標題: Plans to tear down Pattullo on hold [打印本頁] 作者: tiffiant 時間: 2011-2-8 19:57 標題: Plans to tear down Pattullo on hold
Plans to tear down Pattullo on hold
TransLink is looking at renovations instead
Jesse Johnston Feb 08, 2011 16:04:06 PM
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SURREY (NEWS1130) - The Pattullo Bridge might get fixed up instead of torn down. Plans to knock down and rebuild the bridge are on hold.
TransLink is looking into whether the 74-year-old bridge can be rehabilitated. Ken Hardie with TransLink says they can't afford to build a new bridge unless they put tolls on it. So, now they're re-examining whether a renovated bridge without tolls is a better idea than a new bridge with tolls.
"If there is a way to rehabilitate it, getting it to do what it needs to do without the expense of a new one, then it's worth looking at," Hardie explains.
According to TransLink, it would cost from $800 million to $1 billion to build a new span. No word yet on when TransLink will make a decision on which option it will go with.
If there are tolls on the Pattullo, the Alex Fraser Bridge and the Massey Tunnel will be the only free ways to get across the Fraser River.
Reaction from political leaders
Surrey's mayor Dianne Watts says the Pattullo Bridge needs be replaced, not renovated. "The bridge is close to 75 years old, it doesn't function the way it should be and it needs to be replaced," she urges.
But, Watts doesn't like the idea of tolls either, because they'll leave the Massey Tunnel and Alex Fraser Bridge as they only free ways to cross the Fraser River. "There is some pretty significant inequity in those regards," she points out.
Watts wants the whole region to come up with a solution on the tolling issue.
Transportation Minister Shirley Bond says if TransLink does decide to build a new bridge, private dollars will probably be needed.
"Replacement is obviously an attractive option for TransLink. One of the things we've been clear about is we would also be willing to support TransLink as they look for funding from other possibilities."
That means looking for money from the federal government as well.
News comes as a relief to critics of highway expansion
One environmental group is thrilled the project has been put on hold. Eric Doherty with GatewaySucks.org considers it a victory. His organization opposes major road expansions in Metro Vancouver.
He feels people on the New Westminster side don't want the new bridge, nor do they want the other parts of the megaproject - the North Fraser Perimeter Road and United Boulevard extension.
"There's been major freeway uprising against the idea of pushing a new arterial through downtown New Westminster along the river," he points out.
Doherty believes the existing bridge can be improved, saying it was never meant to be part of a freeway, and that way the New West waterfront will be preserved.
