5.pdf

omg.....cape horn is frightening big.




Los Angeles

[SpongeG]

haha

so when does it start?

[Canadian Mind]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

The Gateway Program "Transit Only" option study report: Here

Again, this is why I think we should organize ourselves as a unified voice against the fuckers. It's not to late yet, and it's not like the majority of us don't have the smarts to pull it off as well.

PS. Thats a weird memo, where is the dist list? I wanna know whom it was sent to, and sent by who?

[mr.x]

50 people attend Gateway open house

Frank Luba, The Province
Published: Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Maybe Vancouverites don't care about the Gateway Project or maybe they didn't hear about the open house last night at the Italian Cultural Centre about the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge and the widening of the Trans-Canada Highway.

Maybe they just missed their bus.

Whatever the reason, it looked like people with name tags from the Environmental Assessment Office and the Gateway Project outnumbered residents at the event.

The official head count was 50 for the latest stop in the open house and question-and-answer session on the provincial office's 2,334-page report about the $1.5-billion to $1.6-billion project.

Vancouver resident Keith Jacobson criticized the EAO for not doing a better job in advertising the event.

Jacobson has followed Gateway but didn't know anything about the meeting until he saw yesterday's

story about it in The Province.

"There's more people here with name tags than from the public," said Jacobson. "That's a travesty."

He wasn't too happy about Gateway, either. "What we're doing is ensuring people stay in their cars until 2031," said Jacobson. "I'm 100 per cent opposed to this project."

Writer, editor and mother Carellin Brooks was worried about the sprawl she thinks more highways will encourage. "With real-estate costs spiralling out of control, people are getting the message, 'Buy farther away,'" said the downtown resident. "Then they end up selling their souls to those multi-hour commutes. It just seems so wrong.

"We should not be putting people into cars, we should be taking people out of cars," she said.

There may be a bigger transportation turnout for the Hello Al, Goodbye Gateway rally Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Westin Bayshore. Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore will be speaking inside the Westin and being introduced by B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell.

Gore is fighting global warming and Campbell has vowed to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 33 per cent by 2020.

But the information presented at the open house yesterday was that GHG emissions in the Lower Mainland are expected to rise 16 per cent by 2021.

Building Gateway won't reduce that, it will add just under one per cent more GHG emissions.

[email protected]


© The Vancouver Province 2007

[officedweller]

The main reason the Cape Horn interchange is planned to be so big - and the reason that it currently does not work - is that you have an interchange between two highways that do not cross each other (they are parallel) along with on and off ramps from two major arterial roads (Mary Hill Bypass and United Boulevard) - all at the same location.
That's essentially THREE INTERCHANGES IN ONE.

[Stingray2004]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The main reason the Cape Horn interchange is planned to be so big - and the reason that it currently does not work - is that you have an interchange between two highways that do not cross each other (they are parallel) along with on and off ramps from two major arterial roads (Mary Hill Bypass and United Boulevard) - all at the same location.
That's essentially THREE INTERCHANGES IN ONE.

Actually, the Cape Horn is an interchange between *3* major highways Hwys (1, 7, 7B), not counting United Boulevard.

I've just recently read somewhere that the AADT on Hwy 7 between Coquitlam Town Centre and the Cape Horn interchange has increased around 90% since the mid-90's.

On any given weekday afternoon, two dedicated Hwy 7 westbound lanes for the Port Mann eastbound are almost at a standstill east of the United Blvd interchange.

It's so bad that many drivers try to skirt the conjestion and head further westbound on Hwy 7 (on another 2 dedicated lanes) and make illegal U-turns at the intersection for the Hwy 1 onramp westbound.

[SpongeG]

i am sorry but this is just a stupid sounding thing

cars are not going away people deal with it

He wasn't too happy about Gateway, either. "What we're doing is ensuring people stay in their cars until 2031," said Jacobson. "I'm 100 per cent opposed to this project."

[Stingray2004]

Well, I guess politics always pervades these issues and might as well throw one into the ringer. Apparently NDP leader James came out against the Gateway Program and specifically the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge at her speech at the UBCM today. In fact, she utilized the term dumb and dumber to describe the Gateway Program.

After almost three years since the Gateway Program was announced, she has taken the same position as the Greens. Problem is, the Pitt River Bridge/Interchange stand-alone component of the NFPR is already under construction.

