The City of New Westminster is eagerly awaiting statistics about trips across the Pattullo Bridge to see if they back up residents' reports of increased traffic.
TransLink has yet to provide the city with statistics about trips across the Pattullo Bridge, but residents from across New Westminster are reporting increased traffic since tolls were introduced on the Port Mann Bridge.
"At least in terms of the evening rush hour, I think the city has met its capacity," said acting Mayor Jaimie McEvoy.
"We are hearing from various residents' groups that they are experiencing higher traffic volumes," said Jim Lowrie, the city's director of engineering. "Generally speaking, we are hearing anecdotally that there is an increase of traffic on our arterial streets."
Lowrie said the city "strongly believes" that trucks should be using the Port Mann and not the Pattullo Bridge.
"You have to make it desirable," he said of the Port Mann Bridge. "You have to provide incentives for truckers to use Port Mann Bridge."
Lowrie said that can be achieved through "favourable toll rates" on the Port Mann Bridge or by making the Pattullo Bridge less desirable to trucks by tolling the bridge. He also said regulations could be imposed restricting the type of truck
travelling on the Pattullo Bridge.
Currently, trucks must pay $9 per crossing of the Port Mann Bridge, as they aren't eligible for daytime discounts on the tolls. They receive a 50-per-cent discount on the toll between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
"The lane widths are substandard. Trucks typically use more than one lane," Lowrie said about the Pattullo. "The other is the structural concern."
TransLink's website states that the 75year-old Patttullo Bridge is deteriorating and needs to be replaced. The bridge doesn't meet current road design guidelines and seismic standards and has deteriorated and corroded because of time, weather and other factors, says the website.
TransLink officials and representatives from the cities of New Westminster and Surrey have formed a committee to consider the Pattullo Bridge issue.
The City of Surrey told The Vancouver Sun that it had recorded a 28.4-per-cent increase in trucks on the Pattullo Bridge the first week after tolls took effect on the Port Mann, while the B.C. Truckers Association reported a 25-per-cent increase in truck traffic on the Pattullo Bridge from January 2012 to January 2013. The truckers' association told The Vancouver Sun it couldn't pinpoint where those truck trips had originated.
"If there is any increase in truck traffic on Pattullo Bridge, it could be coming from the Port Mann or Delta Port," said Jim Lowrie, the city's director of engineering. "We are looking forward to receiving those numbers and analyzing them."
Lowrie is most interested in statistics from February 2012 and 2013.
"We have to keep in mind the Port Mann Bridge has only been open for two-and-a-half months. The data from December, and possibly January, may not be representative of typical situations because of the holidays and the time of year," he said. "I am very interested to see what February's numbers are comparing to previous years."
Although TransLink has yet to provide the city with statistics about traffic volumes on the Pattullo Bridge, the city has received plenty of anecdotal evidence from residents suggesting it's increasing.
"If there is a minor glitch anywhere, we see a total slowdown in New Westminster," McEvoy said. "It's much worse than before. The other traditional problem that is increasing is ratrunning through neigbbourhoods. We had a woman come to council in tears because she couldn't get out of her alley."
McEvoy suspects truck drivers are avoiding tolls and detours onto the Port Mann Bridge on the south side of the crossing. He said the increase in traffic in New Westminster has coincided with tolls on the Port Mann Bridge.
"You don't have direct access," he said. "It creates a nuisance for trucks. That situation on the Port Mann needs to be corrected. You need to have a direct way onto Port Mann from South Fraser Perimeter Road."
New Westminster city council has raised concerns that South Fraser Perimeter Road, a goods movement corridor on the south side of the Fraser River, doesn't include a direct connection to the Port Mann Bridge.
Rather than driving the 23 kilometers needed to get onto the highway to access the Port Mann Bridge, the city worries that truckers would prefer to take the nine-kilometre route to the non-tolled Pattullo Bridge.
