The Livable Blog

For any of you who like the line "building freeways to solve congestion is like buying a longer belt to cure obesity", you will not be surprised with the following:

No relief for commuters under Fraser mouth
New ring road won't ease congestion
Brian Lewis, The Province
Published: Tuesday, August 24, 2010

If you commute daily through the George Massey Tunnel and think that the $1.2-billion South Fraser Perimeter Road will ease the 51-year-old crossing's congestion when it opens in 2013, you'd better think again.

A significant portion of the tunnel's daily gridlock is caused by an ever-increasing number of trucks, running to and from Deltaport and B.C. Ferries' nearby Tsawwassen terminal, that merge with commuter traffic from South Delta, White Rock and south Surrey into the tunnel's inadequate four lanes under the Fraser River.

Figures obtained last week by our sister weekly newspaper, the Delta Optimist, show that the B.C. government estimates truck traffic through the Massey Tunnel will hardly decline once the 40-kilometre SFPR is completed sometime in 2013.

[snip]
blewis@theprovince.com
http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=4e36d95f-74d1-40ff-b640-a06937541be8

But really, the quote should be something like "building freeways to solve congestion is like spending a billion dollars on a longer belt to cure obesity"

This is what Metro Vancouver chief administrative officer Johnny Carline said recently:

"We don't think we'll be able to afford full-scale investments in the Evergreen Line, south of the Fraser and UBC all in the life of this plan . . . We can't afford to have investments going out to UBC that take away from investment in the major growth areas."

Read the quote carefully - "full-scale investments" really means Skytrain type light metro, or the kind of light rail highway engineers love, with lots of underground stations and underpasses so road space for cars is not reduced.

The fact is that if the province shifted all the billions they plan to spend on urban freeways and other roadway expansions we could have even this kind of gold plated transit well before 30 years is up (noting that most of the gold goes to serve the automobile rather than the transit rider).

Photo: The consequences of climate crime - floods in Pakistan

But we don't have 30 years. Just think about what global warming is doing already in Pakistan and in Russia.

As I wrote earlier, we don't have to wait as long as the transit is on the surface using existing road space. We need a full network of rapid transit within the next five years, and we can afford it if we put the priority on transit not freeways.

Mark your calendar for 10/10/10 www.dig4justice.org

by Eric Doherty

Bus lane in Brooklyn - Photo www.mta.info

About 15 years ago one of the hot topics in the Vancouver papers was the plan for an at-grade light rail line from Coquitlam to UBC that would have taken up two lanes on Broadway and the Lougheed Highway. The plan was that rapid transit would connect Coquitlam and central Broadway within a few years. Shortly thereafter, the provincial government suddenly switched to a much more expensive - and never completed - SkyTrain line: today’s Millennium Line. Both Coquitlam and UBC are still waiting for rapid transit, and they may wait for decades, given the estimated $4.2 billion needed to connect both with SkyTrain on elevated guideways and subway tunnels.

The long-promised Evergreen Line SkyTrain branch to Coquitlam and the Northeast Sector is estimated at $1.4-billion but only $800 million has been committed by senior governments, leaving a $600 million gap. Translink is so strapped for cash that it was forced to mothball one of its three Sea Buses to reduce operating costs. The $2.8 billion estimated cost of extending the Millennium line to UBC is so daunting that it makes this funding gap insignificant.

In New York, the squeeze on the transit system is more intense. As transit ridership is growing rapidly, the aging subway system needs billions in upgrades, and even a modest extension to one line would cost billions they don’t have. But instead of crying about the expense of new subways, New York is putting rapid transit on the street with Bus Rapid Transit.

Full text at http://thecanadian.org/k2/item/226-doherty-bus-rapid-transit

Delta Council candidate Sylvia Bishop has come out swinging against the South Fraser Freeway. This could be a refreshing change, as all of the present Delta council member seem to think their job is to pave over Delta's farm land as quickly as possible.

A recent blog post on her website reads:

Delta, farmland, freeway, Gateway, SFPR, transportation
Stop! Thief! Arrest that freeway!
by Sylvia Bishop on July 13th, 2010

If we personified the South Fraser Perimeter Road and attributed human characteristics to it (in the spirit of Michael Moore’s “The Corporation“) we could charge the following: vandalism, property damage and loss of habitat. The freeway is a scar on the landscape as it carves its way through our precious farmland. In North Delta, is has destroyed family homes where in some cases, generations have lived. In North Surrey it runs a block away from an elementary school. With no regard for people, the freeway threatens wildlife confined to ever shrinking habitats. Endangered species are at further risk and may be lost.

