Mayors irate at tunnel replacement delay
More study of alternative to George Massey bottleneck doesn’t cut it with Richmond, Delta
Business groups and some Metro Vancouver mayors are decrying a lack of urgency when it comes to dealing with traffic gridlock related to the George Massey Tunnel.
This week, the B.C. government released a report prepared by engineer Stan Cowdell after the NDP cancelled plans for a $3.5-billion, 10-lane bridge project to replace the tunnel between Delta and Richmond.
The report called on government to examine a six- to eight-lane bridge or a second tunnel of up to eight lanes as options for a new crossing to replace the tunnel. It also suggested that the existing tunnel could be refreshed and used in conjunction with a new tunnel.
Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Claire Trevena said the province would begin consultations in the new year with municipalities and First Nations in Metro Vancouver, and a business case would be prepared by 2020.
Iain Black, president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, said he was disappointed with the announcement.
“The current George Massey Tunnel is one of the worst traffic bottlenecks in our region — if not our entire province — and it has negative impacts on residents, tourists and local businesses,” said Black. “Business organizations across our region have been calling for a replacement for the aging tunnel for years, yet here we are at the end of 2018, and the conversation is stalled.”
Black said the tunnel played a crucial role in the economy. Various city and provincial reports have pegged the annual cost of tunnel congestion in the tens of millions of dollars.
The board of trade, along with chambers of commerce in Richmond and Delta, were supporters of the 10-lane bridge.
Richmond Chamber of Commerce chair Barbara Tinson said its members had reported that workers were spending hours in traffic and Richmond employers were losing staff because the commute was too onerous.
“We had hoped that Minister Trevena would have decided on a solution, based on this review, which emphasized the urgency of improving this crossing.
“Instead, we are offered more study and more delays, and we fear that whatever is finally built will be at or near capacity when it opens,” said Tinson.
Delta Mayor George Harvie said replacing the George Massey Tunnel was a “top priority” for his city’s council. While he was pleased with the province’s decision to deal with safety issues in the tunnel, the timeline for a solution to the traffic bottleneck was “completely unacceptable.”
“The people south of the Fraser are not prepared to wait eight to nine years for an improvement to their quality of life and daily commute,” Harvie said.
“We need to do everything possible to push the government to implement a solution so that we can reduce this traffic bottleneck well in advance of the current anticipated time frame.”
He plans to ask the mayors of Richmond, Surrey and White Rock, and the chiefs of the Musqueam and Tsawwassen First Nations to work with him to come up with options for expediting the process.
The head of Metro Vancouver’s board of directors, which was openly critical of the 10-lane bridge proposed by the previous provincial government because it didn’t fit with the region’s objectives, said he recognized that there was urgency to deal with traffic in the region — particularly along the Highway 99 corridor — but cautioned against rushing the process.
“Cutting corners isn’t the answer, so we really have to do it right and find some way in the meantime to have a more robust service for south of Fraser,” said Sav Dhaliwal, who is also a Burnaby city councillor.
TransLink Mayors’ Council chair Jonathan Coté said the tunnel was already well used by public transit and there were definitely opportunities to build on that in an effort to get more people out of their cars until a new crossing is built.