Get Moving BC

Total Gridlock: Day One

Traffic in the Lower Mainland was predictably snarled today as people did what they could to cope without the Pattullo Bridge.

The evening newscasts have been filled with horror stories recounting four hour commutes and hopelessly gridlocked traffic.

The sudden loss of the Pattullo’s four traffic lanes has dramatically, although painfully, underscored the fact that we don’t have an adequate amount of bridge infrastructure crossing the Fraser River. In fact, we have no margin for error whatsoever.

Most, if not all, of those interviewed on the newscasts tonight echoed what we’ve been saying for quite some time: Namely, that we don’t have nearly enough bridge infrastructure crossing the Fraser River for the population we currently have let alone for future population growth or for emergency situations like the one we’re facing right now.

We can’t begin to imagine what the final cost to the Lower Mainland and BC economies will be over the next month or so due to the loss of this vital, albeit decrepit, link in Greater Vancouver’s fragile transportation system. 80,000 vehicles a day depend on the Pattullo Bridge, and we’ve been brought face-to-face with “Total Gridlock” for the sake of an 18-metre section of the bridge that’s been burnt to a crisp.

By the time this Pattullo Bridge crisis is over in a month or so – and we can only hope – our collective nerves in the Lower Mainland are going to be seriously frayed.

Labels: Gateway, Get Moving BC, Pattullo Bridge, Port Mann Bridge, TransLink, transportation

posted by Get Moving BC @ 9:39 PM