BRIDGE BATTLE
Mayors accuse Victoria of double standard on transit funding.
Several Metro Vancouver mayors say Victoria’s demand for a referendum on TransLink’s funding options is hypocritical given the recent announcement of a bridge to replace the Massey tunnel — without similar public consultation.
In a meeting this morning, the mayors will ask Transportation Minister Todd Stone to explain why the government has forgone a referendum for the Massey bridge.
The mayors’ council, which approves TransLink funding and shapes the region’s long- term transit plans, is opposed to the referendum announced by Premier Christy Clark during the election campaign.
The mayors see the referendum as another example of the provincial government overriding the work of long- term regional transit planning. Successive NDP and Liberal governments have jumped the queue to launch highway improvements and rapid transit lines of their choosing.
Several mayors say Clark’s Massey bridge announcement last Friday was the latest in a string of unilateral government moves that have hamstrung their municipalities, who are dealing with a regional transit system that is “busting at the seams.”
The mayors argue the province’s proposed referendum for TransLink, slated for the 2014 municipal elections, would not give the public the whole picture of the transit situation or identify appropriate sources of funding, and would be divisive to the region.
“You can certainly say the referendum is a hurdle to moving forward and providing the transit people want in the region, whereas the bridge is announced four years from now as a fait accompli without even any discussion as to how it’s going to be financed,” said North Vancouver District Mayor Richard Walton, chairman of TransLink’s mayors’ council. “Transit is considered much less important and essential to the economy than extending the ( Fraser) river crossing.
“From our point of view ‘ Well, show us the business case and what are the rules?’ ”
Metro Vancouver board chairman Greg Moore said the bridge and major improvements to the road network didn’t trump new rapid transit in Surrey and along Vancouver’s Broadway corridor in the board’s regional growth strategy. The tunnel is one of the region’s largest choke points for traffic and there is no guarantee that the new bridge would be approved in a referendum involving voters from across Metro Vancouver, he added.
The mayors’ council has long lobbied for more control over TransLink, saying they have been backed into a corner to raise taxes for bridges, roads and transit, but have no control over transit priorities. Instead, decisions are often made in secret by the appointed board or imposed by the provincial government.
Before their re- election, the Liberals promised Metro Vancouver residents a referendum vote on any major transit projects in their communities.
Stone was unavailable for an interview, but spokeswoman Kate Trotter emailed a statement that said the bridge was a “significant election issue and we were very clear about our intent.”
The statement said that public consultations clearly showed the public wanted the bridge and that the business case for it, as well as its technical design, is now underway.
Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said the Massey tunnel could be significantly decongested by putting more money into a system of buses that get commuters out of their cars as well as opening Port Metro Vancouver’s facilities 24 hours every day to spread out the commercial truck traffic.
“You don’t need to build a new bridge to decongest it,” Brodie said. “If all you’re doing is to speed the traffic along, so they can get over this brand new bridge, so they can get to the traffic jam that much earlier, what have you accomplished? Nothing.”