Hwy 99 Fraser River Tunnel (George Massey Replacement) | Proposed

[Pinion]

Day said capacity at the frequently-congested tunnel could be improved by banning trucks during rush hour and running local ports 24 hours a day.

Correct me if I'm wrong but our container ports are already 24/7? Haven't been to Deltaport but the other ones sure are.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

This is why when it comes to infrastructure th Liberals are far better than the NDP.

True leadership builds what is needed and does not pander to the city councils.

I do not need to remind people what our Skytrain system would look like today if that same approach had been taken for rapid transit expansions.

Umm... the mayors actually did all come together with a coherent transit plan for the Lower Mainland and the Province blocked their attempts to fund it. The reason the Liberals got a drubbing in the election is exactly because they didn't care about these kinds of issues.

I laughed out loud when one of the councilors said they should simply just ban trucks from the crossing during rush hour and run the ports 24/7 to make up for it... like fucking serisously?

Why exactly is that a bad idea? All the other west coast ports run 24/7 - why does Deltaport get to concentrate all it's traffic into the daytime hours?

Sure, it's not going to fix everything - but it's cheap and it makes sense, IMHO.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Pinion

Correct me if I'm wrong but our container ports are already 24/7? Haven't been to Deltaport but the other ones sure are.

Deltaport, Vanterm, and Centerm are open between 8am and midnight. Fraser Surrey Docks is open between 8am and 4pm.

[moosejaw]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

when one of the councilors said they should simply just ban trucks from the crossing during rush hour and run the ports 24/7 to make up for it... like fucking serisously?.

Let's get all the container ship traffic to accommodate this minor request!

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

Deltaport, Vanterm, and Centerm are open between 8am and midnight. Fraser Surrey Docks is open between 8am and 4pm.

Seriously? I had assumed a major port like Vancouver would run 24/7. I don't know how other ports around the world operate so maybe this is normal. If not then it's time to get with the program.

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

Deltaport, Vanterm, and Centerm are open between 8am and midnight. Fraser Surrey Docks is open between 8am and 4pm.

OK, I guess "open" means accepting new trucks rather than buzzing with activity because people are definitely working there all night/morning. I was at Centerm after hours for almost a year.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Pinion

OK, I guess "open" means accepting new trucks rather than buzzing with activity because people are definitely working there all night/morning. I was at Centerm after hours for almost a year.

Yeah, that's what people mean by "open" because they'd rather shift the container truck traffic to off-peak hours, which for the Massey Tunnel is pretty much after 8pm and before 6am because it's jammed pretty much during daylight hours. People don't really care that the various ports are operating 24/7, just that trucks can deliver containers to and retrieve containers from the port 24/7.

How much in the way of hazardous goods gets diverted over the AFB because they're not allowed through the GMT?

[LeftCoaster]

"Day said capacity at the frequently-congested tunnel could be improved by banning trucks during rush hour"

Here we go.

NDP hasn't even been sworn in and the drive to stifle business growth has begun.

Maybe capacity could be increased by building a bridge and not nixing tolls for no reason other than vote pandering... I wonder if anyone thought of that option?

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

Umm... the mayors actually did all come together with a coherent transit plan for the Lower Mainland and the Province blocked their attempts to fund it. The reason the Liberals got a drubbing in the election is exactly because they didn't care about these kinds of issues.


Why exactly is that a bad idea? All the other west coast ports run 24/7 - why does Deltaport get to concentrate all it's traffic into the daytime hours?

Sure, it's not going to fix everything - but it's cheap and it makes sense, IMHO.

umm, news flash, but Burnaby and Port Moody wanted the Evergreen Line to be at grade LRT (especially Port Moody).

It was actually your horrid Liberlas that strong-armed them into skytrain technology

Same with the Canada Line, Richmond wanted at grade LRT too.

And at more than one interview the Liberals did hint that they were going to do the same for the extension to Langley when the time came.

And yeah, instead of building acceptable infrastructure lets just make an entire industry and all of its spin off industries operate during the night.

While we are at it, instead of building the Broadway Subway who don't we make UBC hold half of its classes or more throughout the night as well? You know, doesn't fix everything but its cheap and makes sense IMO

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Here we go.

NDP hasn't even been sworn in and the drive to stifle business growth has begun.

Is he wrong though? The only counter-argument I've seen to his statement have been ad hominem attacks against the NDP.

