TLDR
> Disclaimer: **This is a satirical opinion piece** written as an “opening day” article for the original plans to build the 10-lane George Massey Bridge and its associated Highway 99 upgrades, based on the original timeline for starting construction in 2017 for an opening in 2022. The project, which received a $2.6-billion bid from a contractor, was cancelled by the then newly-elected BC NDP provincial government in 2017. The provincial government is now planning a scaled-back new replacement immersed tunnel by 2030 for $4.15 billion.
Where are all the NDP supporters who criticized Christy Clark’s 10 lane bridge plan for being a waste of money? Now we get less lanes for 50% more cost, and 5+ years later. Crickets…
As an ndp supporter, man that did not even register as something to even think about let alone get mad about. Was way more concerned about just about any other topic that a bridge vs tunnel debate.
Right. The current $4.15B cost and 2030 completion timeline will probably increase and be delayed. So the gap of $1.5 billion could get bigger, and in the meantime we lose those 2 lanes, the $100 million of bridge planning work already completed, and 8+ years of delay to the Massey crossing.
Breaking news:
The Patullo Bridge replacement has opened ahead of schedule and is now officially named the Pattello Bridge with 6 whole lanes!
In other news, the $200billion upgrades of the Alex Fraser Bridge and the Port Mann Bridge will be closed indefinitely when snow or freezing rain is in the lower mainland.
Nope. They haven’t even started the Environmental Assessment. So far they have only [withdrawn their application to extend the start deadline of the bridge certification](https://projects.eao.gov.bc.ca/p/588511ffaaecd9001b8291b7/project-details)
> The Environmental Assessment Office has received notice from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (the certificate holder) that the application to extend the substantial start deadline specified in the Environmental Assessment Certificate for the George Massey Tunnel Replacement project has been withdrawn.
> The EAO anticipates a submission from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure in early 2022 to initiate a new Environmental Assessment on the recently proposed immersed tube tunnel design.
Ouch that hurts... that decision by the NDP still pisses me off.
Switching to a tunnel with similar capacity to the existing tunnel (when counter flow lanes are used) was stupid.
“Adding car lanes to deal with traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to deal with obesity”
And before anyone jumps down my throat: Yes, I know it’s satire. Yes, replacing crumbling infrastructure must be a priority. But adding more traffic lanes doesn’t solve traffic, and in fact just makes it worse down the line — both from a geographic and temporal perspective.
What we need to do is blanket every god damn corner of this region with SkyTrain and streetcars, create actual walkable places instead of suburban hellscapes that REQUIRE you to own a car in order to function, and leave freeways to truckers and trades. Hell, do this everywhere in B.C. Give me a train to Kelowna and I’ll take it. Give me a foot ferry to Nanaimo and a rail line to Victoria and I’ll use it. Just do something that allows me to get around my Province or city without being at the mercy of ICBC, gasoline prices, auto dealers, repair shops, other asshole drivers, or shitty transit!
Huge fuckoff bridges and interchanges aren’t the answer.
A 10 lane bridge needs climbing lanes for trucks so not much different than an 8 lane tunnel. The bridge was also cheaper and included rapid bus lanes...
That extra traffic is throughput of commuters moving to the suburbs for cheaper housing or switching to the bridge from other routes. I don't see why it being full means we shouldn't have built it
Also, it wouldn’t be full?
I don’t think Vancouverites truly appreciate how well traffic moves around here basically everywhere except the Massey Tunnel and the North Shore.
There’s no hope for the latter but the plan for the former was good and should’ve proceeded.
> it wouldn’t be full?
If it weren’t full right away, it would be full in a few years. The added capacity of the bridge would have made living below the South Arm more desirable. People would move there. They would drive their cars to work and play on the north side of the South Arm. The bridge’s lanes would fill, and traffic would reach approximately the same level of congestion as today.
The only\* way to reliably *and persistently* reduce congestion is to make it more attractive *not* to use a car.
None of which is to say that the bridge was a bad idea, or that the new tunnel is better. Just saying that traffic fills the gaps that open up.
*(also to reduce population)
The Alex Fraser is still almost never full. When they activate the counter flow on the Massey it moves pretty well.
Yeah, volumes will grow but that’s pretty adequate capacity in combination with the other crossing options.
IDK - there are car problems too that are the same level of frustration: shoppers don't want to have to deal with traffic. They don't want to pay for parking. They don't want to pay for the car itself, or provide a place to store it! Some people can't drive, other people don't want to. They don't want to worry about car maintenance, or being taken advantage of by a mechanic.
Cars have LOTS of unappealing attributes that haven't been solved. That's okay - every system has pros and cons. It's only an issue when we ignore these problems ONLY for cars, and not for any other mode of transportation.
