Bridge to Paradise?
With a fixed link again on the table, the Sunshine Coast is split on whether easier access will benefit the remote oasis.
, the prospect of a xed link to the Lower Mainland has oat ed around the Sunshine Coast, exciting proponents with the idea of spontaneous travel along open stretches of road. Property developers would welcome thereal estate potential lying in the wooded out skirts of Gibsons—apossible bedroom community for rst- time home buyers shut out by the Lower Mainland’s stratospheric prices. Our bridge-loving premier has likely dreamed of adding another impressive span to her growing collection (see the Port Mann and George Massey bridge projects). And at least some users of the Langdale ferry have whiled away long waits by imagining alife with a simpler commute.
While agovernmentstudy looking at the feasibility of fixedlink options to the Sunshine Coast is nudging these visions toward reality, there are plenty of coastal folk who think a bridge (or road along the west side of Howe Sound) will ruin their slice of paradise. It’s the ferry, they argue, that keeps the riffraff at bay and allows the place to maintain its quiet, idyllic feel.
“A lot of people like that we’re slightly isolated. We have [a low] crime rate. People like these aspects of living here,” says Nicholas Simons, the NDP MLA forPowell River–Sunshine Coast. But the steady erosion of the ferry service has made life on the coast— particularly the northern coast— increasingly difficult. The cost of the ferries has risen steadily, he says, while service has decreased. (Fares for two adults and a car fromHorseshoe Bay to Langdale have increased by nearly 30 percent since 2008.)
“There are a lot of reasons to be frustrated and to be looking for alternatives. The more thegovernment undermines our current [ferry] system, the more people will be looking for something else,” says Simons.
According to the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, theSunshine Coast Fixed LinkFeasibility Study is aresponse to years of residents and businesses advocating for a bridge or road to replace the existing ferry service between the Lower Mainland and theSunshine Coast. But Simons, athree-term MLA, says he doesn’t often hear from constituents who want a fixed link, despite their frustrations with the ferries.
“When thegovernment says there is growingdemand, where is that comingfrom?” Simons asks, adding that his constituents are split on the issue.
MicheleWhiting,generalmanager ofGramma’s Pub in Gibsons, says she would consider leaving the Sunshine Coast if a bridge or road is built. A lifelong resident of the coast, she has no problem with the ferry that keeps her community relatively safe. Even though a bridge could potentially bring more business to her pub, “it’s a waste of taxpayer money,” she says. “I can’t see it ever happening. … No one’s going to hop on afixed link to come to Gramma’s for aburger and abeer.”
Yethighwayimprovements have madeSquamish andWhistler an easy trip from Vancouver. Plenty of people now visit for a day—or even just a burger and abeer—and potential travellers to Gibsons could follow suit.
The government’s feasibility study outlines two options for connecting the lower Sunshine Coast to the Sea-to-Sky Highway. One is a pair of suspension bridges, each about 1,500 metreslong, that would spanHowe Sound, meeting in the middle at Anvil Island. The estimated construction costs range between $2 billion and $2.5 billion, and travel time from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale would be about 40 minutes(the same as the current ferry crossing).
Theother option would connect Squamish to Langdale with anew road along the west coast of Howe Sound, making the trip fromHorseshoe Bay to Langdale about 90 minutes. The price tag would be between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.
“My bet would be on the bridge,” says Gary Fribance, president of the Third Crossing Society, which has been advocating for years for an eastwest roadconnection fromPowell
River toHighway 99, north ofSquamish.
While it’s “overwhelmingly wonderful” to live in Powell River, at thenorthernend of theSunshine Coast, says Fribance, he notes the region is in the midst of an “economic nightmare.” Schools are closing and young people are unable to nd work.
Jack Barr, adirector of Sunshine CoastTourism and president of the Powell River Chamber ofCommerce, believes a xed link would benet the economies of Gibsons, Sechelt,Pender Harbour and Powell River. Currently, the trek from Powell River to the LowerMainland is anonerous one, requiring two ferry crossings and hours of driving. Areliable road or bridge could ease the commuteconsiderably by putting Gibsons within an easy drive fromdowntownVancouver. “The link is agame-changer for the coast,” Barr says.
Geo Gornall, a29-year-old entrepreneur new to theSunshine Coast, speaks diplomatically about the link proposal. He and his two equally youthful business partners recently opened theSunshineCoast’s newest microbrewery, GibsonsTapworks. They chose the coast, in part, because of its aordability and because they all wanted to buy property, which they have now been able to do.
“Generallyspeaking, we moved for the lifestyle,” he says. “For what you can aord inVancouver—a onebedroomcondo—here, you can own a house.”
But as much as abridge or road would simplify the logistics of moving hops from Chilliwack to the brewery, Gornall canunderstand why so manypeople are opposed to the idea. “I wouldn’t put us rmly in either camp,” he says.
SuzanneSenger moved to the Sunshine Coast 15 years ago and ran for mayor of Gibsons in 2014. She now works for a non-prot organization, which requires her to take the ferry to Vancouver once or twice a week. It’s a way of working that she says has become increasinglycommon forpeople on the coast. But there are also the hard-core commuters—of which there are about 1,000—who make the trip every day to jobs on the other side. Senger believes few of them want abridge.
“I haven’t heard any of them say they would ratherdrive. They can work on the ferry, relax, sleep,” she says. “I think we need better ferry service. We don’t need abridge.”
Of course,nothing has been decided —andwon’t be for some time. Even once an option has been chosen, there will be further studies, consultations, negotiations. Jordan Sturdy, the Liberal MLA forWestVancouver–Sea-to-Sky, says the work that’s been done has “just scratched the surface.”
Regional First Nations must be consulted. Infrastructure implications for the Sunshine Coast, as well as the North Shore, must be examined.
It will be at least adecade before a xed link to theSunshine Coast would be complete, Sturdy says, but he feels it’s time to start putting ideas to paper and studying them thoroughly.
“It’s time, in my mind, to have an informed conversation,” he says. “This is a very big-picture, long-term discussion of the project.”
When the government says there is growing demand, where is that coming from?” — NICHOLAS SIMONS, NDP MLA FOR POWELL RIVER-SUNSHINE COAST