Province defends Massey Bridge as top pick for federal grants, Jeff Nagel, Black Press, December 21, 2015:
Transportation Minister Todd Stone is defending the province’s decision to make the replacement of the Massey Tunnel B.C.’s top priority to receive new federal infrastructure grants.
The choice of the new bridge over the Fraser River – expected to cost around $3 billion [$3.5 billion] – isn’t sitting well with some Metro Vancouver mayors, who worry it may effectively compete for federal cash against their rapid transit projects…
Categories: Transit
in-sights.ca 
With the new federal government's commitment to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, one would think that all this infrastructure bonanza $ will be directed to green projects only.
Like that is ever going to happen.
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The Port of Vancouver want a bridge then you had better be prepared to build them one. US coal to Fraser Surrey Docks another gift to the Port. The Port gave us a soccer stadium oops I mean they refused to allow private money to build one above their property. The port is no one friend.
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Lew, I was thinking of applying for a Liberal nomination. What do you think my chances are?
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Works fine for me. Thinking of applying, John? Maybe we can work at them from the inside.:-)
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Norm, I just want to wish you & your family a Merry Christmas. Thanks for some great reading in 2015 and like thousands of others I'm looking forward to 2016 with NorthernInsights.
Guy in Victoria
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Says “This page cannot be found.” Triple deleted?
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Click to access oath.pdf
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This is off topic, Norm, but I thought it might get buried in an older, relevant post…
A retired neighbour who was a BC Government employee, believes that the Oath of Employment they had to swear to many years ago, outlined standards of conduct, which would include: that which is Government information, versus that which is personal information.
The Oath of Employment is available on the Government website; for reasons of tracking, privacy etc, I didn't want to click on the Government website. Perhaps someone who knows how to look at the website in a secure way, can check it out?
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No, most traffic is from South Delta and South Surrey, where transit ridership has all but collapsed due to the Canada Line.
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True..LRT more cost effective than the Canada Line, I stand corrected.
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And if BC Ferries terminal is moved to Richmond there would be no need to have a new bridge
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Knowing something about “rapid transit” is not more cost effective, especially the Canada Line.
The Canada Line is horribly expensive for what it does, is at capacity and costs about three times more to operate than other 'rail' transit modes. The Canada Line is the only heavy-rail metro in the world, built as a light metro and has less capacity than a streetcar.
With 40 metre long station platforms, the Canada line has effectively has half the capacity than the Expo and Millennium Lines. Because of this, to extend the Canada line, one must first invest $1 billion to $1.5 billion to extend platforms and increase station size to conform to Canadian legal regulations.
I was was told by a specialist working for Siemens, that to extend the Canada Line across the Fraser to South Delta and increase capacity, it would be cheaper to convert the Canada Line to LRT (easy and cheap because the Canada line is not ALRT/ART SkyTrain, rather a grade separated railway).
Thus for the cost of retro fitting the Canada line to increase capacity, we could convert the Canada line to LRT; buy the Arbutus Corridor and build LRT on that (both cheap to do, with the land costing a mere $100 million, effectively doubling the rail capacity into downtown Vancouver)and extend it to Steveston and Ironwood Mall.
Extending LRT across the Fraser to South Delta and South Surrey would be about $30 million to $35 million/km to build, economy version, including tunnel and buying the CN R-o-W for $65 million or about one third of the cost to extend the Canada line, just in Richmond.
Put another way, we could build as much as 30 km of LRT for the cost of just extending the Canada Line from Brighouse, just to Ironwood Mall.
Thus it would cost $2 billion to $2.5 billion to convert the Canada Line to LRT, and extend it to Steveston, #5 Road, Ladner and the Ferry terminal, with another line going down the median of Hwy. 99 to South Surrey, using modern LRT.
Such a rail network would attract far more new ridership than just extending the present Canada line and negate the need of a new bridge, that is if the new bridge is really to reduce congestion or, as i think, allow Cape Max tankers and colliers to load LNG, dirty bitumen oil from Alberta and even dirtier Montana Coal from Fraser Surrey Docks.
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“Transportation Minister Todd Stone is defending the Province's decision to make the Massey Tunnel B.C.'s top priority….”
First of all, we should get our 'top priorities' in order. I thought it was Site C, or LNG. And its the 'Province's decision'? Who is 'the Province'? Not Christy, I hope? And Todd Stone? He barely knows the difference between a bridge and a tunnel. (Hint: one goes over, the other goes under.)
I guess we could find out through FOI? Not bloody likely!
I'm ready for change. Next step please.
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For the Flatiron/Kiewit group, a $5 billion bridge would sustain their recent momentum in BC. And, a new bridge over the south arm of the Fraser River creates need for a new bridge over the north arm, maybe at around No. 7 Road. That presents much opportunity to profit by converting unneeded farmlands to new commercial and industrial uses. That will please the Beadie family members who are loyal Liberal supporters.
Vancouver City's major developers don't push for rail transit to exurbia because they can make fortunes by controlling land and buildings adjacent to subway lines like the one they want to build on Broadway. “You can't afford a million dollars for an 800 square foot apartment? Don't worry, we'll make the apartments 1/3 of that size and only charge $500,000.”
Unfortunately for all of us, it is the special interests that dictate policy. There is no effective process involving community and transportation planners. There is no review of policies by experts who don’t have skin in the game. The Province of BC makes multi-billion decisions and then hides and destroys the advice that led to their choices.
Nothing will change until we remove the charlatans who are now in power.
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As an opening talking point…you can double the price. Secondly, rapid transit makes far more sense, is cost effective, and will move far more people, if marketed properly.
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