Port of Vancouver Discussion

[officedweller]

Note that in years past the Malkin RoW would have potentially connected to a highway in the Grandview Cut or directly to First Ave.

I think that a T-intersection with Clark Drive acknowledges that traffic disperses both north and south from the Viaducts.

[SpongeG]

Feds give $50 million to improve traffic flow at city ports

VANCOUVER — The federal government is providing almost $50 million to make truck and train traffic run more smoothly at Vancouver's ports.

The sum — up to $49.7 million — is part of a $125-million upgrade that will add 11 overpasses — one on Powell Street in east Vancouver and the rest on port lands on the south side of Burrard Inlet — to improve rail and road access to the terminals. The improvements will also accommodate longer trains travelling through the port lands and lead to shorter wait times for trucks and other vehicles.

The remaining money for the projects will be provided by Port Metro Vancouver and local container and grain terminals, as well as the City of Vancouver and Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways.

These projects will not only improve the flow of traffic but will also create and sustain jobs "in the midst of the worst global recession in half a century," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told a news conference at Ballantyne Pier.

"They are as well laying the foundations for the longer-term prosperity of our country by creating the infrastructure that will strengthen our trading relationships with the rising economic powers of Asia," Harper said.

Separating rail traffic from road traffic "will dramatically improve the movement of people and goods," Harper said.

"More freight will be able to travel more efficiently through the port, traffic congestion will be reduced, road safety increased and emergency vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians will all enjoy freer, safer movement throughout the area," Harper said. "But most important of all, these projects bring us one step closer to making our Asia Pacific gateway and corridor the best transpacific transportation network on the continent," Harper said.

Canadian Pacific Railway, with a number of trains accessing the terminals, will be contributing $9.8 million to the project.

Relieving road and rail bottlenecks at the terminals will give CP a greater competitive edge over its West Coast counterparts in the United States, CP's president and CEO Fred Green said at the news conference.

In March, the federal government committed up to $75 million toward $260-million worth of road and rail projects aimed at improving traffic flow to and through terminals on the north side of Burrard Inlet.

http://www.vancouversun.com/Feds+giv...184/story.html

[jlousa]

DeltaPort's 3rd berth is almost complete and is scheduled to open in Jan/10. Hasn't received much attention for it being a $400M project.

Looks like plans for Terminal 2 are moving along as well, it would provide an additional 3 berths over 90Ha at an estimated cost about $2B, and be a joint venture between APM Terminals North America and SNC-Lavalin.

[wrenegade]

The 3rd berth at Deltaport is huge. It's just hard to pay much attention to it when it is difficult to get to/see in everyday life.

And, Terminal 2 at Deltaport? Any updated plans anywhere?

[officedweller]

Infrastructure flying under the radar?
I'd chalk that up as a semi-good thing - especially when it's needed.

[vanman]

Originally Posted by jlousa

DeltaPort's 3rd berth is almost complete and is scheduled to open in Jan/10. Hasn't received much attention for it being a $400M project.

Looks like plans for Terminal 2 are moving along as well, it would provide an additional 3 berths over 90Ha at an estimated cost about $2B, and be a joint venture between APM Terminals North America and SNC-Lavalin.

I would've posted updates a long time ago but I don't have a decent camera at the moment.

Re: Terminal 2, Ladner residents are already up in arms over the 3rd berth expansion and Gateway, I imagine their heads will explode with the thought of T2.

[BCPhil]

A $2 billion Terminal 2?

I was all for the SFPR without even knowing that. As it is that road is desperately needed. Now that I know there is even more port expansion than I though, I think I will physically assault people who are against the SFPR.

[Millennium2002]

The railways should expand their rail network as well... and maybe short sea shipping sould be given a test too... =O

As for the SFPR though... Most people are already aware of this but unless they make it a dedicated fast truck route or place some tolls on the non-truck traffic, I'm not very supportive of the current construction plans.

[Zassk]

I was looking at the location of the new interchange for the port on Google Maps. I really think the picture captured by satellite says it all about the need for this interchange: link

[amor de cosmos]

Jan 15, 2010 13:45 ET
Government of Canada Takes Action to Facilitate Shortsea Shipping

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 15, 2010) - The Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today announced completion of the Southern Railway of British Columbia (SRY) rail barge ramp, a shortsea shipping project at the marine rail terminal on Annacis Island in Delta. This project was made possible by $4.6 million in federal funding under the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative.

