There will be no shortage of things to talk about if New Westminster city council gets its wish and lines up a meeting with the premier.
City council recently approved a motion to request a meeting with Premier Christy Clark and Transportation Minister Todd Stone to discuss assorted transportation issues impacting New Westminster.
Mayor Wayne Wright said the request is related to the city’s ongoing issues with the Bailey Bridge, the Pattullo Bridge, truck traffic and increased congestion since tolls were raised on the Port Mann Bridge. Wright said he tunes into the news every morning to get updates on New Westminster’s traffic situation.
“Now we are part of every transportation notice that comes in – the Queensborough Bridge, the Pattullo Bridge. Many times they are saying it is clear sailing through the Port Mann Bridge,” he told The Record. “There’s something wrong here.”
In related news, council has directed staff to proceed with the technical analysis and consultation process needed to remove Royal Avenue as a truck route.
“We met with TransLink. They have indicated to us what they see as a reasonable process as to how to best attain that,” said Jim Lowrie, the city’s director of engineering. “It involves consultation with industry and other agencies and the public.”
Since tolls were introduced on the Port Mann Bridge, the city has experienced an increase in truck traffic on city streets, particularly Royal Avenue. The Queen’s Park Residents’ Association has also written to B.C.’s transportation minister asking that the current 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. truck ban be extended to 24 hours a day.
As part of the city’s request, staff will compile technical information and identify stakeholder groups. A staff report states that stakeholders could include the B.C. Trucking Association, Gateway Council, Port Metro Vancouver, local trucking organizations, adjacent municipalities, Kruger Products and others.
The city is concerned that the introduction of tolls on the new Port Mann Bridge has encouraged motorists, including many trucks, to take the free Pattullo Bridge to cross the Fraser River.
In addition to banning trucks on Royal Avenue, the city has also asked TransLink to ban heavy trucks on the Pattullo Bridge, if it continues to experience increased traffic volumes due to the diversionary effects of the Port Mann Bridge, and to establish regional tolling as a travel demand management measure for the Metro Vancouver area as an immediate priority.
“We have had a number of email complaints come in. They are not all from the Queen’s Park area,” Lowrie said. “From time to time, we receive comments from people thanking council for taking the action they did, and can you do more? I think generally speaking, the number of inquiries has gone up.”
Lowrie said the city hasn’t heard back from the Ministry of Transportation about its request to reduce or eliminate the tolls for trucks on the Port Mann Bridge.
“We will give them some time to respond,” he said of the city’s next move. “They likely will be assessing the impacts of the tolls in the early part of January. I think we are all experiencing that right now. They will probably take a short bit of time to assess the impacts of the tolling on traffic volumes.”
The average daily traffic volume on Royal Avenue increased by five per cent, and the heavy truck volume increased by a 63 per cent increase, according to statistics compiled by the city from September to November 2012, and then between June and August 2013. As tolls on the Port Mann Bridge doubled to $3 per trip on Jan. 1, the city fears more motorists will take the free crossing.
“It will probably take a few weeks or a month before people really develop their habits,” Lowrie said. “If people avoid the tolls and sit through the congestion I guess that’s one decision people can make. Or they can pay the toll and move quicker and more freely.”
