Pattullo Bridge to be replaced with province-owned $1.4 billion bridge
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 head-on 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 announcement that 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 of 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.
Rendering of the proposed replacement for Pattullo bridge.
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 Horgan 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 Pressjensaltman@postmedia.com
twitter.com/jensaltman
Factbox: No affect on TransLink budget
The province assuming the cost of the bridge project does not affect the region’s $60-million to $70-million funding gap for Phase 2 of the mayors’ 10-year transportation plan. TransLink, the mayors and the province are still negotiating how that will be covered.TransLink had intended to fund the Pattullo Bridge replacement with money from senior governments and by tolling to new bridge. The Horgan government cancelled tolls on existing bridges, so TransLink had been waiting for word on how the new bridge could be funded.
With the province taking over construction and ownership of the new bridge, it means the B.C. Transportation Ministry is responsible for all major crossings of the Fraser River, except the TransLink-owned Golden Ears Bridge and the smaller bridges connecting Vancouver to Richmond.
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