And for what? An antiquated oil reliant transportation mode!

So we have two choices: act like a door mat and let them walk all over us or join forces in a mighty roar letting all levels of government know we want that freeway stopped. Arrest it.

Me? I’m for a loud and extended ROAR!
http://www.electsylviabishop.com/uncategorized/stop-thief-arrest-that-freeway/#respond

She has already gotten some media coverage on the issue:

Council candidate starts new campaign against SFPR

By Sandor Gyarmati, The Delta Optimist July 28, 2010

Delta council candidate Silvia Bishop helped kick off a new campaign against the South Fraser Perimeter Road project.

Attending International Bog Day at the Delta Nature Reserve Sunday, Bishop filled an envelope of sand taken from the pre-load from the South Fraser Perimeter Road, saying she'll mail it to Transportation Minister Shirley Bond as part of the "Sand for Shirley" campaign.

"I have traveled the full length of the 40-kilometre proposed freeway and am disturbed by the loss of farmland, demolition of neighbourhoods and destruction to the environment," said Bishop.

The Bridgeview Community Action Group and Sunbury Neighbourhood Association launched the campaign asking for the pre-load sand dumped along the route to be removed.

People are invited to join by filling out a form or signing an online petition at www.sandforshirley.ca

The SFPR will be a 40-kilometre, four-lane, route along the south side of the Fraser River, extending from Deltaport Way to 176th Street in Surrey, with connections to Highway 1, 91, 99 and the Golden Ears Bridge.

Construction of the new highway has been ongoing since 2008 with the completion date pushed back to 2013.

A community liaison committee was recently established to facilitate discussion between community representatives and the SFPR project team.
© Copyright (c) Delta Optimist

Read more: http://www.delta-optimist.com/Council+candidate+starts+campaign+against+SFPR/3332102/story.html#ixzz0v6tXBGTZ

It should be interesting to see what the other candidates have to say about the issue!

Green Stormwater Infrastructure:
"We live in one of the most beautiful areas of the world, and being involved with efforts like the Green Seattle Partnership shows your commitment to preserving and maintaining the beauty and health of our city. Green Stormwater Infrastructure is a new way of managing stormwater that supports the health and sustainability of our local environment by “slowing the flow” of stormwater into our local water sources and away from harmful toxins or other pollutants. In addition, Green Stormwater Infrastructure promotes a revitalized ground water system, further promoting a healthier Seattle.
http://www.seattle.gov/util/Services/Drainage_&_Sewer/Keep_Water_Safe_&_Clean/RestoreOurWaters/

Senate Moves Forward to Restore America's Great Waters restoration plans for seven Great Waters across the country. The Committee also passed a re-authorization of the National Estuary Program to benefit smaller estuarine systems.
http://www.waterefficiency.net/the-latest/senate-restore-water.aspx

On May 24, Victoria Day, the Sunbury Neighbourhood Association held a garden party on the site of a potential waterfront park, or a waterfront freeway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAB5dUFN91c

The event attracted considerable media attention, including a CKNW radio story.

Gateway Closes Door on Neighbourhood

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

By Elvis Glazier - While many people fled the Lower Mainland for the Victoria Day long weekend a group of concerned citizens took to the streets of Delta to raise awareness about the Gateway Project and the devastation the South Fraser Perimeter Road is having on the riverfront community of Sunbury. The Sunbury Neighbourhood Association (SNA)organized a Victoria Day tea party to let the government know that they were, "not amused."

Full text at http://www.deltafreepress.com/2010/05/gateway-closes-door-on-neighbourhood.html

Metro Vancouver freeway expansion gets ongoing opposition
May 25, 11:12 AM Vancouver Environmental News Examiner Bev Yaworski

Metro Vancouver residents gathered on the beautiful banks of the Fraser River in Delta on Victoria Day May 24th to express opposition to a proposed South Fraser Perimeter Road. (SFPR).

Organized by the Sunbury Neighbourhood Association as a Garden Party and Paint-In, citizens painted banners, waved to passing motorists and shared their personal stories of housing demolitions and questionable government actions on the freeway project.

Full text at http://www.examiner.com/x-30428-Vancouver-Environmental-News-Examiner~y2010m5d25-Opposition-to-Metro-Vancouver-freeway-expansion-continues-to-grow

The media release is at:
http://www.sunburyneighbourhood.ca/PressReleaseMay242010.pdf

Photos at:
http://picasaweb.google.ca/ejbaatz/VictoriaDayGardenParty#