Surrey businesses oppose Pattullo tolls
Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Don't toll the Pattullo Bridge.
That's the word from a majority of Surrey business owners responding to a Surrey board of trade survey who believe that putting tolls on a new bridge to replace the aging structure would increase congestion and hurt local commerce.
"The main thing is that businesses feel they will have to dish out more money just to get to where they want to go," the board's executive-director, Anita Huberman, said in an interview Tuesday about the survey, which showed more than half its members oppose tolling. "It would discourage business from moving to Surrey due to the cost of crossing the bridge. It would discourage cross-business from Surrey to Vancouver. And lineups would be significant."
While the controversial twinning of the Port Mann Bridge will be tolled to pay for the project, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon had said the Pattullo Bridge linking Surrey and New Westminster would remain as a free option for commuters crossing the Fraser River.
In July, however, TransLink began planning for a replacement for the Pattullo Bridge, and said it will be tolled as well because there is no other way to pay for a new bridge.
Directors approved "the development of a plan for the construction of a new tolled crossing to expedite the replacement of the existing Pattullo Bridge and improvements to related infrastructure," TransLink said.
However, TransLink hinted that it might be open to other financing approaches, saying it will explore "partnership opportunities with affected local and senior governments and stakeholders that have an interest in the Pattullo corridor."
The board decision followed a consultant's report that said it made more sense to build a new bridge than throw more money at the old one, which has structural problems, narrow lanes and curved approaches that have seen fatal head-on collisions.
Huberman said that while their survey indicated most members want a new Pattullo Bridge built, she'd like to see the federal government step in to provide some of the cash needed to offset the need for tolls. "Alternatives need to be sought. It could be [money] from the federal government."
According to the survey of about 715 businesses (out of a total 1,300 members), 54.9 per cent opposed tolls on the Pattullo, compared to 33 per cent who approved.
Many said tolling the Pattullo would be unfair, citing the lack of tolls from North Vancouver to Vancouver on the Lions Gate Bridge and the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.
Others said the bridge should be maintained because it's a part of the Metro Vancouver road structure. If the Cambie Bridge were to be replaced, it wouldn't be tolled, they argue.
Some said if there were alternative free bridges to cross, they wouldn't object to a toll.
Huberman said there will also be tolls on the new Golden Ears Bridge, and that tolling the Alex Fraser Bridge has been discussed.
She also noted that the Golden Ears Bridge and the Pattullo Bridge are under TransLink's jurisdiction, while the Alex Fraser and Port Mann are under provincial jurisdiction.
The board of trade has not yet conducted a formal study on the impact to Surrey and South Fraser businesses if the Pattullo Bridge is eventually tolled, Huberman said.
Despite the survey results, Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said earlier that she was "very pleased" with the announcement to build a new Pattullo Bridge - toll structure or not - because the current bridge "just does not function in this day and age."
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