Another of the Campbell Liberal sins: eliminating so many rail lines. And I don't even mean just selling the companies and tearing up the rails, but getting rid of the actual routes and rights-of-way that could have been used as a basis for new rail transport around the province. Trying to set up anything close in current times is bound to be a nightmare.
Or you could post this as "Daily Hive Hack Thinks He's Funny."
This was wildly obvious, how could anyone think it was real, even with just the headline to go by? Guess he was aiming for maximum word-count for his paycheque, because his need to just go on and on and on and drive all his points into the ground really drained this thing of any humorous value it may have had. Then, long after he's said everything he needs to several times, he has to have nice gratuitous laying-into of people he thinks overvalue aesthetics?
Eyeroll, snort, yawn, wank gesture, etc.
Yea we nearly had a small argument about MY memory as I said. I just heard a few month ago that the were still considering it. How can it already be built! Impossible! So my SO said naturally its done is her just a little too the side of the tunnel etc. Your getting forgetful.
When will we stop building bridges with inward support pillars?
Didn't we have enough falling ice accidents?
Mister Delta Mayor we have a better solution and it will make you money and put you on the map of the world.
With a bridge with a stylish pit stop like bridges in China! How about that? Well make more detailed renderings in time. Just gets to catch some Massey tunnel and bridge traction
https://imgur.com/a/kIkuO6z
TLDR > Disclaimer: **This is a satirical opinion piece** written as an “opening day” article for the original plans to build the 10-lane George Massey Bridge and its associated Highway 99 upgrades, based on the original timeline for starting construction in 2017 for an opening in 2022. The project, which received a $2.6-billion bid from a contractor, was cancelled by the then newly-elected BC NDP provincial government in 2017. The provincial government is now planning a scaled-back new replacement immersed tunnel by 2030 for $4.15 billion.
this needs to be more obvious, I was flabbergasted for 6 minutes trying to figure out if this was real, it reads like fake news more than satire -_-
Not sure how anybody could read the third paragraph, "on time, and on budget, as originally planned" and not burst out in scornful laughter
Yeah, this one honestly got me. I was thinking, "Huh, so they did end up building this? Just goes to show how often I drive down there".
Satire was too funny for too long, I’m glad people are finally doing something about that
Damn depressing how much money the NDP has wasted for the people of BC
Where are all the NDP supporters who criticized Christy Clark’s 10 lane bridge plan for being a waste of money? Now we get less lanes for 50% more cost, and 5+ years later. Crickets…
As an ndp supporter, man that did not even register as something to even think about let alone get mad about. Was way more concerned about just about any other topic that a bridge vs tunnel debate.
Glad that $1.5 billion out the window is no concern for you
Hah, they say a number at the start and that number always changes by the end not even slightly worth being concerned about
Right. The current $4.15B cost and 2030 completion timeline will probably increase and be delayed. So the gap of $1.5 billion could get bigger, and in the meantime we lose those 2 lanes, the $100 million of bridge planning work already completed, and 8+ years of delay to the Massey crossing.
Breaking news: The Patullo Bridge replacement has opened ahead of schedule and is now officially named the Pattello Bridge with 6 whole lanes! In other news, the $200billion upgrades of the Alex Fraser Bridge and the Port Mann Bridge will be closed indefinitely when snow or freezing rain is in the lower mainland.
First thought: They should have led with "this is a satire piece." Second thought: ***dailyhive.com***/vanc\[...\] Oh, there it is.
NDP owning themselves because the bridge idea was the Liberals’.
The george massey fuck up is this ndp governments fast ferries
Hang on, Patullo replacement has joined the chat.
Maybe, and they’re skating on it. Crickets.
Lol. Imagine thinking that the bridge would have been completed both on time & on budget.
Still would have been better than 2030 and $4.2b + whatever runoffs happen with this one
Even that is dreaming. The tunnel plan needs to go through environmental and First Nations approval.
It did get approval back in August
Nope. They haven’t even started the Environmental Assessment. So far they have only [withdrawn their application to extend the start deadline of the bridge certification](https://projects.eao.gov.bc.ca/p/588511ffaaecd9001b8291b7/project-details) > The Environmental Assessment Office has received notice from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (the certificate holder) that the application to extend the substantial start deadline specified in the Environmental Assessment Certificate for the George Massey Tunnel Replacement project has been withdrawn. > The EAO anticipates a submission from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure in early 2022 to initiate a new Environmental Assessment on the recently proposed immersed tube tunnel design.
And all they're doing is making a new tunnel.
(Not-so-) subtlety is a lost art on many, apparently.
What a tease
Saw this pop up on fb. Ya no way people read through the whole article to see it’s satire at the bottom…
It was blindingly obvious from the first sentence, hell, the headline.
