Twinning the Port Mann - Yes or No

[classic_queen]

since we all commute once in a while in our lifetimes and this seems to be a nice hot topic on canada.com.? I just thought I'd see what everyone's opinion is on this issue.

I don't commute over the Port Mann for work (I get off at the 160th St exit) but I sometimes get caught up in the congestion.? I've had to commute over the bridge at various times of the day and it hasn't been a too pleasant experience.? I think they should do it.? I think some people's problem with it is that if you twin then there will be more cars.? Well when you actually think about it, the Lower Mainland is growing so of course there are going to be more cars eventually.? Most business are in Vancouver because that's where the majority of people live.?

SO what's your opinion......... ( I need to set up a poll but don't know how!)

[tonyzoomzoom]

Hey Queen.  Next to the "New Topic" button, there is a "Poll" button.  Choose that instead and you're done!!

now back on topic:

transportation is vital to the economy.  It appears that quite a few of our local planners / politicians think that the overall transporatation system is just to move people to and from work -- hence all the bicycle and HOV / bus lanes.  These are great ideas and they work to a great extent.  The missing piece of the puzzle is delivery of goods -- whether it's from the farm to the local supermarket, or manufactured goods delivered to and from local shops.

If it takes longer for someone to deliver something, the product is going to end up costing the consumer more.  This is a negative impact on the economy -- just think if the stuff you buy from ebay has a higher and higher S&H cost.  Sooner or later, you will stop buying...  That tariff congestion then also impacts those simply trying to move to and from work.  And the whole thing becomes cyclical...

Bridges need to be built and streets need to be widen.  I can't see another way around it (unless you want to start tunneling underground or have overhead bridges).

Those NIMBY folks can simply go to @#$%....

[M Speed]

Yes we need huge improvement in our transportation system (both road and public transit) BUT BUT....the evil translink said it all.

I still don't know how a so-called privately owned organization have to power to add tax to citizens.

For anything to be change, there is going to be lots of red tapes.......look at the Lion Gate birdge......so I don't think Port-Mann will get any luck.

[Inno]

i agree with twinning the bridge...and transit is not going to work her ein vancouver

[rancid]

yeah they need to twin that bridge.  The also need to make the merging onto the highways a bit more efficient as well.  I like what they did to the 200th exit as congestion is way less now. Speaking from experience, like 2 years ago, traffic was always back logged near there as well as other exits along the way.  So if all the exits were like that then it would lighten up the traffic pattern significantly.

[classic_queen]

there i added the poll

Some people think we should adopt the pay-by-km insurance rate that Seattle has in order to eleviate the congestion. ?

How can we do that when we don't even have a transportation system that can even compare to Seattle's?

Good luck getting a bus after 7pm in Aldergrove

I've also heard that the Millenium Line was a waste of money because its not making the money is was expected to. ?

They should have got a clue and built a line from the Airport.

Yeah rancid, I used to work out in the Port Kells area and have to get off at the 200th St exit, it was BRUTAL.  It was definately a long time coming but I'm glad they finally finished the new interchange.  They're also redoing the Mt. Lehman exit. 

[rancid]

yeah about time they did the Mt. Lehman one.  that thing was a major accident waiting to happen.  It is so congested sometimes that cars are backed up onto the highway.

[Inno]

well the millennium line, at the north side of the original line...was a good idea...i do think we need that....but just not enuf passengers........since, most of the passengers would be SFU students, in which, the stupid UPass thing already covered, so there wouldn't be recognizable revenue

see, Translink is a total corrupted and a corporation that's established to waste money....

if turnpikes were in place of human ticket checker
1. u can keep check of passenger flow and statistics
    - all u need is about 6 turnpikes per station, 3 for each direction

if smaller community buses were in place in non-peak hours, and then increase the number of drives...it should help relieve the problem rite now

[05_RED_HB]

There's no way around it....the bridge needs to be twinned!  If and when I commute over the bridge, if you weren't over it by 6:00am then you were already crawling along.

[Inno]

There's no way around it....the bridge needs to be twinned! If and when I commute over the bridge, if you weren't over it by 6:00am then you were already crawling along.

haha that's y u need to be living on the WEST side of the bridge...lol

[Rad Eddie]

It needed to be twinned 15 years ago, not to sure on the solution now, the bridge to maple ridge/pittmeadows will help, but I mean seriously, with all the new housing starts in the valley and no transportation upgrades, (yes they did 200th and in progress Mt Lehman) but I am talking major, so far everything is a bandaid - bigtime, eg HOV. becsuse it eventually merges back to two lanes.....stupid.thats enough for now, getting heated up.

