David Cadman warns of the health risk
Christina Montgomery
Province
A $5-million plan to upgrade the Granville Street Bridge for heavy trucks and tour buses will create unacceptable congestion and health hazards in neighbourhoods that have not even been warned about the plan, a Vancouver councillor says.
A motion to approve the design of the upgrade heads to council Tuesday.
David Cadman, the lone COPE councillor and an environmental activist, says bracing the bridge will effectively open all of Granville south to Marine Drive, and all of the downtown streets that run parallel to Granville, to heavy trucks.
A staff report to council recommends that $330,000 be spent on a sole-source contract for design of the upgrade — without taking time to tender the work — so that the 16-month job can be done in time for the 2010 Olympics.
Games planners have yet to announce which streets will be closed or restricted during the Olympics. Cambie and Burrard are now the only other crossings usable by trucks and non-transit buses.
The report says that beyond its use in providing “flexible” Games planning, the Granville bridge will provide an alternate False Creek crossing that the B.C. Trucking Association wants.
Cadman objects on both fronts.
“You don’t make this kind of capital investment for a two-week event,” he says, suggesting tour buses be given exemptions during the Games.
“It’s simply unacceptable with that kind of residential density in the downtown core that we would route trucks there without consulting Vancouver Coastal Health — or those neighbourhoods,” Cadman said.
“We know people living along the Knight [Street] truck route are exposed to high levels of diesel particulate
that has been recognized as causing cancer.
“Now we are being presented with a plan to turn residential streets along Granville into diesel-truck routes without any analysis of the impact on air quality, noise congestion or the disruption caused by routing big transport trucks and highway buses onto the Granville bridge.”
The staff report says the idea of strengthening the bridge arose after Canada Line work disrupted Cambie Street. There was an increased demand for an alternate truck crossing, and the B.C. Trucking Association asked to allow its tour-bus members to use the Granville bridge.
Vehicles heavier than 10 tonnes are currently barred. Coast Mountain buses have been given a city exemption.
Louise Yako, vice-president of the association, confirmed that it wanted to find another route for buses coming in from the airport.
With Cambie closed, they were routed until recently down Quebec Street, which offered less than ideal scenery for arriving tourists, Yako said. And a recent decision to allow them to turn down Broadway and across Burrard also presented difficulties.
Dane Dolman, the city engineer who wrote the staff report, told The Province the work is aimed at limiting traffic disruptions to short periods on specific stretches of the bridge and feeder lanes. Much of the work will be done from beneath the structure, he said.
