City of Richmond Councillor Carol Day joins the discussion on the Massey Bridge in a letter published in the Delta Optimist. This saga of the Massey Tunnel morphing into a ten lane bridge has a history that goes back over a decade, with a host of constantly changing rationales and purposes, and a burgeoning multi-billion dollar taxpayer-funded price tag.
Concerns are many for this bridge placement at this location. There is the sensitivity of the Fraser River Delta, the destruction of more Class 1 farmland which was purportedly “protected” in the Agricultural Land Reserve, the fact that such a large bridge will simply move vehicles into parking lots on either side, and the fact that a twinned tunnel replacement was never seriously examined.
As Councillor Day notes “In 2006, the B.C. Liberal government’s Gateway Program looked ahead to “twinning the George Massey Tunnel under the south arm of the Fraser River between Richmond and Delta.” That meant adding another tunnel tube in order to increase the capacity by at least two lanes. However, the Gateway report stated, “The project is on the back burner in part because it would put pressure on traffic bottlenecks to the north, requiring expansion of the Oak Street and Knight Street bridges into Vancouver or a new bridge into Burnaby.”
“Contradicting its own 2006 logic, the province now wants to demolish the tunnel and build a 10-lane bridge. It has paid lip service to considering three other options to expand the crossing’s capacity, but in its B.C. environmental assessment application those options have the same high capacity as the 10-lane bridge. “
“…The province’s assessment process, inadequate for this purpose, will allow the province to get away with that, even though Richmond and Metro Vancouver have reasoned for limited expansion that is consistent with the province’s 2006 logic. Their calls for moderate options have been ignored. It is as though the views of the local governments do not exist. Who knows better than the Metro Vancouver Mayors Council how to enhance our Metro Vancouver transportation system?”
Councillor Day is asking for the public to press “the federal government to begin a Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency review. It would include options that meet the needs of Metro Vancouver and Richmond, consider environmental effects in a wider and cumulative way, and enable independent decisions. “
Despite the fact that all the municipalities except Delta have nixed this location of this mega bridge and despite this extraordinary cost for a “bridge too wide” the process just lumbers on with no accounting for other options. Who is this bridge really serving?
Author
Reblogged this on Sandy James Planner.
It is interesting to me that the mayors for Metro Vancouver do not address this issue more seriously. They would be supported by a host of environmental (and other) groups. Both Michael Harcourt and Bill van der Zalm have publicly spoken out against this proposal because it does not only NOT address traffic/transit infrastructure, it will be the downfall of the South Fraser farmlands as we know them.
Lastly, the Pacific Flyway, the Fraser Estuary and the Fraser Delta will all be at peril once the Port of Vancouver gets the tunnel removed and starts to dredge the Fraser in order to get the deeper hull ships up river.
We have seen a decline in the Salmon run and there are troubling signs in the Northern Pacific Whale population. Specifically the J and K pods rely on the Fraser Chinook Salmon for 95% of their diet.
This bridge needs to be stopped!
You may want to elaborate on what the dredging has to do with endangering the flyway.
I don’t see them as a 1 to 1 link.
Then you probably need to understand that a flyway is not simply birds flying over the area as stopping on their way for essential refuelling. The ecosystem of the Fraser Delta is both complex and delicate – and disrupting the salinity of the river (which is inevitable with deeper dredging) threatens the food supply of many species. Since there has not been an admission that dredging is the inevitable consequence of removing the tunnel – the Minister of Transportation outright lied about the intention to dredge – there has been no adequate assessment of the risk.
You may need to cull the harbour seals to preserve salmon stocks (but not quite yet):
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/seal-cull-not-yet-warranted-despite-large-salmon-diet-say-researchers-1.3424565
“Who is this bridge really serving?” The Port of Vancouver of course. Their long term strategy has for a long time been to expand the use of the Fraser – and the tunnel is a hindrance to that. The Port wants to increase the depth of dredging – but cannot while the tunnel and its attendant high voltage power line are in place.
Road traffic through the tunnel has actually been falling for some years. The problems experienced at the peak could easily be dealt with by encouraging truck traffic to move in off peak periods. That would require the terminals to operate 24/7 just like they do in every other west coast port. The province also had a plan to increase transit use – highway bus lanes have long been established, but services have not kept pace with demand due to the provincially imposed restrictions on transit funding.
All of this – and more – is documented at Fraser Voices
Here is the Fraser Voices web page http://www.fraser-voices.org/
From a link on the Arizona hosted Fraser Voices website; John Horgan on the new Massey Bridge: “It’s not a priority for the mayors; it’s not a priority for me.”
That’s great John. That could get you a few votes in Nanaimo. Not so much in Surrey, White Rock, Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby, Tsawwassen and, of course, Delta.
Every riding touching the Massey site is a BC Lib stronghold anyway (which explains some — but certainly not all — of their rationale), with the exception of Delta South which went independent.
If you read all the Horgan interview you’ll see he’s rightfully concerned about cost and the tendency for drivers to spend $6 in gas and 35 minutes of time avoiding a $3.15 toll by swamping the Alex Fraser.
On cost, Horgan has promised to pay 40% of the cost of transit instead of 33% should the NDP win the election, thus equating to the provincial rake in taxes sucked from the Metro.