New West residents are encouraged to have a say in how local roads connect to the new Pattullo Bridge.
TransLink is holding an open house for the Pattullo Bridge replacement project on Saturday, June 18 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Sapperton Pensioners Hall, 318 Keary St. It’s inviting community members stop provide input on connections in New Westminster and Surrey that are being considered as part of the Pattullo Bridge replacement project.
“We are moving into the next phase of the Pattullo Bridge discussions. We had the important agreement signed earlier this year between the City of Surrey and TransLink that has allowed the project to take the next step,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote. “Now that we have an agreement roughly on where the bridge is going to be located, its size and things like that, we are now getting into the details on how the bridge is going to interact with both our communities.”
A decision has already been made to replace the existing Pattullo Bridge and its approaches with a new four-lane, tolled and expanded bridge. The new crossing would be located just north and upstream of the existing bridge.
“I think this is an important discussion for the community to get involved with. The city definitely would like to see the Pattullo Bridge integrate with our road network, keeping in mind that we have a very urban and built-out community. You can’t put in the same highway type of bridge interchanges that you might be able to fit in on the Surrey side. What I have seen so far, TransLink is actually done a really good job to understand the road network we have here,” the mayor added.
At the open house, TransLink will be seeking feedback about the two different options being considered for connections to the bridge.
“At this time the city doesn’t have a preference,” Cote said. “The city has certainly given a lot of comments and feedback in the lead-up to the design of those two options. The options are similar, but they do have a different connection. One is a lot closer to the existing McBride connection. The other option really straightens out McBride and makes it a more direct route to the new bridge.”
Along with the open houses, TransLink is also having smaller meetings with various stakeholders. It will host another round of consultations in the fall.
“We’d like to get as many people out as possible,” said Chris Bryan, a media relations adviser at TransLink. “We want to hear people’s input so we can inform our decision making.”
