Traffic congestion in New Westminster is prompting some residents to voice support for tolls on the Pattullo Bridge.
The B.C. Truckers Association recently reported a 25 per cent increase in truck traffic on the Pattullo Bridge from January 2012 to January 2013, although it couldn't pinpoint the origin of those trucks. The City of New Westminster is currently awaiting traffic counts being done by TransLink to see if tolls on the new Port Mann Bridge have led to increased traffic on the free Pattullo Bridge crossing.
Like many New Westminster residents, Quayside resident Linda Fox said she's noticed an increased in traffic congestion in the city since tolls were introduced on the Port Mann Bridge. She's also noticed an increase in truck traffic in the city.
"They seem to be all over," she said. Fox sometimes travels from the Quay to the uptown area in the afternoon, stopping to pick up a friend on Royal Avenue. Since tolls were introduced on the Port Mann Bridge, her five-minute trip has tripled in time.
"I used to do this close to 4 p.m. but now have to leave earlier and earlier, and now I sit and watch trucks on Royal, on Columbia, on Front," she wrote in an email to The Record. "In fact, shopping in Sapperton is pretty much out of the question and I used to love the shops and restaurants there. As a taxpaying resident of New Westminster, I would like to see our bridge tolled so that trucks would be forced to use the multi-billion dollar bridge built to take their weight and girth."
Fox believes that tolling the Pattullo Bridge would level the playing field and reduce the number of commuters trying to avoid tolls on the Port Mann Bridge. Alternatively, Fox suggested that tolls charged for trucks be reduced on the Port Mann Bridge.
"I think the trucks would rather use the big bridge," she said.
Jason Lesage, president of the Massey Victory Heights Residents' Association, said the association supports tolling of the Pattullo Bridge.
"It's a more fair system than to have one bridge tolled," he said. "It would probably ease traffic in our neighbourhood."
Lesage said it's unfair that New Westminster residents and neighbourhoods are suffering from increased traffic, as commuters try to avoid tolls on the Port Mann Bridge.
Some Massey Victory Heights residents, particularly those living on East Eighth Avenue, are noticing more trucks - and hearing more trucks gearing down as they climb the hill and apply their brakes as they go down the hill toward McBride Boulevard. Others have reported increased soot on their patios.
"In addition to the noise, there seems to be an increase in air particulate," Lesage said. "That raises health issues."
While Lesage commutes to work on transit, he said other area residents have reported longer queues along the 10th Avenue and McBride Boulevard traffic corridor.
"Some mornings, that 10th Avenue can be a bit of a parking lot because of the increased traffic," he said.
Although the city has yet to receive TransLink's statistics about traffic on the Pattullo Bridge, the city has received anecdotal evidence from residents that they've seen more traffic on arterial routes and more rats running through neighbourhoods since the tolls took effect on the Port Mann Bridge.
Jim Lowrie, the city's engineering director, recently told The Record the city strongly believes trucks should be using the Port Mann Bridge, not the Pattullo Bridge. He said steps may need to be taken to make the Port Mann more desirable for truckers, whether that's favourable toll rates for trucks on the Port Mann, tolls on the Pattullo Bridge or restrictions on the type of trucks able to cross the Pattullo Bridge.
Trucks currently have to pay a $9 per crossing toll on the Port Mann Bridge during the day. They receive a 50 per cent discount on the toll between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