Trucks make up 8% of the volume through the GMT, and there have been studies in other jurisdictions that show that shifting even 5% of the traffic volume to off-peak times drastically improves the congestion. Taking trucks out of the rush hour could help the GMT a bunch here.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

Is he wrong though? The only counter-argument I've seen to his statement have been ad hominem attacks against the NDP.

Trucks make up 8% of the volume through the GMT, and there have been studies in other jurisdictions that show that shifting even 5% of the traffic volume to off-peak times drastically improves the congestion. Taking trucks out of the rush hour could help the GMT a bunch here.

It's all about priorities.

If you value the impact of the port and their contribution to the well-being of local citizens then you probably wouldn't tell them how to run their business and make it difficult for them.

If you value the commuters in their cars traveling from south of the Fraser to north of the Fraser more that the impact of the port then you don't expand the infrastructure and you put pressure on the port to change their operations.

The Liberals clearly valued the port and its economic impact. The GReenDP would rather cancel the bridge and tell the port how to run its operations.

[Trainguy]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

Is he wrong though? The only counter-argument I've seen to his statement have been ad hominem attacks against the NDP.

Trucks make up 8% of the volume through the GMT, and there have been studies in other jurisdictions that show that shifting even 5% of the traffic volume to off-peak times drastically improves the congestion. Taking trucks out of the rush hour could help the GMT a bunch here.

While they are at it, they can also ban trucks from the Pattullo Bridge during morning and evening rush hours as well. Many take up 2 lanes to navigate the bridge safely.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

If you value the impact of the port and their contribution to the well-being of local citizens then you probably wouldn't tell them how to run their business and make it difficult for them.

And yet somehow other west coast ports run 24x7 operations and make good money doing it...

It would be interesting to get a trucker's point of view on this. Would they rather be stuck in traffic during the day or would they rather be making early morning or late evening runs when they could just sail through the tunnel?

I was fortunate to have flex working hours at my job, and I chose to work from 6:00AM to 2:00PM specifically because commuting was so much more pleasant at those hours, even though I was using transit.

[GlassCity]

I wonder if it would be possible to pressure them into the building the bridge, even if at only 8 lanes. I wonder where overall public opinion is. It'll get built eventually. Why not now, when it's already needed?

[Stingray2004]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

And yet somehow other west coast ports run 24x7 operations and make good money doing it...

And yet Westshore Terminals (operator of Roberts Bank Superport):

The terminal has about 200 full-time employees and runs 24 hours a day, most days of the year.

http://www.bcmarineterminals.com/Westshore_Terminals.aspx

Truckers also want to live their daily lives like everyone else - not on the night shift. Furthermore, when they deliver their containers to local distribution centres, who knows how many are closed on the night shift?

In that vein, I wonder when these signs, posted along the Hwy 99 corridor for a few years, will finally come down?

[Stingray2004]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

While we are at it, instead of building the Broadway Subway who don't we make UBC hold half of its classes or more throughout the night as well? You know, doesn't fix everything but its cheap and makes sense IMO

Yep. That's some of the same logic going on in this thread. Ergo, by definition/extension, obvious same logic holds for proposed Broadway Subway line.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by Stingray2004

In that vein, I wonder when these signs, posted along the Hwy 99 corridor for a few years, will finally come down?

Technically construction has started so the new government could leave them up until the liberals are elected in an election or two.

[Bobert]

Why would you ban trucks at rush hour when there are thousands of warehouses/distributors who rely on those shipments...

[flipper316]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

Is he wrong though? The only counter-argument I've seen to his statement have been ad hominem attacks against the NDP.

Trucks make up 8% of the volume through the GMT, and there have been studies in other jurisdictions that show that shifting even 5% of the traffic volume to off-peak times drastically improves the congestion. Taking trucks out of the rush hour could help the GMT a bunch here.

Have you driven through the GMT north during rush hour? You can ban all the trucks you want you're still going to have crazy backups. You got 3 lanes on 99 north. 2 lanes from the 17 on ramp to 99. 2 lanes from 17 A on ramp to 99. Plus another 2 lanes on ramp to 99 from River Road. That's essentially 9 lanes of traffic trying to squeeze into 1 measly northbound lane. Even without the southbound counterflow that's still essentially 9 lanes trying to squeeze into 2 lanes. You would still have backups even without the trucks.

[flipper316]

Originally Posted by Bobert

Why would you ban trucks at rush hour when there are thousands of warehouses/distributors who rely on those shipments...

Because these politicians live in a bubble and they're entitled to an opinion just like everyone else. I wonder if trucks are banned in any of the numerous tunnels in Europe or the New York area tunnels?