The Sun reports that “in the south-of-the-Fraser communities of Langley, Surrey, Delta and White Rock, where gridlock on the bridge is a huge issue, nearly 75 per cent of (civic) candidates agreed or agreed strongly that the (Port Mann) bridge should be twinned.” They’re desperate for relief from traffic congestion.
That’s so sad. They believe that the billions being spent on new bridges and widened roads – Golden Ears, Pitt River, Port Mann, South Fraser Perimeter, Gateway – are going to give them some relief.
At any presentation I give on transportation, I always ask the audience to give me a good example – just one – of an urban region that has successfully addressed traffic congestion by building more roads and bridges. So far – most recently in Vienna – I haven’t had a single suggestion. Not one.
In a Price Tags past, however, I did get a response from Greg Wyatt, who defended Phoenix, Arizona, as a model for Vancouver. You can read my position here, and Greg’s response here.
So here’s an update from Phoenix:
Planners are trying to better anticipate choke points. But the crush of new traffic makes eliminating them virtually impossible, experts say.
“In rapidly growing areas like this, planning is a little bit of an oxymoron,” said Ram Pendyala, a transportation-systems professor at Arizona State University. “You’re simply playing catch-up. By the time you build it, you are at capacity. To think that you can stay ahead of the curve is almost wishful thinking.”
And that’s what transportation planning in the Valley has become: wishful thinking, with a billion-dollar price tag.
Gordon,
What I think is so interesting is how those who favour more freeways and those who are against really comes down to where you live. If we believe all the statistics being published on this issue it seems that people East of New Westminister and South of the Fraser are for more roads and people from West of New West and North of the Fraser are against. In other words, those closer to Vancouver centre have bought into the realities of building more roads and those who live outside have not.
BD
Just sounds like the reverse of NIMBYism to me – will it benefit “ME”? If not, the survey respondents don’t care, so they oppose it.
It’s like cities with wards where wards will trade off one another to get favourable votes. Seems to remind me of one of the Canada Line votes at TransLink – didn’t the northeast sector not favour RAV because it didn’t serve their needs?
I wonder how many people east of New Westminster and south of the Fraser would vote for a UBC rapid transit line?
I wonder how many people east of New Westminster and south of the Fraser would vote for removing two lanes form the Burrard Bridge for bike lanes?