______________________________________________________

B.C. New Democrat leader says she's against massive Gateway plan


VANCOUVER - New Democrat Leader Carole James says she's against the B.C. government's massive Gateway plan to improve traffic congestion because it won't be finished for another eight years and people sitting in traffic gridlock need solutions now.

James told a convention of the Union of B.C. Municipalities on Thursday that the Liberal government needs to provide more buses and SkyTrain cars and increase transit routes to serve the province's fastest-growing communities.

Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said he's been waiting for two years for James to take a position on the Gateway project, adding James will "rue the day she made the decision."

James later told reporters that while the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge may be needed across the Fraser River some day, investing in transit is the right way to help fed up commuters who sit in traffic for too long.

James made it clear Thursday that the government's solution to easy traffic congestion is too far off.

Falcon said the NDP government of the 1990's made the empty promise to twin the Port Mann bridge.

"Now that she's in this position, she's now arguing directly contrary to the position that her government took."

He noted that the twinning of the bridge will allow busses to jump past the traffic.

James also called on Premier Gordon Campbell to immediately fund the Evergreen light-rail transit line to Coquitlam and start planning a new transit line up the Fraser Valley.

Campbell is slated to speak to delegates at the convention on Friday.

He announced the $3-billion Gateway transportation plan in January 2006.

It would include a new Pitt River Bridge and the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge, along with a new South Fraser bypass route from Deltaport to Highway 1 in Surrey.

The plan also calls for a North Fraser road from Maple Ridge to New Westminster and a further widening of the Trans-Canada Highway from Vancouver to Langley.

Falcon said that the population of Metro Vancouver is expected to grow by one million people in the next two decades.

"To think that we can get by with a bridge that was built in 1963 and not do anything to even think about how we're going to provide transit options...I think it's very short sighted and I really believe she'll pay a big price with the public for getting on the wrong side of this issue. "

New Democrat MLAs from the B.C. Interior have also voiced concern about the Gateway plan, saying rural residents will be left behind as the government focuses on the massive project.

During her speech to municipal politicians, James said B.C.'s economic boom is leaving too many people behind and that the province should increase the minimum wage to $10 an hour to ensure the prosperity is shared.

"The premier took a $54,000 increase himself this year," she told delegates at the convention. "It's time that he gave B.C.'s lowest-paid workers the same consideration and increased the minimum wage."

James also said rural communities have been hit hard by the pine beetle epidemic and that should concern every British Columbian.

There are so many dead pine trees that they'd fill 33,000 Stanley Parks, she said.

"It's an unprecedented natural, economic and social disaster, bigger than anything we've seen in our lifetimes. It's threatening communities and thousands of jobs.

"I say return softwood lumber taxes collected at the border back to resource communities to give them the tools they need."

James also wants the Liberals to debate the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement in the legislature.

The agreement between B.C. and Alberta went into effect in April without public debate.

It's touted as a blueprint for other provinces wanting to remove interprovincial trade barriers.

Copyright © 2007 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

[deasine]

^I find it funny that the NDP took soo long to make up a decision to be against the Gateway. This program was announced long ago and finally they say they are against it. HAHA I love this article.

He noted that the twinning of the bridge will allow busses to jump past the traffic.

Hmm... unless there are HPV lanes and more HPV priorty ramps (leading into the HOV Lane), buses aren't going to move that much faster...
On the topic about HPV, Two are needed throughout Surrey and thru Burnaby and Vancouver. After noticing the MANY (stress that word now) on the highway during Global 1's traffic report this morning. This is what I would like to see on the Port Mann Bridge (and its twin):

- 1 HPV Lane, 1 HOV Lane, 2 Thru Traffic Lanes, 1 Evergreenline "lane"

James also called on Premier Gordon Campbell to immediately fund the Evergreen light-rail transit line to Coquitlam and start planning a new transit line up the Fraser Valley.

Campbell is slated to speak to delegates at the convention on Friday.

Hope to actually hear an annoucement.

During her speech to municipal politicians, James said B.C.'s economic boom is leaving too many people behind and that the province should increase the minimum wage to $10 an hour to ensure the prosperity is shared.

"The premier took a $54,000 increase himself this year," she told delegates at the convention. "It's time that he gave B.C.'s lowest-paid workers the same consideration and increased the minimum wage."

I would love for this to happen. I'm making 8.25 an hour right now at Cobs (typical high schooler pay) and I want more $$ =D