"This investment in shortsea shipping will help alleviate traffic congestion, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase overall transportation efficiency in the Lower Mainland," said Minister Day.

This project includes a barge ramp and berth capable of handling railcars and truck trailers. The railcar volume expected to be handled via this terminal is close to 6,000 carloads per year. The marine rail terminal connects with existing SRY tracks on Annacis Island providing Vancouver Island and Coastal BC industries with direct rail connections to Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific using existing SRY interchanges.

Shortsea shipping is a multimodal activity that incorporates the marine movement of cargo between points that are relatively close to one another without crossing an ocean, such as along rivers and coastlines, and within lakes.

In September 2008, the federal government, under the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative, announced investments of up to a total of $20.9 million in five shortsea shipping projects in the British Columbia Lower Mainland. This represents a potential $ 41 million joint investment with private-sector transportation service providers and municipalities in the region.

The projects call for the development of specialized facilities (e.g., dock, ramp, fixed-crane infrastructure) that will facilitate the shortsea shipping of a variety of cargos (e.g., containers, railcars, break-bulk) that ultimately either originate from Asia or are destined for Asia.

These complementary projects will form an integrated shortsea shipping network that could potentially carry up to 120,000 Forty Foot Equivalent units per year. Collectively, these shortsea shipping projects are capable of reducing the number of trucks on the roads by 40,000 trips per year. This project alone will remove approximately 14,000 truck trips per year that currently use Alex Fraser Bridge, and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 234 tons per year.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-rele...ng-1102565.htm

[Stingray2004]

Roberts Bank Superport opened circa 1969 with one coal port pad. During the early 1980's, the width of the Causeway was doubled with three additional pads completed, quadrupling the land area of the superport.

Two of the pads are utilized for coal export while the other two pads eventually became a container terminal during the early 1990's.

Today, Berth 3 of the container terminal opened comprising 3 new gantry cranes at an approximate cost of $400 million bringing capacity up to ~1.3 million TEUs per annum - up from 900,000 TEUs per annum.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 18, 2010) - The Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today announced that three new state-of-the-art dockside gantry cranes for the Third Berth at Deltaport in Vancouver, British Columbia, are now operating. This new world-class facility will significantly improve the region's rail, port and trucking operations.

Third Berth at Deltaport will also boast the first container terminal in North and South America to use dual-hoist cranes that are capable of lifting 80 tonnes,"

http://www.marketwire.com/press-rele...rt-1103177.htm

http://a100.gov.bc.ca/appsdata/epic/...46cce3d3f0.pdf



Source: http://www.portmetrovancouver.com/pr...h_Project.aspx

Future expansion includes the proposed Terminal 2 (as jlousa has mentioned), which will also include three additional berths and will be located on the eastern inside area of the causeway adjacent to the existing terminal.

[raggedy13]

^Great news.

[BCPhil]

And people say we don't need the SFPR because..............?

[officedweller]

from the Globe and Mail today:

Port Metro Vancouver buying up industrial land
Only way to preserve it from residential or commercial use and keep economy humming, CEO says

FRANCES BULA

VANCOUVER — Special to The Globe and Mail
Published on Tuesday, Feb. 09, 2010 12:00AM EST

Last updated on Tuesday, Feb. 09, 2010 11:54AM EST


Vancouver's federal port authority quietly went on a buying spree for industrial land in the region last year to preserve it from being used for condos, spending $115-million to acquire around 340 acres.

And it's planning to continue buying another 800 in the coming years because municipalities can't be counted on to preserve the land needed for economic growth, said its new CEO.

"For four million people to live here in the future, there needs to be an economy. And for an economy, there needs to be industrial land," said Robin Silvester, who became the head of Port Metro Vancouver early last year. "There is still this conflict with municipal planning policy. We're looking to buy parcels of land to prevent them from being moved out of industrial use."

Mr. Silvester said the port authority was spurred into action after a series of losses of industrial land along the Fraser River. That included a site in Queensborough that was converted to a shopping centre and casino, the Canadian White Pines mill site in southeast Vancouver that is being transformed into a massive new residential neighbourhood, and, in late 2008, the Fraser Mills site in Coquitlam, also scheduled for residential development.

"Those are lost for good. They will never be industrial land again."

