Quote:
Originally Posted by Bdawe
Well, we were on the subject of a bridge built by private investors rather than public coffers, it's a simplified argument, but yes, in the 1920s and 1930s the oil and auto industries mounted a sustained public relations campaign to convince the public of the virtue of building toll-free controlled access roads, improved and paved streets and roadways.
That's not to say that the public did not do these things ever - the New Westminster Bridge, originally a road & rail structure, was built by the Federal Government, but was for the purposes of furthering trade, and the bridge was tolled to recover costs, and was not built with mass car commuting in mind, but they were much rarer, and much more infrastructure was furnished by private enterprise.
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The Sunshine Coast fixed link is being built to open up the region and its deep water ports to economic growth. As it is the 150km's of gently sloping coastline with two deep water ports is economically choked off even though it is within a stones throw away from downtown Vancouver.
If you think people will be commuting over a tolled bridge for 60 min (assuming their living right in Langdale, move to Sechelt and add another 20-30 min) just to get to the Lions Gate bridge then I would have to say that is crazy talk.
What will however happen is that the passenger ferry between Gibson's and Downtown Vancouver will become even more viable and handle even more passengers that it will feed straight into the mainlands transit system.
Without a reliable fast 24/7/365 connection the region will continue to be economically stagnant, lower Sunshine Coast will remain stagnant, and Powell River will continue its sad decline. The entire region will continue to be subsidized by the rest of the province today, tomorrow and ever day after, and the deep water port will remain unused.
Think of the fixed link as the railway to the coast. It will be built to open up the region to economic activity and benefit the province for generations to come. Not for the people currently living there (who will still benefit) and certainly not to make the area a bedroom community (considering that will be impossible unless you utilize the passenger ferry from Gibsons, and even then a 45 min (with a old slow inefficient ship today) crossing is no fun).