The Livable Blog

Bizarre ‘study’ reveals conflict in BC Liberal ranks

Get Moving BC, an astroturf group run by people close to the BC Liberal Party, yesterday released a ‘study’ calling for a massive binge of freeway building. They say we need at least three times as many bridges over the Fraser as we have now. Why? Because they think greater Vancouver needs to sprint to catch up to cities like Calgary in the number of freeway bridge lanes we have per capita. Basically they propose doing what the US did in the 1950s, shoveling unending billions at urban highway expansion. I have not looked closely at what they are proposing, but would likely cost well over $10 billion. But you can’t build your way out of congestion with more freeway lanes; take a look at LA, Atlanta, Houston or many other US cities. The Get Moving funders (BC Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association, the Independent Construction Business Association, and the BC Trucking Association) stand to make big money off these freeway boondoggles.

But is this really how Gordon Campbell thinks he can win the next election, by promising to bulldoze freeways through yet more neighborhoods and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the same time? No, to me this seems much more like an attack on Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts who days earlier called for a re-examination of the plan to twin the Port Mann Bridge. Mayor Watts is closely associated with the Liberal Party too, as is Peter Ladner, the NPA candidate for mayor of Vancouver. Ladner responded to the study saying: "The easy response is to build another bridge, but is that the long-term solution? Rapid transit is basically the answer".

The 1950s style 'freeways everywhere' binge advocated by Falcon and his Get Moving friends is completely incompatible with Campell's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 33% by 2020. It does not matter if Campbell is serious about global warming or not, his election strategy is to paint the BC Liberals green.

It looks like the a significant crack in the BC Liberal ranks. And good news for the NDP.

'Total gridlock' without more bridges
Transportation group calls for three new eight-lane routes across Fraser
Kent Spencer, The Province
Published: Monday, September 15, 2008

A new transportation study predicts "total gridlock" in the Lower Mainland unless three new eight-lane bridges are built.

"The Lower Mainland faces the grim prospect of total gridlock in the not-too-distant future," says Patrick O'Connor, principal author of Bridging the Infrastructure Gap, a study done for the Get Moving B.C. transportation group.

"The bridges spanning the Fraser River are stretched to their limit," O'Connor said yesterday.

"Vancouver would need to triple, quadruple and even septuple the bridge infrastructure [to catch up with other Western Canadian cities]."

[snip]

The Get Moving study concludes three major new crossings are needed because another one million people are slated to take up residence south of the Fraser.

It says the Massey Tunnel should be replaced with an eight-lane bridge and eight-lane crossings should be added at King George Highway in Surrey and between Vancouver and Richmond.

Jordan Bateman, a Langley Township councillor and spokesman for Get Moving B.C., which lobbies for improve roads, bridges and transit, said the bridges should be paid for by Victoria and Ottawa.

"There should be a dedicated annual fund, say a billion dollars between them," said Bateman, who is vice-president of Forestry Minister Rich Coleman's riding association. "The feds could take their share from the billions which are given out to Ontario and Quebec. B.C. needs to get its fair share.

"There can't be huge generational gaps in building the city's infrastructure like there has been in the past."

Get Moving, which critics accuse of being a front for the B.C. Liberals, as its key organizers, including O'Connor and Bateman, have strong ties to the party, says most of the opposition for new bridges comes from the "city of Vancouver."

Vancouver Coun. Peter Ladner, who is running for mayor in November, said more bridges are not the solution.

"The easy response is to build another bridge, but is that the long-term solution? Rapid transit is basically the answer," said Ladner.

"Traffic coming into Vancouver is down at five bridges -- the Arthur Laing, Oak Street, Knight, Massey Tunnel and Queensborough. The main reason is because people are finding the 98 B line more efficient.

"Improving transit is reducing traffic on the bridges. When the Canada Line rapid-transit system opens next year, it will further reduce traffic."

kspencer@theprovince.com

BRIDGE CAPACITY Bridge Population

Metro area River Population lanes per lane

Vancouver Fraser 2.3 million 31 74,194

Edmonton N. Saskatchewan 1.1 million 42 26,190

Winnipeg Red 720,000 40 18,000

Calgary Bow 1.1 million 75 14,667

Saskatoon S. Saskatchewan 240,000 22 10,909

Source: Get Moving B.C.

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Full text at http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=ba3e777f-1ce8-4149-aa87-6d0d682b6957&p=1