Delays ahead: Roadwork will slow bus rides
Expect repeated rerouting, rescheduling
TransLink is warning Metro Vancouver bus passengers to prepare for additional delays and congestion this summer, with a massive boost in construction projects, including major repairs on the Burrard and Pattullo bridges. That is expected to produce traffic snarls on main routes and on side streets as drivers attempt to avoid the chaos.
Construction permits are up 30 per cent over past years, which is expected to put a huge strain on rerouting and rescheduling buses to ensure they arrive at their destinations on time, Haydn Acheson, general manager of Coast Mountain Bus Co., a subsidiary of TransLink, told the transit board Wednesday.
Acheson maintains there are 15 long-term construction projects underway or slated to start, which will affect 75 of Coast Mountain’s 193 routes as traffic is funnelled onto neighbouring streets to avoid cranes and other equipment.
Even if the construction is on a road three or four blocks down, it causes problems. HAYDN ACHESON GENERAL MANAGER, COAST MOUNTAIN BUS CO.
Construction on Pender Street, for example, has affected 12 routes, he said, while drivers are facing significant delays on the Burrard Street corridor.
“Even if the construction is on a road three or four blocks down it causes problems,” he said. “Burrard Street resulted in a significant amount of congestion on that route.”
TransLink relies on GPS maps to keep track of congestion, but is also calling on Metro Vancouver municipalities to give the transit authority at least six months’ notice on upcoming construction projects, especially those that are longer term.
Acheson noted TransLink was given only two to three months’ notice on the City of Vancouver’s plans for a $35-million upgrade of the art deco-style Burrard Bridge and its northern landing at Pacific Street, which made it “very difficult” to reroute buses along the corridor.
The work, which started this month, is slated to last 18 months.
The transit authority works with municipalities to avoid traffic chaos, but “some of them don’t plan as well as others,” said TransLink chief financial officer Cathy McLay.
TransLink does try to keep passengers informed of delays or problems through social media, she added.
The warning comes as TransLink is also about to begin a $25-million repair on the deck of its aging four-lane Pattullo Bridge, which is expected to start at the end of April. The project, slated to take five months, will keep one lane open in each direction, but the bridge will be closed to traffic two nights a week and one weekend a month while the work is being done. The project will allow the Pattullo Bridge to remain operational until a new crossing can be built in late 2022 or early 2023, said Sany Zein, TransLink’s director of roads.
“This is not an ultimate solution,” he said.
“This is just to give us another six or seven years on that deck.”
TransLink will not ban trucks from the bridge, but he noted there will be an enforcement of the speed limits on the bridge to ensure traffic flows “slow and steady,” which may prompt some trucks to take alternate routes.
TransLink will also advise the public to take different routes, use the bridge on non-peak hours or use other crossings while the work continues.
Louise Yako, president of the B.C. Truckers’ Association, said her organization had urged TransLink not to ban trucks on the Pattullo, but said she expects that if they can find alternate routes, they will likely use them.
“Construction happens all the time, it’s a fact of life,” she said.
“It always really helps any time you can know about these things in advance.”
About 80,000 vehicles use the Pattullo daily, mainly because many drivers don’t want to pay the $3.15 toll on the new Port Mann Bridge.