Pattullo Bridge Discussion: Upgrades/Replacement | U/C

[Repthe250]

Originally Posted by makr3trkr

6 lane bridge does not equal 6 lanes of through traffic.

1 lane could go directly to/from McBride, 1 lane to Royal, and 1 lane to Columbia/Front, and it would be far safer and less congested than 4 lanes without requiring any "increased throughput" or road upgrades / freeway

Exactly this. One lane exits to Columbia, two lanes go thru to Royal/McBride just like it currently already is. And then eastbound, the Columbia on-ramp just goes straight to surrey rather than merge, then exits on 120th or highway 17 and the two thru lanes go straight to KGB. It’s not rocket science.

[madog222]

Girders for the New West side approach will start to be installed next month.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Sigh... the missing Stormont Connector

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/mcbr...attullo-bridge

https://www.burnabynow.com/local-new...oposal-3128703

https://pub-burnaby.escribemeetings....cumentId=48818


https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/mcbr...attullo-bridge

this is one of those no brainier projects that should be done. it dramatically increases the mobility of the region for both people & goods. it allows the avoidance of the current route which has large hills, and is pretty much residential. it would remove all that traffic, noise, pollution from residents and allows for traffic calming measures, pedestrian improvements, bicycle improvements. its a shame it hasnt been done. it just adds to more gridlock in new west, makes residential areas worse, and fails anytime there is snow.

Originally Posted by Repthe250

Exactly this. One lane exits to Columbia, two lanes go thru to Royal/McBride just like it currently already is. And then eastbound, the Columbia on-ramp just goes straight to surrey rather than merge, then exits on 120th or highway 17 and the two thru lanes go straight to KGB. It’s not rocket science.

i dont understand why this is hard for people to grasp. it just removes the merging from the bridge of the current design... people just seem to be so singularly focused there is no thought for any other possibility. i think its on purpose to be "car bad" and thats that.

[s211]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

this is one of those no brainier projects that should be done. it dramatically increases the mobility of the region for both people & goods. it allows the avoidance of the current route which has large hills, and is pretty much residential. it would remove all that traffic, noise, pollution from residents and allows for traffic calming measures, pedestrian improvements, bicycle improvements. its a shame it hasnt been done. it just adds to more gridlock in new west, makes residential areas worse, and fails anytime there is snow.

I agree with your points but this is New West. It will never happen unless it were to be pushed through at a provincial level by a political party unaligned with New West's general political leanings.

And even if that were to get approved at the provincial level, well... Massey Tunnel comes to mind.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by s211

I agree with your points but this is New West. It will never happen unless it were to be pushed through at a provincial level by a political party unaligned with New West's general political leanings.

And even if that were to get approved at the provincial level, well... Massey Tunnel comes to mind.

this is one of the major thing that frustrates me about this region/the people. we are ALWAYS doing the absolute bare minimum. we spend these billions of $$$ on minimal improvement. when we could spend a similar amount of $$$ and truly improve the region in multiple ways.

years later we need to spend millions more for what we should have just done. its ridiculous. such minor projects can just benefit the region for many. in so many ways. but we would rather just do nothing i guess? its stupid.

people act like i am advocating for plowing through half the city with freeways. convenient way to not even bother with a real discussion; just be dismissive. but its stupid and it holds us back from improving the region.

[Repthe250]

I agree. New Westminster traffic is ridiculous and it’s not just because of the amount of cars on the road. It’s because of the terrible design that dumps thru traffic onto city streets. Many of which are narrow 2 lane roads. If the city of new westminster wants less cars and people using the city as a pass-thru, then maybe there needs to be talks with the province to build a bridge from Boundary Rd to Richmond connecting to highway 91. Not just doing nothing and hoping the problem goes away. It won’t. Because New West is situated between two major highways.

[officedweller]

I think New West also killed the North Fraser Perimeter Road project (which was really improvements to existing roads - Stewardson Way - Front St. - Brunette St.)