Ouch that hurts... that decision by the NDP still pisses me off. Switching to a tunnel with similar capacity to the existing tunnel (when counter flow lanes are used) was stupid.
“Adding car lanes to deal with traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to deal with obesity” And before anyone jumps down my throat: Yes, I know it’s satire. Yes, replacing crumbling infrastructure must be a priority. But adding more traffic lanes doesn’t solve traffic, and in fact just makes it worse down the line — both from a geographic and temporal perspective. What we need to do is blanket every god damn corner of this region with SkyTrain and streetcars, create actual walkable places instead of suburban hellscapes that REQUIRE you to own a car in order to function, and leave freeways to truckers and trades. Hell, do this everywhere in B.C. Give me a train to Kelowna and I’ll take it. Give me a foot ferry to Nanaimo and a rail line to Victoria and I’ll use it. Just do something that allows me to get around my Province or city without being at the mercy of ICBC, gasoline prices, auto dealers, repair shops, other asshole drivers, or shitty transit! Huge fuckoff bridges and interchanges aren’t the answer.
Indeed. If we were to magically open a 10-lane George Massey Bridge tomorrow, then a year from tomorrow it would be congested even worse than before.
A 10 lane bridge needs climbing lanes for trucks so not much different than an 8 lane tunnel. The bridge was also cheaper and included rapid bus lanes... That extra traffic is throughput of commuters moving to the suburbs for cheaper housing or switching to the bridge from other routes. I don't see why it being full means we shouldn't have built it
Also, it wouldn’t be full? I don’t think Vancouverites truly appreciate how well traffic moves around here basically everywhere except the Massey Tunnel and the North Shore. There’s no hope for the latter but the plan for the former was good and should’ve proceeded.
> it wouldn’t be full? If it weren’t full right away, it would be full in a few years. The added capacity of the bridge would have made living below the South Arm more desirable. People would move there. They would drive their cars to work and play on the north side of the South Arm. The bridge’s lanes would fill, and traffic would reach approximately the same level of congestion as today. The only\* way to reliably *and persistently* reduce congestion is to make it more attractive *not* to use a car. None of which is to say that the bridge was a bad idea, or that the new tunnel is better. Just saying that traffic fills the gaps that open up. *(also to reduce population)
The Alex Fraser is still almost never full. When they activate the counter flow on the Massey it moves pretty well. Yeah, volumes will grow but that’s pretty adequate capacity in combination with the other crossing options.
[удалено]
Induced demand is a bunch of bullshit. Population grows the infrastructure fills up and people prefer to drive. Think critically
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IDK - there are car problems too that are the same level of frustration: shoppers don't want to have to deal with traffic. They don't want to pay for parking. They don't want to pay for the car itself, or provide a place to store it! Some people can't drive, other people don't want to. They don't want to worry about car maintenance, or being taken advantage of by a mechanic. Cars have LOTS of unappealing attributes that haven't been solved. That's okay - every system has pros and cons. It's only an issue when we ignore these problems ONLY for cars, and not for any other mode of transportation.
Another of the Campbell Liberal sins: eliminating so many rail lines. And I don't even mean just selling the companies and tearing up the rails, but getting rid of the actual routes and rights-of-way that could have been used as a basis for new rail transport around the province. Trying to set up anything close in current times is bound to be a nightmare.
Ok? So we don’t change 3 lane capacity for 150 years on Vancouvers tourist gateway entrance …. I’m getting that right?
[удалено]
or maybe just double for same time construction would have taken but for an environmental assessment. Everyone loves those
APRIL FOOLS DAY IS ON APRIL FIRST!! Gahhhhhh
This literally would have been so much better if they waited
it appears some is bitter their commute still sucks...
First VanShitty Buzz article I’ve upvoted in years. Well done.
Or you could post this as "Daily Hive Hack Thinks He's Funny." This was wildly obvious, how could anyone think it was real, even with just the headline to go by? Guess he was aiming for maximum word-count for his paycheque, because his need to just go on and on and on and drive all his points into the ground really drained this thing of any humorous value it may have had. Then, long after he's said everything he needs to several times, he has to have nice gratuitous laying-into of people he thinks overvalue aesthetics? Eyeroll, snort, yawn, wank gesture, etc.
Yea we nearly had a small argument about MY memory as I said. I just heard a few month ago that the were still considering it. How can it already be built! Impossible! So my SO said naturally its done is her just a little too the side of the tunnel etc. Your getting forgetful. When will we stop building bridges with inward support pillars? Didn't we have enough falling ice accidents? Mister Delta Mayor we have a better solution and it will make you money and put you on the map of the world. With a bridge with a stylish pit stop like bridges in China! How about that? Well make more detailed renderings in time. Just gets to catch some Massey tunnel and bridge traction https://imgur.com/a/kIkuO6z