Simply accommodating more cars and truck traffic is not a solution except in terms of immediate convenience.
That’s what the environmental group Fraser Voices explains in a new report on the now scrapped George Massey Tunnel replacement bridge project and the subsequent recommendation by a regional mayors’ task force for the province to build an eight-lane immersed tunnel.
Noting their report evaluates the benefits and impacts of a new 10-lane bridge compared to the more recent proposal favoured by Metro Vancouver, the society’s Otto Langer in a news release this week said they concluded an immersed tunnel would have less overall impact and would require and promote better long-range planning and livability.
“Although this may be seen as counter-productive to many economic proponents and those seeking immediate traffic congestion relief, we are at a time in human history globally and in the Fraser Estuary where a sustainable environment must take precedence over the present unbalanced emphasis on the ’grow the economy’ approach,” Langer stated.
“A sustainable economy can only survive when it can live in concert with a healthy environment and protects ALR lands in the Fraser River delta and estuary.”
The report notes that “it’s now a totally outdated notion that we can all keep growing across our limited land base and move around in our own private automobiles. Planning for 10 lanes of traffic will simply ensure that we have 10 lane gridlock at some time in the foreseeable future e.g. 2040”
The report also states, “The billions spent on the new Port Mann Bridge and Highway 1 expansion has often given rise to larger traffic jams and minimal traffic movement efficiencies during peak times of the day.”
Favouring a proposed tunnel, the report states, 'Trying to meet unlimited development and traffic growth in our region by building ever more highways and bridges is not an intelligent option...'
The group provided a copy of the report and a letter to Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Claire Trevena.
The newly-elected Green-backed NDP government suspended the $3.5-billion George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project which also included a series of road and interchange improvements on both sides of the river, just as it was about to be constructed with a completion date in 2022. The province then appointed consultant Stan Cowdell to lead an independent technical review.
He later made a joint announcement with Trevena, saying a 10-lane bridge was not the best way to go, suggesting other options.
“The 10-lane Massey bridge project was pushed ahead without the input of communities,” said Trevena. “The technical review of the project has confirmed this was the wrong project for the region. We need a better solution for this crossing to get people out of traffic and home with their families.”
She noted the review found that the bridge project did not fully address a number of key considerations, such as community alignment, livability and cost, which likely resulted in stakeholder concerns.
Delta South Liberal MLA Ian Paton, however, said that the bridge had nowhere near the impacts as the option chosen by the mayors.
He said he shares the concerns of Tsawwassen First Nation Chief Ken Baird regarding the impacts to the Fraser River. Baird was the only member of the mayors' task force to vote in opposition.
“To put a massive concrete tube, to dig a trench across the Fraser River probably 60 metres wide to accommodate this new tunnel, it would be an environmental nightmare for salmon and sturgeon,” Paton said in an interview last year.
He also noted the current aging tunnel sees over 90,000 vehicles daily with commercial trucks stuck in gridlock polluting the air, adding it’s obvious the crossing is now undersized for the needs of the region.
Representatives with the transportation ministry made a presentation to Delta council a few weeks ago to discuss the replacement plan, noting stakeholder, municipal and First Nations engagements are ongoing.
“We also plan to hold public information and engagement sessions which will be widely advertised,” said Lina Halwani. “We are on track to deliver a business case by the fall of 2020. In addition to the work on the long-term solution, planning is underway on short-term improvements.”
Council has expressed concerns over the timeline a new crossing would be built.
