As reported yesterday, TransLink is moving swiftly on plans to replace the aging Pattullo Bridge with a new six-lane crossing by 2015. Now, new details about the plans have emerged in a BC Local News story by reporter extraordinaire Jeff Nagel.
One of the options TransLink is purportedly excited about – depending on the bidding process – is moving the construction crew and equipment over from the Port Mann down to the Pattullo once that bridge wraps up its major work in 2013. While such a strategy is highly dependant on the desires of the eventual winner of the Pattullo bid, intriguing synergies and potential reduced capital costs are possibilities if such a scenario unfolded. A similar strategy could have been implemented following the opening of Canada Line, allowing crews to move its expensive tunnel boring machine over to the Evergreen Line construction, though that has obviously not happened.
According to the story, TransLink anticipates that the Surrey side of the bridge will feature a full interchange with the South Fraser Perimeter Road currently under construction. This is a major design change for the SFPR which currently has no planned immediate connection to the existing bridge.
The new bridge will not feature a combination road and rail connection, an option which was initially explored early on. That option was designed to replace not just the dangerous four lane road bridge that is the Pattullo, but also the highly outdated, single track New Westminster Rail Bridge that parallels the Pattullo. The New Westminster Rail Bridge, built in 1904, was the first span to cross the Fraser River, and originally featured an upper road deck which was torn down following the Pattullo’s introduction in 1937. The rail bridge has been a continuous source of frustration for commuter rail advocates across Metro Vancouver in recent years due to its frequent congestion. The bridge features just one railway track and its lack of capacity has limited both freight usage and has been cited as one of the most significant barriers to expanding the Amtrak Cascades service between Vancouver and Seattle, as well as introducing a West Coast Express-type commuter rail service between Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
Finally, the article again confirms that TransLink is willing to explore alternative financing arrangements with the provincial government, as a result of tolling uproar South of the Fraser. However, if an agreement cannot be found, TransLink is willing to implement tolls to pay for the much needed new bridge. Financial arrangements between the Province and the regional transportation authority have been in a decade long stalemate since TransLink’s introduction in 1999, meaning it is highly likely that tolls will be introduced to pay for the crossing. Provincial emphasis on deficit reduction and cost savings adds further weight to the toll-based financing option.
Residents of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows were not given any funding options. The Golden Ears Bridge was to be entirely a user-pay, toll-financed operation.
So why is there any debate on how to finance a new Patullo Bridge without tolls?
In all fairness, residents of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows just got the brand new Pitt River bridge, paid for entirely by the province and untolled.