Transport minister blasts Vancouver cops over bridge closure
John Colebourn and Maria Cootauco
The Province
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Transport Minister Kevin Falcon has slammed the Vancouver police for shutting the Second Narrows bridge for six hours while they helped a suicidal woman.
"I think this is a good example of how not to do things," said Falcon. "I want answers.
"It was a terrible situation. I was very unhappy with how the Vancouver Police Department handled it.
"I am utterly perplexed how it can take six hours to deal with an elderly female.
"In my view it is not acceptable and I am not happy about it and don't want to see it happen again.
"The broader issue here is we have to think how we respond to issues like this much better."
Falcon, who was among the thousands trapped in the Canada Day traffic jam and eventually turned around, said his staff will review the closure.
The two North Vancouver mayors say they were bombarded with complaints after police shut the bridge.
"We had total gridlock on one of the busiest days of the summer," District of North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton said yesterday.
"We are going to be debriefing about this and determine a very clear protocol.
"People waited six hot hours in their cars and that is not good."
City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto is demanding a full review of the closure.
Police said they had no choice but to close the bridge at 1 p.m. while they tried to rescue the woman.
"A life was in the balance," Vancouver Const. Tim Fanning said.
"We're certainly aware of the inconvenience it caused people.
"But people have to understand the measures were absolutely necessary to guarantee the safety of the woman."
He said the bridge was shut in both directions because officers needed quiet to talk to the woman who was under the bridge deck.
"We couldn't hear her," he said.
"The only way we could deal with it was to close it all down."
Police did talk the woman around.
"We were able to get her to safety and get her some help," he said.
Mussatto said police should consider keeping at least one side of the bridge open for traffic.
And he said a suicide barrier needs to be considered. "I think we should be looking at a suicide barrier and making sure people can't get underneath."
He also said it would be a nightmare to have a similar traffic snarl-up during the Olympics.
"That would really throw a wrench in the system," he said.
Walton agreed that a fence or barrier on the bridge to prevent suicides needs to be studied: "I can assure you that and other ideas will be put on the table."
Falcon said it would cost "millions of dollars" to retrofit a suicide barrier.
"If people are trying to kill themselves, it is tough to stop them," he said.
mcootauco@png.canwest.com
jcolebourn@png.canwest.com