The Pattullo Bridge process is expected to ramp up again in late January or early February.
TransLink, New Westminster and Surrey teamed up on a strategic review of 25 options for replacement or rehabilitation of the aging Pattullo, ultimately short-listing those to six requiring further study. The six options still on the table are: a rehabilitated three-lane bridge; a rehabilitated four-lane bridge; a new four-lane bridge; a new five-lane bridge; a new six-lane bridge; and a new four-lane Surrey-Coquitlam crossing with a rehabilitated three-lane Pattullo.
The City of New Westminster hasn’t formally stated which of the options it supports, but city officials have indicated a six-lane bridge would be a nonstarter.
“What I would anticipate is through the next round of consultation the city is going to start formalizing its positions,” said acting mayor Jonathan Cote. “I think a more likely scenario is the city will be indicating which options it can’t support out of the final six options as opposed to picking one and only one option.”
Cote, who is co-chair of the city’s master transportation plan committee, expects the city to formulate a position and articulate its reasons for that more clearly during the next round of consultation.
Earlier this month, some Surrey councillors told the media that the consultation process has “come to a halt” because the option of refurbishing the existing bridge is no longer one of the options TransLink is exploring. One Surrey councillor said New Westminster has asked for the plans to be reviewed numerous times, and “if they continue to delay and filibuster to the end” TransLink may have no choice than to put some significant investment into the existing Pattullo Bridge.
“You could tell the strategy from their point of view was really to make New Westminster seem parochial and not interested in the larger regional transportation system, which is inaccurate,” Cote said. “There are just some realities about our road network. We have to start asking these questions because, just because you can build a bigger bridge, if the road network can’t handle it on the other side of the bridge, you spend a lot of money not accomplishing anything. I think the city has its work cut out to better explain and articulate its positions and the reasons we are saying things, and put out that it’s not just a local issue. It is a larger transportation issue.”
Cote said residents have a role to play in the process, by making sure their views are known about the options considered for replacing the Pattullo Bridge.
“I think the city still needs to get the residents a little more engaged,” he said. “It’s when we hear the stories, and people start to come to the consultation that we really start to get the attention of TransLink.”
Bob Paddon, executive vice president of strategic planning and public affairs for TransLink, said the joint review team is continuing to evaluate a number of alternatives agreed by participants in the June 2013 consultation. He provided a statement to The Record in response to claims by Surrey councillors that New Westminster was putting up roadblocks to the planning process.
“They’ve made good progress, but are not yet ready to finalize recommendations on which alternatives should move forward and which should not be further evaluated,” he said in a statement to The Record. “The partners are continuing the review and aim to present their work and recommendations to the public for review early in 2014.”
According to Paddon, the partners in the review team – Surrey, New Westminster, TransLink and Coquitlam – have some overlapping and some distinct interests and objectives, which is why they all agreed to this joint review to determine solutions that work for communities on either side of the bridge and the region.
“We’re making good progress and aim to present our work to date early in the new year,” he said.