[ZoomZoom]

It's funny... it would seem that making on-ramps work better would mean that MORE traffic would flow onto the highway... and MORE congestion at the port mann.  Sucky for you guys.

I'll stick to living in a teeny weeny little place in Vancouver, and avoid bridges at all costs, thank you very much

[Inno]

It's funny... it would seem that making on-ramps work better would mean that MORE traffic would flow onto the highway... and MORE congestion at the port mann. Sucky for you guys.

I'll stick to living in a teeny weeny little place in Vancouver, and avoid bridges at all costs, thank you very much

yep... my thoughts exactly...

[sunnydayz]

i take the port mann every day..and the bridge its self is fine..its the trucks that slow everything down..like if i can get in front of them , then that cuts my travel time in half..the highway is congested everywhere, not just by the bridge..i think it would be a waste of money..the longest part of my commute it when i ger stuck at the merge points (the on ramp the the highway on 152 is brutal..)twining may help but not by a lot

[Inno]

well those are the little things that u could do to improve... even if it helps only a little, all the little helps will build up to a big help

anyways, u could also restrict the trucks to one lane, that should also relieve a lot

[mike]

AM I allowed to vote yes 426 more times???

[vicvic]

AM I allowed to vote yes 426 more times???

LOL.. sure you can.. then I'll see 426 more members in a day

[Inno]

SOURCE: VANCOUVER SUN, JULY 5, 2005, WESTCOAST NEWS SECTION
http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=20581f77-16f2-4730-83e2-5fa7d565ab00

Upgrades to roads won't bring traffic flood
Falcon: Port Mann, Highway 1 project will have little impact on city, transportation minister says

 
William Boei
Vancouver Sun

July 5, 2005

Almost no new traffic will flow into Vancouver as a result of the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge and the widening of the Trans-Canada Highway, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said Monday.

Falcon dismissed fears that the extra highway capacity created by the provincial government's Gateway Program will bring new waves of traffic flooding from the suburbs into the city of Vancouver.

He said ministry studies indicate minimal impact on Vancouver from the project, and promised the studies will be made public in August or September when he releases details of the multi-billion-dollar plan for road and bridge building.

"There will be a very, very modest, almost insignificant increase of traffic into Vancouver," Falcon told The Vancouver Sun's editorial board.

What increase there is can be easily handled by improving traffic interchanges between the highway and local streets, he said.

The Gateway Program includes:

- Twinning the Port Mann Bridge -- the region's worst traffic bottleneck -- and adding two lanes to the highway from Langley to Vancouver. Falcon said that will cost $1.4 billion.

- Building the South Fraser Perimeter Road, a major truck route along the south shore of the Fraser River, for $800 million.

- Building the North Fraser Perimeter Road, a goods-moving route on the north shore of the Fraser, including a new Pitt River Bridge, for $400 million.

Some of the plan's harshest critics, including the mayors of Vancouver and Burnaby, planners and academics, green transportation advocates and east Vancouver community activists, fear the extra road capacity will be an inducement to drive for thousands of people who now keep their cars parked.

But Falcon cited traffic studies that show most vehicles that cross the Port Mann Bridge from south of the Fraser are heading for other suburbs. Only 27 per cent drive all the way to Vancouver, and that's expected to drop to 22 per cent by 2021.

Studies by TransLink, the regional transportation authority, show that because of population and office-park growth in Surrey and other municipalities, the traditional commute between Vancouver and the suburbs is being replaced by an unpredictable pattern of trips throughout the region.

Falcon said the government also intends to use transportation demand management measures to keep a grip on traffic volumes.

That may include charging tolls to cross the Port Mann, additional high-occupancy-vehicle lanes and dedicated lanes for commercial vehicles. There will also be public transit across the bridge, park-and-ride lots, "queue-jumping" priorities for transit and new bicycle lanes, he said.

"We're not just building it and letting people use it. That would just induce traffic."

bboei@png.canwest.com

[ZoomZoom]

No, no, don't build another road... we might get traffic, or heaven forbid.. an economy.

"new waves of traffic flooding in from the suburbs to the City of Vancouver" - ooo... people coming here to spend money at your stores?  Trucks coming to get goods to and from your factories?  People actually making it to Olympic venues without leaving at 2:30AM to get there?

I find comments about people not wanting traffic in Vancouver ridiculously short-sighted.

[classic_queen]

people should realise that they live in the city and the city's going to have traffic

if they're so worried about congestion and traffic

come live in the Valley

then perhaps they'll see why our roads need to be improved