South Fraser Perimeter Road/Highway 17 Extension | Completed

[racc]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

busses could be added to it now but they would be slowed down but they could get priority from drivers perhaps

The plan was to build bus lanes leading to and from the bridge so the buses wouldn't get stuck in the congestion. Unfortunately, that was delayed for some reason. Again, this works fine on the Lions Gate and the Massey Tunnel.

[Locked In]

New Port Mann bridge will be finished one year ahead of schedule

By Jonathan Fowlie, Vancouver Sun - April 17, 2009 2:49 PM


Photograph by: Vancouver Sun, Handout

SURREY - A new 10-lane Port Mann bridge will be completed by December 2012, one year earlier than first expected, Premier Gordon Campbell announced during a campaign stop at the bridge Friday.

Campbell said the new bridge will help ease congestion in the Lower Mainland.

The capital cost of the bridge is expected to be $2.4 billion.

Campbell had initially said his government was going to build the bridge as a public-private partnership, but the government stepped in to fund the entire deal when it could not reach a deal with private sector investors.

Campbell made the Port Mann Bridge announcement as he spent the day Friday highlighting the investments his government has made throughout the Lower Mainland in roads, bridges and transit.

"We've invested literally billions in the last few years in improving the transportation infrastructure, not just for transit, but for goods movement," Campbell said while standing on the nearly finished $198 million Pitt River Bridge.

"The NDP candidate, when we announced this in 2005, said this was a pipe dream," he said of the bridge, taking aim at New Democratic Party incumbent for Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows, Michael Sather.

"This is the pipe dream come true," Campbell said.

"It's actually providing services for people in an area of the province that has tripled in population in the last [15] years," he added.

The Pitt River Bridge is in the riding of Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows, which this year is a rematch between Sather, and Liberal candidate Ken Stewart. In 2005, Sather defeated Stewart by 925 votes.

On Friday, Campbell said traffic will start crossing the Pitt River bridge by the fall.

[email protected]
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Source: Vancouver Sun

[hollywoodnorth]

Go Gordo Go!

[WarrenC12]

Wow, I hope it will be open by Dec 2012, but I wouldn't hold my breath. No details on why or how?

[hollywoodnorth]

its Gordo brah! he can do anything he sets his mind to!

and I imagine it has something to do with the current economic climate. There are no more issues regarding labor shortages, etc.

When I drove the freeway yesterday to Langley and back I was supprised at all the staking that was done and the amount of site prep in the Cape Horn Area

[officedweller]

My guess is that they must have simplified the Cape Horn interchange a lot versus the plans on the Gateway website.

The bridge itself can be built without interfering with existing traffic patterns since it is alongside the existing bridge - so you would just cutover to the new traffic lanes - the bits that I could see slowing construction would be having to work around existing traffic - i.e. around Cape Horn.

[surrey1]

isnt the world supposed to end in december 2012?
what a waste of money

[LeftCoaster]

Well if the world ceases to exist, then so would money... so it wouldn't really be a waste then would it?

[amor de cosmos]

a pipe dream come true? —?

[clooless]

Don't you mean February 10th, 2010 when the torch is lit in BC Place and the dome collapses, killing everyone live on international TV?

Kidding!

Anyway, it's great news that the Port Mann will be completed a year earlier than planned. I am still very curious to see how Cape Horn will be reconstructed and if it will cause huge delays.

[amor de cosmos]

another person saying no more roads, as if to say that transit, or rail (etc) make up the entire transportation system. don't those people know that besides private vehicles and freight, services like police, fire, utilities vehicles, etc all need roads also.

April 17, 2009
Obama’s high-speed rail suggests Gateway Program “rethink” needed: prof
By Travis Lupick

An announcement from the White House could open up a new front in the debate on the Gateway Program.

Today (April 17), U.S. president Barack Obama called for the federal government to spend $13 billion on a “new era” of high-speed passenger rail transportation in America. As indicated on the map above, two Canadian cities are part of his vision. The proposal includes a high-speed rail link connecting Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver.

Lawrence Frank, chair in sustainable transportation at UBC, told the Straight that the announcement “could be a great thing” for Vancouver.

“I think it could affect projected increases in demand on the Highway 1 corridor coming into Vancouver from the U.S. border,” Frank said in a telephone interview. “I think it suggests a need to rethink [the Gateway Program].”

The Gateway Program largely consists of a series of infrastructure projects. Two of the largest will affect travel flow from the U.S. to downtown Vancouver. The program includes plans to replace the existing Port Mann Bridge with a new 10-lane structure, and to widen Highway 1 from McGill Street in Vancouver to 216 Street in Langley.

According to Frank, part of the provincial government’s argument for replacing the Port Mann Bridge and widening Highway 1 is a projected increase in congestion on account of more traffic from the U.S.

Frank said that if, in the same amount of time that it would take to complete these highway-focused projects, the province could instead enhance its rail infrastructure, the demand for these roadway projects could be reduced.

“It could save a whole lot of money,” Frank said. “Yes, of course it would be an expensive project. But relative to what?”

Frank said that when assessing transportation options, people should think of costs in terms of projects’ full impacts on society, and not just what the up-front, dollar figures are. For example, he continued, enlarging roadway capacity can carry additional costs such as air pollution.

“It’s clear that rail and nonmotorized [transportation] come at health and environmental benefits whereas roadway-focused investments come at health and environmental costs,” Frank said.

