Gateway Discussion: Port Mann Bridge/Hwy 1/RapidBus

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by finalcoolman

I'm not sure if anyone has done this, but I've just confirmed that the New Port Mann bridge will be THE WIDEST IN THE WORLD.

Not for long. The new Ronald Wilson Regan Bridge over the Mississippi will be 222 feet wide, considerably wider than 50 metres.

[finalcoolman]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

Not for long. The new Ronald Wilson Regan Bridge over the Mississippi will be 222 feet wide, considerably wider than 50 metres.

Haha. Not anymore. In order to save money they took the idiotic decision to halve the width of the bridge. Instead of building one super wide bridge now and getting over with it, they will instead add a second twin bridge when it becomes necessary. It will only be 4 lanes now on opening day expandable to six later instead of 8 lanes on opening day expandable to 12. From your Wikipedia article:

"The bridge is of a cable-stayed design and has a proposed main span of 1500 feet (457 m). It will carry four mainline traffic lanes (down from the originally planned eight), with room to add a lane in each direction, providing for expansion and reconfigurability. It will also be designed so that a companion bridge could be built beside it"

Another article. The key phrase in this is "if it had been built" referring to the original proposal:

http://www.lusas.com/case/bridge/mississippi.html

The Port Mann bridge's reputation as the widest in the world is safe for now.

[Metro-One]

I am so happy that for once the province thought big and cancelled the twinning option.

This new Port Mann bridge will indeed be very impressive and will meet our regions long term demands.

For once we are making the pinnacle superstructure the widest portion of an artery, instead of the narrowest.

I have said it on here before, but with our recent addition of bridges over the past 5 years (The 2 Canada Line bridges, particularly the North Arm, the Golden Ears Bridge, the new Pitt River bridge (also very wide if you travel over it), the Port Mann Bridge (the big daddy of them all) and even the Coast Meridian Overpass, not to mention the potential new Patullo Bridge) coupled with our impressive existing stock (The Lions Gate, The Iron Workers Memorial, the Alex Fraser, the Expo Skytrain Bridge, the Arthur Lang, etc...) really make Metro Vancouver Canada's bridge city (yes, I would put Vancouver over Montreal for that title, but I am sure others may debate otherwise).

And to me, that adds an important texture to a city that other Canadian cities such as Toronto, Calgary, etc... just do not have.

I love bridges, so this is definitely a good place to be for me, hehe!

I just hope we don't rename the Lions Gate "XyhhmXyhhmJkyltyuXct." hehehehehehehehe

[zivan56]

Will it even be legal to toll highway 1? Doesn't it have some special status as it goes through the whole country non-stop? I know it goes through Banff and you have to pay a park toll to enter the park...however, highway 1 is exempt from this.

[Zassk]

Originally Posted by zivan56

Will it even be legal to toll highway 1? Doesn't it have some special status as it goes through the whole country non-stop? I know it goes through Banff and you have to pay a park toll to enter the park...however, highway 1 is exempt from this.

That's because it is a park toll, not a road toll. It is the same for all highways that go through parks. If you stop to use park facilities, then you pay the park toll. If you pass through, then you do not pay the park toll. That situation has nothing to do with it being part of the Trans-Canada Hwy.

Perhaps, if the federal government was paying for the new Port Mann, then there would be a different policy for tolling it... But the federal government built Confederation Bridge (which is part of the Trans-Canada Hwy) and they toll that. Anyway, this bridge is being built by the province.

[Metro-One]

Unless all bridge and tunnel crossings are tolled (and I think in such a situation 1$ per direction would be adequate) I am against highway 1 being tolled (unless they implemented a distance based toll). Simply because with the Golden Ears tolled (which I support) and the Patullo to soon be a tolled bridge as well, when the new one is completed, that leaves one region of the lower mainland with no near free alternative, while the rest of the region (Richmond, North Shore, etc...) have no tolls. If one lives along 152nd the Alex Fraser or the Mission bridge are not exactly realistic free alternatives.

It just seems strange to toll only one area of our Metro (with high tolls) while the rest is toll free (and something tells me the average resident on the North Shore can afford tolls far more than the average resident around the Fraser River).

For me, the best scenario would be to have a reversed pattern, where the Mission Bridge is free, the GEB is tolled, the Port Mann is free, the new Patullo is tolled, and then Alex Fraser is free.

That or simply toll every crossing 1 dollar, which I am sure is finically viable since all the new tolls today are electronic and only require minimal maintenance and staff.

[opticsguy]

Made a photo of the Portmann Bridge about two weeks ago, 3 shots put together for a panoramic. How to attach photos here? I live in the states but often travel the Portmann and enjoy the river crossing and watching as things change.

[Metro-One]

Just copy your images address (from wherever it is hosted) and book end it with [img] and [/img] as you would with any html.

