Pattullo Bridge closed for weekend amidst hot air about a replacement

The Pattullo Bridge is 80 years old this year, but it isn't getting birthday greetings from any politicians or bridge users.

The first full weekend closure of the Pattullo Bridge is scheduled to take place this weekend – from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday. It is the latest in a series of weekend closures of the bridge over the past few summers, as work crews attempt to apply baling wire and binder twine to keep it patched up a little bit longer.
The Pattullo Bridge turned 80 this year, but there has been no celebration of any kind. The bridge has become a sad joke.
The never-ending talk of replacement is a perfect reflection of the impotence of TransLink and the oft-fractious relationships between cities north of the Fraser and those on the south side.
TransLink has been talking about replacing the bridge for years. It took over the bridge from the provincial government upon its formation almost 20 years ago. The width of a replacement bridge has been contentious, with New Westminster insisting it be no more than four lanes and Surrey wanting six.
However, it’s been a moot point because TransLink has no capital funds to replace the bridge. It has said for years that replacement would be financed by drivers who would pay a toll, but the incoming government wants to get rid of toll bridges. Thus that plan is likely out the window.
Replacement of the bridge was part of a plan by the mayors’ council that was shot down by voters in a referendum in 2015. It was never made clear how the proposed extra sales tax would speed up the bridge replacement, given that it was to be a toll bridge, but the mayors included it in the package anyway. Voters weren’t convinced – they decisively rejected the plan, despite a massive taxpayer-financed campaign urging approval.
Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner is now suggesting that the bridge project could be partially financed by a new federal trade and transportation corridors initiative, which aims to spend $2.1 billion over 11 years on projects to improve transportation corridors to international markets. The Pattullo would certainly qualify on that front, although New Westminster likely objects to any suggestion that a new bridge would be used by trucks to access port facilities.
The reality is that $2.1 billion will be spread across the country over 11 years, so it isn’t likely the Pattullo project would get any more than about $50 million from the fund.
Hepner also said recently that the bridge should be closed by 2022 if a replacement isn’t built. This sentiment has been echoed by TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond.
That would be a disaster. There is simply too much traffic between the two sides of the Fraser River to arbitrarily close down one of the corridors, particularly as the number of people living south of the river continues to grow. What could be even worse is that New Westminster will never agree to a new bridge if the existing one is closed down with no replacement in sight.
TransLink will never find the capital money to replace the bridge unless almost all of it comes from Ottawa and Victoria. It has no plan B, if tolls to fund the new bridge are rejected. It is working on a design for replacement of the bridge, and claims construction could begin in 2019, but has no funds to do so. The enormous differences of opinion between Surrey and New Westminster, in particular, make building a replacement bridge even more challenging.
No wonder that the public is highly cynical about politicians, and their promises to replace the bridge. What seems more likely to many of them is that the bridge will eventually crumble into the river.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bad day at Black Press

Image
News today that Black Press has voluntarily entered creditor protection and could be sold to a three-way partnership is the latest in a long string of bad news stories for community newspapers. David Black, longtime owner and founder of Black Press, is out of the newspaper business after more than 50 years. It has been a sad day for me. I have spent the past 46 years involved with the community press, mostly as a reporter and editor. I was a Black Press editor for 16 years with The Langley Times, retiring from full-time work in 2015. I am particularly saddened when I think of the many great people I worked with at various newspapers, most of them now owned by Black Press. Some still work there, some have retired, some have left this world behind. Community newspapers have been struggling to find an arrangement that works for them, as businesses, and for their readers, for the better part of 20 years. This became a particular challenge when smart phones, notably the iPhone, made their a...
Read more

Na Tigie Jawara - she was a rock to many in Kabala, Sierra Leone

Image
Bonnie and I paused for a photo with Robert and Na Tigie Jawara when we visited their home in Kabala, Sierra Leone in December, 2013. Their granddaughter Tigos, who has just turned six, is with them. Students at Kabala Christian School enjoy the shade under a giant mango tree on their school grounds in Kabala, Sierra Leone. Update: The Jawara's three children who live outside Sierra Leone (two attend university in The Gambia, and one is working in South Korea) are now on their way back home for their mother's funeral, which will take place Sunday. Na Tigie's death has had a huge impact on many people there, as she was well-known in so many circles and well-loved by many. Just under three years ago, my wife Bonnie and I had the privilege of travelling to Sierra Leone and Ghana in West Africa. Our daughter Christina (Chrissy) first went to Sierra Leone in 2008, when she was in Grade 12 at Fraser Valley Christian high school in Surrey. She spent most of he...
Read more

Capital parcel tax biggest culprit in massive Surrey tax increase

Image
Property taxes in Surrey jumped by far more than the 2.9 per cent claimed by Mayor Doug McCallum. The biggest culprit is the capital parcel tax, which jumped by 200 per cent for every single property in the city. This is steep - and regressive. Many Surrey residents are upset about the boost in their property taxes. Some say they have gone up 15 to 20 per cent - a far cry from Mayor Doug McCallum’s claim that they were only boosted a modest 2.9 per cent. Property taxes are complex although Surrey, to its credit, breaks down the portion collected for its operations quite specifically. Not all municipalities do so. The Surrey property tax bill also includes a significant amount for schools, as well as small amounts for B.C. Assessment Authority, Metro Vancouver and TransLink. There is no doubt that McCallum’s claim was misleading, right from the moment council adopted its 2021 budget. A 200 per cent increase in the parcel tax, from $100 to $300, ensured that everyone’s taxes would rise f...
Read more