Currently, Amtrak Cascades operates a single passenger train between Vancouver and Seattle. The ride takes approximately four hours, according to Amtrak’s Web site.

A call to the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure was not returned by the Straight’s deadline.

Other infrastructure projects that the B.C. government describes as part of the Gateway Program are the construction of the South Fraser Perimeter Road, a four-lane road from Deltaport Way to the proposed Golden Ears Bridge, and construction of the North Fraser Perimeter Road, which comprises improvements to existing roads, a stand-alone project to replace the Pitt River Bridge, and the building of an interchange replacing the Mary Hill Bypass and Lougheed intersection.

http://www.straight.com/article-215083/o...-program-%3F%3Frethink%3F%3F-needed-prof

[stevai]

I think it's pretty safe to assume that the majority of traffic from Seattle is coming into Vancouver via Hwy 99....not Hwy 1...considering I-5 turns into 99 and is the most direct route into the city. A high-speed rail link between Vancouver and Seattle, while a great idea, would realistically have minimal impact on Hwy 1 traffic volumes.

[Metro-One]

My guess is that they must have simplified the Cape Horn interchange a lot versus the plans on the Gateway website.

I sure hope not, it was actually a really good conceptual design.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by amor de cosmos

another person saying no more roads, as if to say that transit, or rail (etc) make up the entire transportation system. don't those people know that besides private vehicles and freight, services like police, fire, utilities vehicles, etc all need roads also.

http://www.straight.com/article-215083/o...-program-%3F%3Frethink%3F%3F-needed-prof

That has nothing to do with Gateway. If we had like a Gateway Program for Highway 99... okay I understand it though I don't really agree with it, but this is Highway 1 we are talking about.

[racc]

Originally Posted by amor de cosmos

another person saying no more roads, as if to say that transit, or rail (etc) make up the entire transportation system. don't those people know that besides private vehicles and freight, services like police, fire, utilities vehicles, etc all need roads also.

You can do better than that. Do you honestly think a ten lane bridge or even a five lane bridge is needed for police, fire, utilities vehicles or even freight for that matter? We will never have that bad a gang problem. The large majority of the vehicles on the bridge are private vehicles. If even some of these people have other choices, that greatly reduces the "need" to build a ten lane bridge.

There is a difference between no roads and no more roads last time I checked.

[racc]

Originally Posted by stevai

I think it's pretty safe to assume that the majority of traffic from Seattle is coming into Vancouver via Hwy 99....not Hwy 1...considering I-5 turns into 99 and is the most direct route into the city. A high-speed rail link between Vancouver and Seattle, while a great idea, would realistically have minimal impact on Hwy 1 traffic volumes.

High speed rail is good for more than just interregional. In LA and Toronto, people are starting to consider it for travel within the region. Imagine trains travelling 150-200 kph travelling between the major town centres connecting to SkyTrain or streetcars to get people to their final destination or high speed rail to Seattle and Portland. Vancouver to Surrey in 15 minutes. Surrey to Coquitlam Centre in 5 to 10 minutes. This would transform the region.

The bottom line is that while speed of automobiles is getting less due to congestion, the speed of rail continues to increase. Unfortunately, instead of looking to the future, we are still building yesterday's transportation systems.

[cornholio]

Originally Posted by racc

You can do better than that. Do you honestly think a ten lane bridge or even a five lane bridge is needed for police, fire, utilities vehicles or even freight for that matter? We will never have that bad a gang problem. The large majority of the vehicles on the bridge are private vehicles. If even some of these people have other choices, that greatly reduces the "need" to build a ten lane bridge.

There is a difference between no roads and no more roads last time I checked.

SOV are here to stay, they are efficient and thats why they are used with mass transit acting more like a overflow system when the roads cant handle the capacity.
Eventually marketable alternative energy sources will be developed for cars and the whole global warming and pollution argument will be gone, while oil will significantly drop in price the moment this happens(and it hasnt happened yet), this will allow for a easy transition and ROADS will be back in style.

Hence you need balance and variety right now, just like everything else in the world. Balance, variety, you know. Those who are against road expansion at all costs are just as dangerous for society as those who are against public transit at all costs.

[Metro-One]

Also it really is a good idea to have good sized bridges in an area crisscrossed by rivers and inlets. Not to mention we are in a flood and earthquake zone and one never knows when we will need sufficient road capacity for disaster responses or evacuations. Again when looking at the European threads on SSC it seems that they are building highway and major road bridges and tunnels, (some of them up to 20 KMs long!) all the time. That is Metro Vancouver's #1 link to the rest of Canada, it is not a local bridge, it is a provincial bridge, people coming from Kamloops and the Okanagan on their way to Vancouver, Nanaimo, Whistler, etc... will use that bridge and vice versa. The #1 through Metro-Van is more than just a ring road or a inter urban connector, it is the highway, the heart of the road system in a city that is now in the multi millions.

Not to mention many of the interchanges on the #1 are dangerous (they are deteriorating and many have horribly short and tight on/off ramps and merge lanes). These interchanges need to be fixed. The Willington interchange for example is terrible and floods every year!

[Whalleyboy]

Racc you speak like people are just gonna give up there cars and forget driving....i myself to be honest gotta say screw that i wouldn't give up the comforts of driving for speed always....hell i drive to metrotown from central all the time even though skytrain would actually be faster.

[osirisboy]

agreed^^^ I never take public transit. and will never take it even though its faster sometimes.