Get Moving BC
For Immediate
Release
October 15, 2007
COUNTDOWN TO TOTAL
GRIDLOCK: “when it comes to
bridges, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do”
New
study by Get Moving BC compares bridges crossing the Fraser River to
bridges in Portland, Oregon and finds the Lower Mainland seriously
lacking
Vancouver, BC
– Imagine what it would be like if the Lower
Mainland had twice as many bridge lanes crossing the Fraser River as it
has right now. Imagine what your commute time would be like and what it
would be like to spend an extra hour and a half each day, or even more,
with your family and your kids.
This past summer,
Get Moving BC spent a considerable amount of time researching bridge
capacity in a number of metropolitan areas, most notably Portland,
Oregon which has a population thirty percent smaller than the Lower
Mainland’s but with sixty percent more bridges – that’s twice as much
bridge capacity as we have crossing the Fraser River.
Portland is often
used as point of comparison to the Lower Mainland, sometimes by local
mayors and TransLink directors, and particularly in terms of rapid
transit. But rarely, if ever, do we see a comparison of each region’s
bridge and road infrastructure; and that comparison is highly revealing.
Get Moving BC
spokesperson Sheri Wiens, whose sister lives in Vancouver, Washington,
says when it comes to bridges across the Fraser, we’ve clearly got a lot
of catching up to do: “It was a real eye-opener when I read the Get
Moving BC report and realised that metro Portland has thirty percent
fewer people than we do, and sixty percent more bridges crossing their
river than we have crossing the Fraser.”
According to
information obtained by Get Moving BC from the Oregon Department
of Transportation, there are eleven bridges crossing the Willamette
River in the metro Portland area with a total of fifty-four traffic
lanes. By comparison, the Lower Mainland has only seven major bridges
crossing the Fraser River with a total of thirty-one
traffic lanes, giving Portland
seventy-five percent more bridge lanes than the Lower Mainland.
“Seventy-five percent more bridge lanes is a startling figure,” said
Wiens. “It’s worth repeating: Portland has seventy-five percent more
bridge lanes than we do!”
As a result of their
research, Wiens and Get Moving BC are calling on TransLink and
the province to fast-track plans for replacing and expanding the
dangerous Pattullo Bridge and to start planning a new bridge to replace
the Massey Tunnel. These are in addition to Get Moving BC’s
earlier call for the province to speed up the twinning of the Port Mann
Bridge.
Given the serious
shortfall in bridge capacity across the Fraser River compared to other
metropolitan areas, Get Moving BC is also calling on TransLink
and the province to fast-track planning for a completely new Fraser
River crossing somewhere west of the Port Mann Bridge.
“It’s time to get
moving on projects like these before everything in the Lower Mainland
comes to a grinding halt,” said Wiens. “We’re counting down to ‘Total
Gridlock’ in the Lower Mainland. Twinning the Port Mann Bridge, and
building the Golden Ears Bridge are a good start; but even with those
improvements we’re still going to be way behind places like Portland
that already have a lot more bridges and fewer people using them.”
Further underscoring
just how far behind the Lower Mainland really is in terms of bridges,
Wiens points to the fact that Portland’s metropolitan area includes two
hundred thousand people living across the Columbia River in the
Vancouver, Washington area. These people, she says, have two bridges to
connect them to the rest of the Portland area: The eight-lane Glenn L.
Jackson Memorial Bridge and the six-lane Interstate Bridge—an aging
bridge slated for replacement with a new ten to twelve lane bridge and
light rail line under the Columbia River Crossing project.
“We’ve become a
world-class metropolitan area in the last twenty years,” said Wiens.
“But imagine what our traffic problems will be like when another million
people come to the Lower Mainland region in the next twenty years. The
stakes couldn’t be higher. It’s time we did something about the problem
and got ourselves caught up. Only then can we realistically plan and
build a comprehensive transit system for people living south of the
Fraser.”
– 30 –
Get Moving BC
is dedicated to holding
governments accountable for a balanced transportation system and was
formed to provide a voice for the majority of Greater Vancouver
residents who support improving our roads, bridges and transit systems.
For more information
please contact Get Moving BC’s media desk at 604-678-5567 or by
email at
info@getmovingbc.com
Online
References and Attachments:
Imagine for a moment
Imagine
for a moment that the Lower Mainland had twice as many lanes of bridge
crossing the Fraser River as we do today. Imagine that you’re one of
the thousands of commuters who cross the Fraser River twice every day.
Now imagine what your commute time would be like if you had twice as
many bridge lanes. Imagine what that would do to your quality of life.
Imagine what it would be like to spend an extra hour and a half each
day, or even more, with your family and your kids. How many soccer
games and practices, or dance routines and school activities would you
be able to squeeze in with your kids if you spent less time stuck in
traffic?
There
are close to a million people now living on the south side of the Fraser
River and more are on the way. Compare that to the couple hundred
thousand people who lived south of the Fraser when the 4-lane Port Mann
Bridge was first built and you begin to see the magnitude of the problem
people face every day when they have to cross the Fraser.
But
despite an obvious need for more bridge capacity across the Fraser
River, there is a vocal minority who are opposed to adding any bridge
lanes to serve our growing population. This minority who oppose the
twinning the Port Mann Bridge (and a few City Councils) often cite
Portland, Oregon as an example for us to follow here in the Lower
Mainland. We were intrigued by their suggestion and so we at Get
Moving BC decided to take a closer look at Portland.
Well,
we were pleasantly surprised to discover that Portland is indeed an
example for us to follow here in the Lower Mainland, because Portland
has twice as many bridge lanes crossing the Willamette River (their main
water barrier) as we have crossing the Fraser River!
When we
asked you to imagine what it would be like if we had twice as many
bridge lanes crossing the Fraser River, we were asking you to imagine
what it would be like if we had the same bridge capacity that Portland
has. Imagine how much less stress there would be in the lives of
commuters, and how much less air pollution there would be from cars and
trucks that currently sit idling while they wait to get across our
bridges. Imagine how much less pressure there would be on truck drivers
who deliver the goods we purchase, not to mention the lower cost of
getting those goods to market. And above all, imagine the kind of
transit system to we could plan and then build if we had twice as much
bridge capacity across the Fraser River.
Get
Moving BC is
pleased to enclose a copy of our detailed study comparing the bridges
crossing the Fraser River with the bridges crossing the Willamette River
in the Portland area. We truly hope this study will be as eye-opening
for you as it was for us, because only by moving forward with projects
like the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge, replacing the Pattullo Bridge
and replacing the Massey Tunnel with a new bridge, will we be able to
catch up to where we should be as a metropolitan area and have the fully
functioning transportation system we need.
Only by
moving forward with projects like the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge
will we be able to plan, and then build, the kind of transit system that
will properly serve the needs of Lower Mainland commuters. Only by
moving forward with projects like these will communities truly be able
to plan residential and commercial density with the kind of confidence
they need to make their plans mesh with regional plans for rapid
transit. Then, and only then, will we truly begin to achieve the kind
of transportation system that will get people to change their ways and
move toward increased use of viable transit options.
We
thank you for your interest in this vitally important issue.
Get
Moving BC
