If you think there’s been less traffic on local streets, you’re right.
Since tolls were removed on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges on Sept. 1, Mayor Jonathan Cote said that weekday traffic has decreased by 11 per cent in New West, while weekend traffic volumes have gone down by 17 or 18 per cent since Sept. 1. He said that’s a “significant step” to getting traffic volumes in the city back to what they were before the new Port Mann Bridge was built.
“Another significant factor is, we don’t have the numbers but anecdotally it looks like a lot of the commercial truck traffic has reduced quite substantially too,” he said. “Given how that traffic wasn’t efficiently using the Pattullo Bridge, it appears to be having a pretty positive impact in terms of the flow on the Pattullo Bridge.”
Cote provided the Record with the latest numbers on the Pattullo Bridge, which showed traffic on a number of roads in New Westminster. Traffic was counted during the week of Sept. 11 to 17 and compared to the same week in 2016.
* Pattullo Bridge – an 11 per cent decrease in total traffic volume, or about 8,620 fewer vehicles per day.
* McBride Boulevard – about 10 per cent less traffic on on an average weekday – or about 4,588 fewer vehicles per day.
* Royal Avenue – about a five per cent decrease in total traffic on an average weekday – or about 1,582 fewer vehicles.
* Brunette Avenue – a six per cent decrease in total volumes on an average weekday – or about 2,372 fewer vehicles.
At the Sept. 21 Mayors’ Council on transportation meeting , TransLink staff said traffic has increased by 25 per cent on the Port Mann Bridge and by 20 per cent on the Golden Ears Bridge since tolls were eliminated.
“There’s no doubt we have seen some benefits here in New Westminster with the tolls being removed, but conversely, there are other areas that are actually seeing new congestion points around the Port Mann Bridge and the Golden Ears Bridge," he said. “I think there’s a recognition that the previous tolling system was done haphazardly and not in an equitable fashion, but I am hoping it does allow us to have that next conversation about mobility pricing and allows both the mayors’ council and the provincial government to engage with the work that the mobility pricing commission is just starting on.”
Cote said the replacement of the Pattullo Bridge continues to be a top priority for the Mayors’ Council.
“It’s definitely the most urgent transportation project out there right now,” he said. “We are really hoping to be able to get a final agreement to be able to move that project forward by the end of this year because we are concerned if we are not able to get to that agreement we may not be able to build a new bridge before the existing structure has reached the end of its life.”
According to Cote, B.C.'s new NDP government is “fully aware” of how its tolling policy has impacted the financial plan for the new Pattullo Bridge and is now in discussions with the Mayors’ Council about how the structure will be financed.
“It had been anticipated that 75 per cent of the funding for the new Pattullo Bridge was going to be covered by tolls. Given the new direction from the provincial government, that funding source is likely not going to be immediately available,” said Cote, who chairs the Mayors’ Council’s funding strategy committee. “Given that that was a provincial commitment that they had made regarding elimination of the tolls, the Mayors’ Council has taken the position that it’s the provincial government that has to now step up to the table to replace that missing funding source.”