In the past year, Port Metro Vancouver bought 106 acres on two sites in New Westminster, 13 acres in Vancouver - a Canfor site - and 220 acres in Richmond. That's all to make sure that industries that use or serve the port can continue to have access to land nearby. The port is hoping to eventually own about 1,200 acres.

Besides buying more land, Port Metro is also considering ways to make new land for port activities the way Hong Kong, London and Singapore have done.

"Right now, we dredge a million cubic feet of sand out of the Fraser River every year and we dispose of that around Point Grey. We could use some of that dredged material to create new land and to create new environmental habitat," said Mr. Silvester, who has also worked in London and Australia. "That potentially gives us the opportunity to redraw the map."

The port's decision to buy the 220-acre Gilmore Farm in Richmond, as part of its plan, provoked a major uproar last spring. Richmond councillor Harold Steeves worried that it was the beginning of the takeover of much more agricultural land as part of the port's desire to expand.

Mr. Silvester said in a recent interview that the port has agreed it will not purchase any more agricultural land until there is a policy in place.

But, he said, there needs to be some way of negotiating a swap of farmland near ports for potential farmland elsewhere.

"We need to look at ways of moving land out of the Agricultural Land Reserve and moving other pieces of land in. Either that or increasing the utility of the existing land."

That is something that Metro Vancouver planners would like to see the port authority do.

Metro planner Christina DeMarco said that, although there's a critical need to save the region's industrial land and the port is helping with that, it could do more by using its land more efficiently.

Ms. DeMarco said the region is continuing to see losses of industrial land.

"The Canada Line in Richmond has displaced some industrial and will displace more."

As well, the region is facing pressure from several municipalities who want to rezone land around their rapid-transit stations. If all municipalities decided to do that, said Ms. DeMarco, the region would lose 3,200 acres or about 15 per cent of the total supply of industrial land in the region.

The last industrial-land inventory done in the region showed there were 26,000 acres total available in 2005.

[Millennium2002]

I think there should be more artificial islands devoted to industry while the remaining natural coastline is allowed to be redeveloped where suitable.

Originally Posted by BCPhil

And people say we don't need the SFPR because..............?

- other alternatives haven't been looked at, like short sea shipping
- more trucks running around isn't going to be good for the environment for sure
- more noise to neighbourhoods... which makes them less desirable, which in turn causes a host of other problems
- aren't most goods arriving here destined for other places? if yes, then why not expand rail lines?
- I have worries that Tsawwassen + Delta + Surrey residents may use the network and cause an induced demand problem

[cabotp]

Originally Posted by allan_kuan

I think there should be more artificial islands devoted to industry while the remaining natural coastline is allowed to be redeveloped where suitable.



- other alternatives haven't been looked at, like short sea shipping
- more trucks running around isn't going to be good for the environment for sure
- more noise to neighbourhoods... which makes them less desirable, which in turn causes a host of other problems
- aren't most goods arriving here destined for other places? if yes, then why not expand rail lines?
- I have worries that Tsawwassen + Delta + Surrey residents may use the network and cause an induced demand problem

The warehouses that are used to sort the shipments as to where they are going next are not at the port but actually in Surrey. Although in some cases they already know a certain container is headed for lets say Chicago and so that Container can just be loaded onto a train. In other cases a container's contains may need to be separated as they are not going to the same destination

As for residents using the SFPR. The solution to stopping or slowing that down is simple. Build a whole bunch of electronic toll booths along the corridor. If the vehicle isn't a commercial vehicle. The owner gets a $10 toll. If someone feels $10 is worth it great let them drive on it. We can use the money for other things.

[Millennium2002]

I will have to say that is a good argument (the unloading and reloading). But I'm still wondering... could we have built rail lines to those redistribution places? It seems rail is at the bottom of the priority list these days when I think it deserves a little more credit. =S

I completely agree with the tolls idea though.

[cabotp]

I can't remember but I believe the problem is on a short hop run like the port to Surrey it is actually cheaper to offload the container onto a truck and transport it that way vs putting it on a train for the short trip.

So it isn't so much that the rail lines don't already exist. Just that cost wise they are not the best option.

[whatnext]

I hadn't realized how bad the cruise ship situation was going to be this year until I read in this week's BIV that all cruise ships in 2010 are using Canada Place. Not ONE is docking at Ballantyne.

[Zassk]

^ "Bad" is a word that needs context. We are getting less ships but larger ships, therefore we need less berths. But the number of passengers is actually slightly greater.