Dear Editor:
New Westminster's Jim Lowrie told us that a six-lane Pattullo would cost about twice as much as a four-lane bridge, but the released study reports an entirely different number. Given the actual premium for two extra lanes stands at a more reasonable $200 to $300 million, I am in favour of a six-lane bridge.
Before anyone complains, I think it's important to establish first what exactly the extra lanes will be for, where will they go, and what are the benefits.
I have heard some complaints about how McBride would become a "six-lane expressway" and overload New Westminster and Burnaby streets with traffic. But TransLink's concepts from last year's consultations show that the third lane is intended to split off towards Columbia Street north of the bridge - a road leading away from New Westminster.
On the Surrey side, Mayor Dianne Watts mandated a direct connection to the new South Fraser Perimeter Road. The third lane would join in an on-ramp from this road.
This means that we will still have four lanes servicing the existing travel pattern from King George Boulevard to McBride. The new lanes would almost exclusively service the southwest (ports) to northeast (industrial) travel pattern currently mostly serviced by the heavily congested Queensborough Bridge and Front Street. A six-lane Pattullo presents a serious opportunity to decongest both of these roads and get goods from the port and transit riders
on some of the region's fastest-growing routes moving faster and more reliably.
However, absolutely nothing and no one considered it. Even the study looking at Pattullo Bridge options has not factored in any of the potential effects that more lanes on the Pattullo would have on Queensborough Bridge traffic levels.
I face the Queensborough's traffic every day on transit. I did so as a former Surrey resident and still do so today as a resident of Burnaby, commuting to Kwantlen University in Richmond. I am displeased by the ignorance and by the fact that the positions being taken and the opinions being conveyed are taking the full range of benefits into account.
This is my plea to all stakeholders and decision-makers: stop simply fearing traffic, and start thinking practically.
Consider that the Queensborough Bridge is a provincial responsibility. If a six-lane Pattullo could decongest it and get port goods moving faster, then there's a case for the province to help with some of the funding.
I think everyone would love to pay less for the new bridge.
Daryl Dela Cruz, Burnaby
