Will a replacement tunnel be any safer than a new bridge?
Not according to Delta South Liberal MLA Ian Paton, who says recent crashes at the George Massey Tunnel that completely snarled traffic, as well as a fatal overnight head-on crash last September, highlight how safety and travel reliability could be compromised by another tunnel.
An eight-lane tunnel tube crossing is to replace the current aging crossing, a decision announced last year by the province and supported by Metro Vancouver mayors, but Paton notes, that decision won’t likely alleviate the current problems when an accident occurs, even minor ones.
“If there’s a fender bender or another type of accident, there’s always lanes on either side of a bridge and more room where vehicles can get by and keep the traffic moving,” said Paton. “With the tunnel as it is right now, it’s like five lanes trying to feed into one in rush hour north toward Richmond. It’s insane with those huge lineups. And in the tunnel, there’s always two lanes side-by-side, so if there’s an accident or fire, there’s no way traffic can get by, just solid concrete walls and it’s a complete nightmare.”
Wondering why Delta is the only B.C. community deemed to have a tunnel crossing built, Paton said that when he was on Delta city council he would receive regular reports from the fire department and other first responders that a bridge is a preferred option when it comes to getting emergency personnel and equipment to an accident scene.
Paton added one of many other concerns regarding the current crossing is potential damage by a truck carrying a load that’s too high, taking out concrete and making the structure unsafe.
“What will we do if that happens? Will we send everyone to the Alex Fraser Bridge? That would be insanity,” said Paton.
What’s worse, commuters will have to put up with the current hazardous crossing for years to come when a safer bridge would have been completed this year, noted Paton.
In 2018, the new Green-backed New Democrat government announced the previous Liberal government’s George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project was no longer going forward.
It was a new 10-lane bridge project with associated highway works, which started just prior to the provincial election and was scheduled for completion this year.
It was put on hold not long after the NDP assumed power and eventually cancelled following a review.
The City of Delta had previously pushed hard for a replacement bridge as most other Metro Vancouver mayors expressed opposition. Delta pointed to safety concerns about the tunnel as one of the key reasons.
Another Delta report noted that building a new tunnel to the same seismic standards as a bridge is a much more costly, complex and environmentally damaging process.
Responding to Paton’s concerns, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure issued a statement to the Optimist that safety is a top priority in the planning, design and construction of the new tunnel.
The tunnel will be designed to current fire and life safety requirements and the ministry continues to engage with emergency services, including those from Delta, and other key stakeholders on incident response procedures, the ministry explains.
“The new tunnel will have more capacity than the existing tunnel, with eight lanes instead of four.
The lanes will also be wider, and the tunnel will include shoulders and greater vertical clearance, which will reduce the potential for incidents, and will also improve emergency responders’ ability to access and manage incidents as compared to the existing tunnel,” the ministry adds.
The new tunnel crossing is to open in 2030.
The province, meantime, undertook a safety improvement project for the current crossing including improving brightness and visibility within the 63-year-old tunnel.
