Posts Tagged ‘trevena’

Trevena deals with 10-lane Christy Bridge

December 17, 2018

A 10-lane bridge won’t happen. Also important:

  • The safety of the existing tunnel will be improved.
  • The Ministry will work with Metro Vancouver and its municipalities to choose solutions that fit with regional plans and concerns.

Minister Claire Trevena’s Dec. 17 announcement features seven key findings by project reviewer Stan Cowdell, P Eng (see Appendix at end). They are promising, but here are three reservations:

  • With a tunnel-replacement bridge, it might be challenging to stop the Fraser ship channel being dredged two meters deeper, with severe ecological harm to the Fraser River Estuary.
  • An eight-lane crossing could be fine with a configuration that uses the outer lane in each direction for mainly local traffic, as in one City of Richmond proposal. In contrast, using counterflow to enable five lanes in one direction would likely lead to congestion.
  • A welcome eighth key feature would be a prompt influx of Rapid Buses and an ongoing emphasis on transit to transport people conveniently and comfortably.

You can download the entire Cowdell report, Independent Technical Review of the George Massey Crossing, Final Report, Westmar Advisors, Inc., September 2018 (approx. 300 pages). You can also read a one-page overview in point form.

Many Fraser Voices supporters and like-minded citizens have put informed effort into the George Massey Crossing project. Each person’s efforts have been crucial, much like in election success.

Fraser Voices has also been pleased to interact with Victor Wei, Transportation Director, City of Richmond, on this issue. This Fraser Voices Association report re the Massey Crossing was prepared for that purpose in 2017 and updated for the provincial government in 2018.

Massey Crossing Section of this blog

The Massey Crossing Section of this blog includes 28 articles about the saga over the past six years, starting in 2012.


APPENDIX from Dec 17 Massey Crossing press release:

The Province’s next steps reflect the extensive independent technical review undertaken by Stan Cowdell that found:

  • the 10-lane bridge project did not fully address a number of key considerations, such as community alignment, liveability and cost, which likely resulted in stakeholder concerns;
  • a smaller six-to-eight-lane bridge would accommodate the majority of traffic predicted by 2045;
  • an immersed tube tunnel crossing of up to eight lanes is likely feasible for a new crossing and could be less expensive with fewer negative impacts;
  • retrofitting the existing tunnel to use in tandem with a new crossing may be possible;
  • the existing shoulder bus lanes work well and could be expanded as necessary;
  • highway improvements are equally important to reducing congestion; and
  • a realignment could further reduce the project’s scale, complexity and cost.

Posted in Fraser Estuary, Massey Crossing project, Metro Vancouver  |  Tags: , , , , , , ,  |  2 Comments »