Look forward to seeing your pic.


Cheers!

[SpongeG]

the plan i thought was to plan all crossing - even the alex fraser will be tolled eventually

anyway - are people allowed to hang out on the port mann bridge? last night as i dropped my friend off in surrey - on the way saw a guy walking with a bag towards the bridge on the way back he was standing at the side of the bridge - i was thinking he might be a jumper but he was hanging out there no idea why - i didn't know if there is someone you should call when you see that happen

[bulliver]

^ Taking pix?

[SpongeG]

well it was like 12 am - he was standing there - if he was trying to cross he would have had to walk in the traffic since there is no pedestrian area to walk on the side he was on

[Mininari]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

the plan i thought was to plan all crossing - even the alex fraser will be tolled eventually

anyway - are people allowed to hang out on the port mann bridge? last night as i dropped my friend off in surrey - on the way saw a guy walking with a bag towards the bridge on the way back he was standing at the side of the bridge - i was thinking he might be a jumper but he was hanging out there no idea why - i didn't know if there is someone you should call when you see that happen

It seems to me that a distance-based vehicle levy would be more fair to EVERYONE in the region than bridge tolls. How difficult would this be to implement... people would have to report their odometer reading every time they renewed their insurance... cap it at $100/yr, or some reasonable amount. That would be about the same as the formerly proposed vehicle levy.

It is unfair that punkass skiers and rich people get a free ride over the North Shore Bridges, but South-of-the-Fraser gets screwed.

[Zassk]

^ I and my wife stand to save considerably in a distance-based system, so I say, bring it on! Where's my distance-based insurance?

[GeeCee]

Distance based levies aren't so fair if you travel a lot out of province.

[idunno]

It is unfair that punkass skiers and rich people get a free ride over the North Shore Bridges, but South-of-the-Fraser gets screwed

But really, 3 new bridges (4 including the Patullo) with a total of 11 new one-way lanes for the SoF vs. no new bridges and 4.5 one-way lanes for the NS. I know the population difference is significant but you have to take into account the cost of new infrastructure.

[agrant]

Distance based levies seems to make sense at first glance... in a round about way, sort of like how my strata works - my share of the maintenance is based on the size of my property. And you pay regardless of where the work is done. So your share of infrastructure costs is based on how much road you've used. Then again, people who do not do regular commutes, like delivery vehicles, taxis etc. would feel like they're getting screwed.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by Mininari

It seems to me that a distance-based vehicle levy would be more fair to EVERYONE in the region than bridge tolls. How difficult would this be to implement... people would have to report their odometer reading every time they renewed their insurance... cap it at $100/yr, or some reasonable amount. That would be about the same as the formerly proposed vehicle levy.

It is unfair that punkass skiers and rich people get a free ride over the North Shore Bridges, but South-of-the-Fraser gets screwed.

the north shore bridges and the bridges into downtown would all be tolled as well - basically any bridge in the LM would have a toll - it was in the news a while ago as a way for tanslink to raise much needed funds

but i think newly constructed bridges will be tolled

[Whalleyboy]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

the north shore bridges and the bridges into downtown would all be tolled as well - basically any bridge in the LM would have a toll - it was in the news a while ago as a way for tanslink to raise much needed funds

but i think newly constructed bridges will be tolled

if it was all it would be pretty cruel to richmond....lets do it!

[Metro-One]

Although not quite as bad as Richmond, living in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows one can not really go anywhere either without crossing a bridge (unless you are going east to Mission).

The problem with bridge tolls is they punish one who is possibly only driving a km or 2 (for example Pitt Meadows to Costco in Poco) but they do not punish potentially far longer trips that do not cross rivers (for example driving from Poco to UBC).

Also they are a flat tax, meaning they affect the lower and middle class far more than the upper class (especially when they are $3+ per crossing).

I have never been a fan of flat taxes. And the irony of the situation is it is usually the lower classes that have to buy further out in the valley due to Vancouver's ridiculously high house / condo prices.

[Alex Mackinnon]

Originally Posted by Mininari

It seems to me that a distance-based vehicle levy would be more fair to EVERYONE in the region than bridge tolls. How difficult would this be to implement... people would have to report their odometer reading every time they renewed their insurance... cap it at $100/yr, or some reasonable amount. That would be about the same as the formerly proposed vehicle levy.

It is unfair that punkass skiers and rich people get a free ride over the North Shore Bridges, but South-of-the-Fraser gets screwed.

Punkass skiers eh? Someone is bitter.

There already is a distance based tax that also takes into account both how much you drive, doesn't require additional overhead to be expanded and rewards efficient vehicles. Its called a gas tax.

We don't need a new tax, just more gas tax. It even works on out of province vehicles!