The phrase, 30 pieces of silver, refers to the price Judas Iscariot received for betraying Jesus; what price to replace a perfectly good tunnel with a bridge?
We knew that replacing Massey tunnel with a bridge was never about improving traffic congestion, rather it was to allow large commercial ships up the Fraser to Fraser Surrey Docks.
There was never any transortation transportation plan with the proposed bridge. No additional crossing of the North Arm of the Fraser River to South Vancouver/Burnaby, to absorb the addition traffic. With only four lanes of traffic Northbound and four lanes of traffic southbound, unchanged since 1975, means that traffic congestion will move about 4 km North on Highway 99 in Richmond.
Oh, there is talk of Light Rail or LRT using the bridge, but LRT is not used in Metro Vancouver, rather light metro is used and there is a big difference between light metro and light rail, something most pundits and journalists are ignorant of.
The newly elected Conservative Government has proven in record time to be no better than the previous NDP government and has sold out the both the taxpayer and commuter to corporate interests, the Port Authority.
How about a $5 dollar toll every time you use the new bridge? Just ask the ‘Dork’ and Paton, who are hiding the fact the bridge will be tolled. What was their 30 pieces of silver, I wonder?
Again, the reported cost of the bridge was $8 billion in 2017 and adjusted for inflation, that increases to $10.4 billion in 2026 dollars.
The electorate wanted an honest government, an open goverment, instead we have, the same old corrupt politicians, involved in done deals, no debate and screw the taxpayer mentality.
No wonder 52% of the eligible voters did not vote, we just get the same corrupt politics, where only the name of the ruling political party has changed.
Massey Tunnel Mystery – Solved!
First posted on Thursday, March 10, 2016
Ah, the truth comes out. It’s not congestion or traffic gridlock that is driving the $3.5 billion Massey Tunnel replacement, it is Port Metro Vancouver and Fraser Surrey Docks, as they want a massive subsidized bridge to replace the Massey tunnel so Panama max and Cape max vessels can venture up the Fraser River to their docking facilities.
No rapid transit; no extension of any rail transit, as it is rubber on asphalt all the way, as the taxpayer dances to the tune of Port Metro Vancouver and Fraser Surrey Docks.
Well, I say if Port Metro Vancouver and Fraser Surrey Docks want to replace the Massey Tunnel, with a ten lane, $3.5 billion bridge, let them pay for it!
The B.C. government decided in September 2013 to remove the George Massey tunnel and replace it with a $3.5-billion toll bridge
By Kent Spencer, Postmedia News March 9, 2016
Traffic moves in and out of the George Massey Tunnel in Richmond.
METRO VANCOUVER — Richmond politicians want to know how a tunnel under the Fraser River that was deemed good for 50 years is to be filled in and replaced with a 10-lane bridge.
Coun. Harold Steves said council has sent a letter to the provincial government seeking all documentation around its September 2013 decision to remove the George Massey tunnel and replace it with a $3.5-billion toll bridge.
The request comes after Freedom of Information documents showed Port Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Surrey Docks company lobbied hard in favour of scrapping the tunnel, a move that would allow larger ships to ply the south arm of the Fraser River.
“This bridge decision caught us totally unawares”, said Steves. “We had a lot of meetings with (former) Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon in 2006 when he told us the tunnel was good for 50 years.”
Steves said FOI documents show messages from Port Metro Vancouver and Fraser Surrey Docks to government planners in 2012-13, at a time when the bridge-vs.-tunnel debate was taking place in Christy Clark’s government.
A memo from the port in March, 2013 six months before Clark’s announcement showed the port’s preferred option and noted official’s ensitivity to premature disclosure of their choice: Option No. 2: Replacing the tunnel with a new bridge in the same location. Not publicly confirmed yet, but this is (Port Metro’s) preference.
A month later, port president Robin Silvester wrote “established terminals upriver of the tunnel (like the Fraser Surrey Docks) are at risk of becoming obsolete.” His letter was addressed to Geoff Freer, provincial director for the tunnel replacement project.
