Aging Pattullo Bridge needs to be replaced – Why Not Build A New Combined Road/Rail Bridge Instead?

Posted by on Thursday, May 19, 2011 · Leave a Comment 

Ai??The decrepit Pattullo Bridge, with the rickety Fraser River Rail Bridge under it

There is no surprise over this decision at all, the aged Pattullo Bridge needs to be replaced and so it should as it is literally falling apart. The Pattullo wasAi??originally built as two lane bridge in the 1930’s, like the Lions Gate Bridge and has certainly seen better days.Ai??The Pattullo Bridge needsAi??to be replaced, but this is not the real story.

Under the decrepit Pattullo Bridge is an equally decrepit, if not more soAi??Fraser River Rail Bridge which also is in dire need of replacement. Why not combine two projects into one and design and build a new combined road/rail bridge to cross the Fraser. Not easy to do but it is doable. Even the GVRD considered this in the 1970’s!

The need for a new road bridge is obvious, but not so obvious is the need for a new Fraser river rail bridge and if a new multi track rail ‘lift’Ai??bridge is built, it will go a very long way in solving local transportation issues today and for tomorrow. A multi track rail bridge would provide the necessary pathways for a 20 minute serviceAi??Valley TramTrain service to reach Vancouver as wellAi??encourage TramTrain service to North Delta, Crescent Beach and White Rock and let us not forget increased Amtrak passenger service to Seattle and Portland.

Revenue from the three railways currently using the present rail bridge would also provide a new revenue source to pay for the new combined road/rail bridge.

But this type of forwardAi??thinking isAi??alien to TransLink, who are mired with their dated and extremely expensive subway and light-metro planning andAi??seem completely unable to plan for the future. For less than the cost of extending SkyTrain to Langley , we could build the “full build” Vancouver/Richmond to Rosedale valley TramTrain and a new combined Fraser river Road/Rail Bridge.

The new bridge replacing the Pattullo will be in use for at least the next 100 years and a combined new road/rail bridge would go a long way in providing for transit solutions for the region for the next century. With gas prices ever rising and peak oil now said to be now past, isn’t it time for TransLink to think out of the box and provide a bridge solution that includes rail, especially when the need is so great for affordable transit solutions?

Aging Pattullo Bridge needs to be replaced, not refurbished: report

TransLink pushing ahead with its initial plan to build a new $1-billion six-lane bridge

By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun

May 19, 2011 5:41 AM

http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=4805808&sponsor=

METRO VANCOUVER — TransLink is pushing ahead with its initial plan to build a new $1-billion six-lane bridge to replace the aging Pattullo Bridge after a review of potential alternatives found refurbishing the bridge wasn’t feasible.

TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie said the review, by an independent engineer, found if it was refurbished, the 73-year-old bridge would have to be scaled back from its current four lanes to three because it can’t safely be widened.

A previous study also found it would cost as much to rehabilitate the Pattullo to last another 50 years as it would to build a new bridge to last 100 years.

“To improve the safety of the bridge and make operations more efficient, we would have to reduce the capacity on the bridge to three lanes,” he said. “So we would spend more than $2 million to handle less traffic. It’s a negative business case.”

TransLink had considered the option ai??i?? along with building a four-lane bridge instead of six ai??i?? after former transportation minister Shirley Bond suggested TransLink investigate cheaper, toll-free alternative for the Pattullo.

If the Pattullo were tolled, drivers seeking a toll-free route would have no choice but to take the Alex Fraser. Motorists must already pay to use the Golden Ears Bridge and the new Port Mann Bridge will be tolled.

Hardie said TransLink may still decide to go with a four-lane option but is proceeding with the initial plan for six lanes. There’s been no decision yet if the bridge will be tolled.

“If we can find another way to pay for it, it will not be tolled,” he said.

The bridge plan includes entrance and exit lanes to the north and south Fraser Perimeter roads.

The Pattullo is already operating at capacity, recording 76,000 crossings every day, with about 20 per cent of the traffic passing over the Fraser River. Traffic is often backed up to Surrey’s Johnston Hill.

Over the years, its narrow lanes and sharply curved approaches have been blamed for numerous head-on collisions.

TransLink hopes to have a new bridge in place by 2020.

ksinoski@vancouversun.com

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