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 if 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

Hike on 1st International Mother Earth Day, Thursday April 22, 2pm

Weather forecast: Sunny. High 14.

In 2009, the United Nations General Assembly voted to declare April 22 International Mother Earth Day - “Acknowledging that the Earth and its ecosystems are our home, and . . . to promote harmony with nature and the Earth.”[1] The UN emphasized how global warming is threatening Mother Earth, so we are going to celebrate the 1st annual International Mother Earth Day by hiking on a trail designed to stop freeway expansion.[2]

A beautiful new hiking trail is being built by the Wilderness Committee and Surrey Environmental Partners not far from the south side of the Port Mann Bridge. The first section of the South Fraser Witness Trail opened in January, and the trail has just been extended to the bus stop.

Nestled along the edge of Surrey Bend Regional Park and the banks of the Fraser River, this lush and magnificent trail will make you forget that major cities are close by. The bad news is that this area is slated to be destroyed to make way for the South Fraser Perimeter Road freeway as part of the Gateway project.

We need to stop freeway expansion for the sake of local green space, habitat for local species and to slow global warming before it’s too late.

International Mother Earth Day Hike:

When: April 22, 2010 2pm

Where: We will be meeting at the C74 bus stop at 168 St and 108 Ave in Surrey's Fraser Heights neighbourhood. The trail head is just across the street and a few meters north at the green gate.
What should I bring? Snacks, water, sturdy footwear, camera, friends.

Important Note: The Fraser Heights Neighbourhood is no longer accessible via 152nd Street (for cars). Use alternate route if driving, or even better take the bus or ride a bike!

The hiking trail has rugged sections and water resistant footwear is recommended. This event will proceed rain or shine and will only be cancelled in case of high winds or other dangerous conditions.

Link to google map – now with transit directions

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=108+ave+and+168+st&sll=49.200341,-122.752819&sspn=0.006786,0.018947&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=168+St+%26+108+Ave,+Surrey,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia,+Canada&ll=49.198896,-122.756531&spn=0.006786,0.018947&t=h&z=16

A brochure with a map of the Witness Trail and further background information is available at www.tiny.cc/witnesstrail . Note that the newest section of trail is not shown on the map.

For more events promoted as part of Earth Action Week see www.GatewaySucks.org

Sign up for notices of future South Fraser Witness Trail hikes and trail building at http://groups.google.com/group/WitnessTrail

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/ga10823.doc.htm

[2] http://wildernesscommittee.org/campaigns/communities/gateway

Note that this map has not been updated with the latest trail section, it now goes much closer to the bus stop.

Another week, another city closes a riverfront freeway to create park space. But here in Metro Vancouver, municipal politicians from Delta and Surrey still seem eager to trash the banks of the Fraser river for a freeway. What are they thinking? Do they really think that trashing prime salmon habitat and recreational space is the way to create great places to live? Don't they realize that 1967 (when Paris' freeway opened) was almost the end of riverfront freeway development, as 1968 marked a decisive upswing in activism against such destructive schemes.

But rumor has it that the provincial government may not be willing to eliminate every public service we value - from school band programs, to homeless shelters, to healthcare for seniors - to fund the South Fraser Freeway. We are waiting a suspiciously long time to hear what the bid price is. (The provincial government is still saying $1.2 billion, I am betting it will be closer to $2 billion and others think it could go higher.)

So come out to see what is at stake, and take action against the South Fraser Freeway, during Earth Action Week - see http://gatewaysucks.org/earth-action-week-april-1826

French bid 'au revoir' to expressway along Seine named after ex-president

Pedestrians, cyclists hail the proposal, but taxi drivers say congestion is already intolerable

By Henry Samuel, Daily Telegraph April 15, 2010

Photograph by: Reuters, Daily Telegraph

A computer-generated image released Wednesday shows an urban planning project of the Paris expressway on the banks of the river Seine at the Invalides-Concorde area, where the riverside roadway has been turned into a pedestrian walkway and a botanical garden anchored along the bank.

Highways along the Seine River in Paris are to be closed after 43 years in an attempt to return the banks to their "former beauty."

The highways were built by Georges Pompidou, the former French president, as part of his great "expressway program."

Up to 70,000 cars a day travel along the Seine's left bank and along the Pompidou expressway -- a divided highway built on the right bank in 1967. Pompidou was an avid motorist who once declared: "The French love their cars."

The banks have been UNESCO world heritage sites since 1992.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe who introduced Paris-Plages -- when the banks of the Seine become a temporary beach every summer -- said removing cars from sections of the riverbank would help cut pollution and boost the capital's international standing.

Delanoe has declared war on the "unacceptable hegemony of the automobile," introducing trams, bicycle and bus lanes and a bicycle rental scheme since taking office in 2001.

The moves have been welcomed by most non-motorists but car and taxi drivers have complained that congestion has become intolerable.

Undeterred, the mayor said he planned to pedestrianize a 1.8-km stretch of road on the left bank from the Orsay museum to the Pont de l'Alma near the Eiffel Tower by 2012.

There are also plans to include steps down to the water, as well as gardens, walkways, green "islets" and a barge containing a botanical garden.

To avoid total gridlock, cars will not be banned on the expressway side, but part of the expressway will become a boulevard with bike and pedestrian areas. "The idea is to transform an urban autoroute into a living space with areas where there will be no cars," said Delanoe.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/French+revoir+expressway+along+Seine+named+after+president/2909508/story.html

Photo: The South Fraser Witness Trail on the route of the South Fraser Freeway

Right to the City: Rally for a National Housing Program

Come rally for a national housing program on Saturday, Feb 20th, Noon,
Vancouver Art Gallery.

Sponsored by the Impact on Community Coalition

http://iocc.ca/index.php

Bring a Homes Not Freeways or similar sign if you want to make the connection between the billions being spent on freeways and the lack of money available for affordable housing.

The Red Tent campaign is also holding a Friday night sleepover http://www.redtents.org/

The Olympic Tent Village also needs your ongoing support. Streams of Justice, the Downtown Eastside Women Centre Power of Women Group, and others successfully set up an
Olympic Homeless Tent Village at 58 West Hastings. 58 West Hastings is a lot owned by the condo developer Concord Pacific and was being used as a VANOC parking lot during the Olympics.

OK - Earl, i want that sweater!!!! That is the coolest thing on the planet!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7GXdfJ2nxE

And i love it when people do cool stuff on transit!