Quote:
Originally Posted by bloomtronzero
I reaaaaaally wish they did this with the new Port Mann.
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We had HOVs.
I would guess the ones on the George Massey would be HOVs as well, the Bus lanes are partially solely bus lanes due to being built narrow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ssiguy
If the project was being paid for by all taxpayers of the province then why were there tolls at all? Remember this was not a `new` bridge or highway but simply an upgrading of one that should have been done 30 years ago. As far as the cameras, all they had to do was just put cameras at one exit/entry ramp for a set small fee and then everyone would pay their fair share.
This is why any new GM should not be directly tolled. This is an already existing piece of infrastructure so people have chosen the area they live and work in based upon that. This tunnel and the entire HWY 99 has basically not be upgraded since it was built in the 1960s which is ridiculous. Vancouver is already obscenely expensive and not just in real estate/housing and to add to that only makes it even more so. People are not a bottomless pit. The new Sea to Sky was built free and gratis but of course that is because it caters to the wealthy who go to Whistler for the weekend and we can`t have tolls on a road used by well off as they voted Liberal.
In Ontario some new roads around Toronto are tolled but they are new roads but the 401 which is currently being 10 laned thru to Kitchener won`t be because it is an already existing route. BC has always had this stupid idea that building more transit and letting the highways rot will somehow suffice which of course it doesn`t. Vancouver commute times are amongst the highest in NA despite only being the 25th largest metro which shows just how poorly that scheme has worked.
Vancouver thinks that great cities have great transit which is patently false as truly great cities have great transportation systems in all it`s forms because they don`t and cannot function to their potential in isolation. Transportation is a system and like all functioning systems, one size doesn`t fit all.
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Vancouver can't fit much more highways beyond the currently planned expansions without expensive tunneling infrastructure, other than maybe the proposed Serpentine Highway (alternate route to the SFPR, but could be useful to supplant Hwy 10). Maximum lane width for Hwy 1 in North Vancouver is 6 lanes, which ultimately limits the Hwy 1 width overall- otherwise, Upper Levels would turn into a parking lot.
Road demand has to be controlled to avoid mass congestion.
But probably just as importantly, the tolls were needed to justify the expense, instead of the province just taking on more debt at a time when the Liberals were trying to balance the budget.
The tolls ended up only mitigating the costs of the Port Mann bridge, and constantly ran at a deficit due to debt payments; in the end, it was financed partially by provincial taxes, partially by tolls.
Without tolls, the province has to take on all the debt of the project, and there's no near-term way to actually pay it back. Justifying these sorts of massive capital projects becomes even more an uphill battle.
Also, you want
this
on every entry lane from McGill to 216th? There are 20 exits, including HOV exits. Multiply that by the total number of entry lanes per exit.
Honestly, that logic could be extended to so many things. It's not 'fair' that you are paying welfare checks to people on the opposite side of the province, nor is it fair that you pay for new transit expansions on the opposite side of the regions.
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Losing the pedestrian capability on a bridge here isn't a big deal.
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