‘DANGEROUSLY OLD’ BRIDGE TO BE REPLACED
B.C. will pay $1.4 billion for new Pattullo span over the Fraser
The “dangerously old” Pattullo Bridge will be replaced by a new $1.4-billion structure in 2023 that will be wholly paid for and owned by the B.C. government.
The current bridge, which opened in late 1937 and links New Westminster and Surrey, is owned and maintained by TransLink, the regional transportation authority. TransLink had planned to replace the bridge by 2023.
“It’s been a long time coming, but after 80 years of service the Pattullo Bridge has done its bit for the people of British Columbia and it’s time for a new bridge,” Premier John Horgan said at a news conference in New Westminster on Friday.
The replacement project will be delivered solely by the province. It includes a new, four-lane Pattullo Bridge that will be located to the north and upstream of the existing one, changes to the road connections in Surrey and New Westminster and the removal of the existing bridge.
“The province will be taking over the Pattullo Bridge project, ensuring that the Mayors’ Council can focus on the 10-year (transit) plan that they’ve been working so hard on and the province can get to work making this infrastructure safer for people in the region,” said Horgan.
The province will issue a request for quotes this spring, a request for proposals in the summer and construction is set to start in summer of 2019. The bridge will be open to traffic in 2023, at which time the old bridge will be demolished.
Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Claire Trevena conceded that the budget of $1.377 billion is “a lot of money,” but with 68,000 crossings a day she said the bridge is critical for the region. She called the Pattullo “dangerously old” and said there are serious safety concerns.
“It will be a safe, modern bridge making the connections between New Westminster and Surrey for the whole region much better, much safer,” she said.
The money for the bridge will come from the province’s $14.6-billion, three-year capital plan. Horgan said it won’t affect B.C.’s credit rating and is consistent with the province’s long-term plan.
Planning for replacement or rehabilitation of the bridge, which became part of the regional transit authority’s portfolio in the late 1990s, has been underway since 2006. After a strategic review in 2014, it was decided that replacement — which at the time was estimated to cost $1 billion — was the best option.
TransLink spends about $1 million a year maintaining the Pattullo, and has called the bridge its “most urgent major infrastructure risk.”
The structure was not designed to meet current wind and seismic standards and may be vulnerable during an earthquake or hurricane-level wind storm. Its four lanes are narrow and there is no centre median, making it dangerous for drivers and prone to headon crashes.
There is no barrier separating the one walkway — used by cyclists and pedestrians travelling in both directions — from traffic.
The new bridge will feature a centre median that separates traffic travelling in opposite directions and wider lanes that will increase capacity of the bridge by 10 per cent.
It will also have dedicated separated walking and cycling lanes on both sides of the bridge, and be better connected to approach roads.
Some were quick to use the announcement to suggest that the plan for a four-lane bridge will not address expected population increases and traffic flows.
The Surrey Board of Trade said it was pleased with the announcementthat the bridge would be rebuilt at the province’ s expense, but said it should be expanded.
“The Surrey Board of Trade asks the B.C. government to reconsider an opening of four lanes to six lanes to accommodate certain population growth in the region,” said CEO Anita Huberman.
Horgan said the larger lanes on the new bridge will help with traffic flow, and removal of tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears have shifted traffic pressure away from the Pattullo. He said planned improvements to the Alex Fraser Bridge will also take pressure off the Pattullo.
If there is a need for more lanes in the future, the four-lane bridge is designed so that it can be expanded to six lanes, but Horgan said officials don’t believe that will be necessary.
“It’s our view, and the view of TransLink and officials at Ministry of Transportation, that four lanes with an ability to go to six is appropriate at this time,” Horgan said.
Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner agreed, saying that the decision to go with four lanes came after “long and laborious” negotiations with New Westminster, which has concerns about increased traffic flow on its streets.
“I’m comfortable with where we settled, at least for the time being,” she said.
“Given the mobility challenges of the future, we’ll take a look at what that holds. Right now I stand with the decision we made with our neighbours.”
Andy Yan, director of the city program at Simon Fraser University, called the bridge a strategic investment on the part of the New Democrat government.
“Understand that with Surrey growing by 800 people per month in the last five years, it’s knowing that a pool of voters that are particularly engaged in this piece of infrastructure. It helped shape this funding,” he said. Yan said the decision also makes good sense for Metro Vancouver’s regionally integrated economy.
“We’re not talking about these isolated suburbs anymore,’’ he said.
“It’s not only just a connection between New Westminster and Surrey.”
B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson said the bridge replacement will be good for commuters in the Lower Mainland, but criticized the government’s decision to take on the entire cost of the project and questioned whether other projects would be cancelled.
“It’s important to note that the NDP have yet to introduce any of their expensive campaign promises,” Wilkinson said in a statement.
“By haphazardly spending more than a billion dollars when they probably could have received some help from Ottawa shows another level of the incompetence of the H organ government when it comes to B.C.’s relationship with Canada.”
Jonina Campbell, deputy leader of the B.C. Greens, called the upgrade “necessary and overdue,” but said the move raises questions about the government’s broader plans for transportation funding. With a file from The Canadian Press