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I think New West also killed the North Fraser Perimeter Road project (which was really improvements to existing roads - Stewardson Way - Front St. - Brunette St.)

its funny when you think about it. smaller projects like these would literally divert most traffic away from the residential, commercial downtown area. where as now they just bury their head in the sand and pretend the cars will magically vanish.

there will always be lots of traffic going through new west, because its at a geographic crossroads in our region. the only way to fix that is with a new fraser river crossing somewhere else.

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

its funny when you think about it. smaller projects like these would literally divert most traffic away from the residential, commercial downtown area. where as now they just bury their head in the sand and pretend the cars will magically vanish.

A four lane waterfront expressway through New West not only would have added to the barrier between downtown and the river that the rails already are; an expressway ROW might have eliminated all the waterfront property east of River Market altogether.

I would think residents of Metro Vancouver would appreciate the superior waterfront access we have long enjoyed compared to our neighbors, Portland and Seattle, which spent billions building and then tearing down waterfront expressways. But I guess if you only drive through New West, and don't spend any time there, then eff em, right?

[mcj]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

But I guess if you only drive through New West, and don't spend any time there, then eff em, right?

Pretty much the summary from those who don't live in NW on this thread.

And let's also not forget that the missing Stormont connector, and fantasy of a link between the 91 and boundary road as proposed here, are all within BURNABY's jurisdiction.

[madog222]

Let’s keep this thread on topic.

Discussion on other roads or projects, especially fantasy projects, doesn’t belong here.
This includes attempting to justify a different bridge scope/configuration with said fantasy road projects.

[FarmerHaight]

***Moved to the Roads Fantasy thread***

[Lexus]

2024-03-28

This is probably why Front St is closed for a month:

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

First section with attachment for cable is now visible:

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

More columns for HWY 17 ramp

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

Surrey side:

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Lexus

2024-03-28

This is probably why Front St is closed for a month:

Front Street was closed for that, yep, but it's open again now. Tomorrow Columbia Street will be partially closed (just between Elliot and McBride, it's open for all of downtown New West) for a few weeks to put more girders over the street.

[Jimbo604]

Originally Posted by Bobert

That north bound bike lane is eventually gonna have to go to make a collector for NB Bridge -> EB Columbia

I take back what I said before, I hadn't looked at the map closely enough or what not..

It could be a six lane and eliminate some of the scourge of merging and still have the same configuration for McBribe Blvd as it does now: two lanes north and two south.

Oh well, opportunity lost. I think this situation sounds a lot like the one with the latest proposal for George Massey crossing. It too is short of lanes to eliminate merging.

I suppose the one silver lining with the tunel compared to the bridge is at least the tunnel configuration, I believe, isn't 100% cut in stone like this one now is. Unless I'm mistaken they haven't signed a contract and started, so the config could change. That being said, we constantly complain the delay of the tunnel construction start, in any configuration.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Jimbo604

It could be a six lane and eliminate some of the scourge of merging and still have the same configuration for McBribe Blvd as it does now: two lanes north and two south.

The current configuration has one lane south from McBride onto the bridge.

[madog222]

29 out of 33 tower segments complete as of this picture.


Image from Province of BC https://twitter.com/pattulloproject/...84437339603328

[Jimbo604]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

The current configuration has one lane south from McBride onto the bridge.

Yes, that is the case...

I was thinking they could have had two lanes going south over the bridge here, with a six lane bridge, instead of most everyone merging left and eliminate this dastardly bottle neck. Ah well, c'est la vie as they say.

Google Street View

[DevFan101]

They'll eventually be expanding it to 6 lanes, but I doubt they'll have two lanes coming from McBride even then. They'll just have all three approaches flowing into their own lane, which is probably the best possible configuration for the 3 lane set up. Whether you have one or two lanes coming from McBride, you'll have a bottleneck at some point as it has to merge with the Royal lane, or you'll still be forcing the Royal and Columbia lanes into a bottleneck. So no matter what, you'll still end up with a bottleneck somewhere, even with 3 lanes (which I'll totally agree they should have just done right away instead of waiting to expand it later). With the way they'll probably do it, you'll have all three approaches flowing smoothly onto the bridge, with only McBride having a bottleneck that is best kept further back from the bridge.

[Lexus]

2024-04-13

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr