Naoibh O’Connor
Van. Courier

The city wants public comment at four open houses scheduled in March to display plans for the waterfront stadium proposed by the Whitecaps soccer team.

The initial proposal includes a 15,000-seat stadium, which could be expanded to 30,000 seats in the future. The stadium would sit over the rail yard between Granville Square and the foot of Cambie Street.

It would be used for Whitecaps men’s and women’s games and for other sporting events and concerts.

“This is really a fact finding mission in may ways,” said city planner Kevin McNaney. “It’s sussing out the issues, shining some light on the issues and getting a good understanding to help council make an informed decision.”

Whitecaps president John Rocha said the club welcomes public consultation. “It’s important because ultimately what we want to build is a community asset, so the more input we have from different constituents to ensure we build something that everybody can be proud of [the better],” he said.

Rocha maintains the public appears to back the proposal, which was announced last year. He cited a survey commissioned by the Whitecaps that indicated 71 per cent of respondents were very supportive or supportive of the stadium project. Eleven per cent were opposed.

Rocha said supporters liked the proposed stadium’s accessibility by transit and its availability for uses other than soccer. Opponents, he said, criticized the consultation and cited concerns about potential problems like traffic.

Rocha maintains some people were confused about the consultation, suspecting it was a done deal, which it’s not, he said.

“This is a long process to go through. [People] thought we were outlining a vision of trying to get people excited about our project [in October] and weren’t aware there was a full public process coming,” he said.

Several business groups have expressed support for the stadium, while groups such as the Downtown Eastside Residents’ Association have registered opposition. A call to DERA by the Courier was not returned.

McNaney said after the open houses, staff will bring a report to council in May.

“The thing to keep in mind about the whole study is it’s a step back study-a larger initial review to get a sense of what are the issues, where people stand on it, is it viable, is it desirable etc.,” he said. “It’s up to council to decide whether it moves forward for further planning, in which case it goes through, like any other major development, rezonings etc.”

Rocha won’t speculate on the outcome of the review. “In the end we think the project can be designed in a way that it has a whack of great community benefits. It could be a real asset to the city,” he said.

The first open house is from 2 to 8 p.m., March 6, in the W room at Woodward’s on the ground floor at 101 West Hastings St. Another is planned for 3 to 8 p.m., March 7, in the Storyeum lobby at 142 Water St.

A third is set for 2 to 8 p.m., March 8, in the Harbour Centre lobby at 555 Hastings Street, while the final one is between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., March 11, at Vancouver Public Library, Library Square, promenade, at 350 West Georgia.

Builders of the massive 2010 Winter Games venue envisage an ‘internationally recognized icon’ on a par with Sydney’s famous opera house

Jeff Lee
Sun

When it is finished it will be the third largest of its kind in the world, so massive it could hold four DC-10 aircraft wingtip-to-wingtip, and so remarkable in its design that its owners hope it will be considered on a par with the Sydney Opera House.

For now, however, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics speed-skating oval in Richmond is nothing more than detailed engineering and architectural plans for a site beside the Fraser River that is now covered in nearly two metres of compacting sand.

By year’s end, the home of the world’s newest speed-skating venue will be a slab of concrete covering a 450-stall parking garage. And over the late winter of 2007, the distinctive flowing line of the massive roof will begin to take shape as a crane wheels in place 15 glue-laminated beams so huge they’re each just shy of a 100-metre Canadian football field in length. They will bracket 13 huge columns that represent Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories.

This is the place that also holds the greatest promise for Canada to break its at-home gold medal drought; in neither the 1988 Calgary Winter Games nor the 1976 Montreal Summer Games did a Canadian win an event.

In 2010, spectators in Richmond may well see that drought end. Canada’s new Own the Podium program, which seeks to identify and help train athletes who can win medals, has suggested Canada could win eight of the 34 speed-skating medals.

A long-track speed-skating oval is arguably the dominant architectural venue to build in any Winter Olympics. It is an opportunity for a city or country to stamp its mark.

Lillehammer, Norway did that for the 1994 Winter Games with an oval at Hamar in the shape of an overturned Viking ship. Salt Lake, which hosted the 2002 Games, built a light, clear-span cable suspension roof that carved 950 tons off the conventional oval roof design. Calgary’s 1988 Olympic oval — still considered the fastest ice on earth — was the first covered speed-skating oval in North America.

Richmond‘s is no less unique. From the air, the roof will take the stylized native shape of a heron’s wing, a tribute to the Salish First Nation and the large wading bird that cohabited the riverbank at first contact 230 years ago. It will cover 33,000 square metres of space, including a 20,000-square-metre main floor that includes a 400-metre refrigerated track. It will easily be seen from many places in the Lower Mainland and is being built on one arm of the Fraser river, between No. 2 Road and the Dinsmore Bridge, almost under the flight path of the Vancouver International Airport on Lulu Island.

“This will become an internationally recognized icon,” said Ted Townsend, Richmond’s senior manager of corporate communications. “It will be like B.C. Place or other signature buildings, or, in a more grandiose way, like the Sydney Opera House.”

Among the factors being considered in the oval’s construction is feng shui, the Chinese art of placing objects in buildings and other places to maximize positive energy.

Sherman Tai, a 53-year-old feng shui consultant, was hired by the city of Richmond for input on the oval because of the importance of feng shui to Richmond’s large Chinese-Canadian community. Tai also provided feng shui advice for the city’s new city hall, Townsend said.

The architects behind Richmond’s striking design are Cannon Design, whose principal and lead project architect, Bob Johnston, was involved in the design of both the Calgary and Salt Lake tracks. The company has also done work for the Commonwealth and Pan American Games, and consulted for London, which won the 2012 Summer Olympics.

This is the year that Richmond’s big Olympic gamble takes shape, with construction starting on many parts of the $178-million development. Within months, contractors will begin pouring concrete for the parking garage, which will be housed under the massive oval.

It’s a gamble because Richmond is getting only $60 million from the 2010 Vancouver Organizing Committee, which moved the oval project from Simon Fraser University to keep ballooning costs under control. SFU had been the premier site for Vancouver’s submission to the International Olympic Committee, but lost it after the cost of its project escalated beyond $78 million.

Richmond came in with a different proposal: incorporate the 400-metre speed-skating oval into a major riverfront revitalization that would be used to offset additional costs.

The overall development encompasses 13 hectares on seven city-owned parcels and will ultimately include 130,000 square metres of commercial and residential space, including a proposed hotel. The city estimated in its application that it will get $54 million from that development. There will also be a new waterfront park. But until the Games are over in 2010, only the oval, parkade and public gathering place will be built.

The rest of the site will be used by Vanoc for temporary Games facilities, including parking, and broadcast and media services.

The city has also pledged not to raise property taxes to fund the project, and that another $50 million would come from nearby River Rock Casino’s revenue-sharing agreement. The remainder will come from development charges levied for nearby projects, naming rights and sponsorships.

After the Olympics, the oval will be converted to a multi-use sport facility that will include two Olympic-sized ice rinks, up to eight hardwood ball-sport courts, a gymnasium, a 200-metre track and a rubberized turf area.

The speed-skating oval will be covered with removable flooring and could still be used for competition.

But more importantly, the oval is being positioned by the city as a future home for up to six national teams, as well as a centre for sport excellence. The building will have fitness facilities for both high-performance athletes and the local community.

One of the first teams being courted is the University of B.C. rowing team, which is building a $6-million boathouse on the river just north of the oval.

The oval project is so huge that Richmond hired a raft of advisers and managers to keep it on track, and broke it into at least 23 separate contracts. Everything from roof design to pre-cast concrete to elevators to electrical and mechanical work has been sectioned off. Franklin Holtforster of MHPM Project Managers Inc. is the overall project manager. Dominion Fairmile Construction was hired as advisory construction manager, and will handle the issuance of contracts.

“We will let all the contracts this year. This project will be completely tendered this year,” said Greg Scott, Richmond’s director of major projects. He is equally confident the oval will be finished in the fall of 2008, enough time to give Canada’s athletes two training seasons before the Olympics.

So far, Richmond has issued three contracts. Clearing and grubbing of the site took place last year.

Agra Foundations just finished creating what Scott said is “a forest” of underground stone columns to densify the ground to keep it from moving. And E. Mathers Contracting just finishing pre-loading the site with 100,000 cubic metres of sand to compact it prior to construction.

The sand will remain there until April or May, after which it will be removed to allow for construction of massive concrete abutments that will be used to help anchor the roof trusses.

In January, Dominion issued a call for companies interested in bidding on 19 contracts. (One contract for finishing the building envelope, including installation of the huge glass windows, has not yet been put to tender.)

A separate super-flat concrete floor will be installed over the concrete base, between which will be sandwiched a massive refrigeration system. The skating floor and liquid-ammonia refrigeration system will be installed in 2008.

Scott said Richmond opted for wood beams rather than steel for the roof trusses to showcase B.C. products.

“There aren’t may companies that can bend steel in an arch that long and it can’t be done locally. We want to push the wood market, and esthetically it is elegant,” he said.

So far, Richmond has spent $5.9 million on developing the project, including $2.3 million for design and nearly $1 million to prepare the site.

In what may have been the shrewdest investment, however, it donated $500,000 to the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corp. in 2002 and 2003, shortly after Vancouver won the bid and while it was considering moving the oval from SFU. Vanoc awarded Richmond the venue in August 2004. With that foot in the door, the city then spent $459,000 that year and in 2005 to send staff and city council on 16 trips to examine ovals around the world.

The trips, including repeat visits to Calgary, Salt Lake City, Lillehammer and Turin, created controversy among taxpayers who wondered if all the travel was necessary.

In December, council approved another $120,000 to send nine people, including Mayor Malcolm Brodie and Coun. Bill McNulty, to Turin for the 2006 Olympics. Brodie has defended the expenses, saying the city has to get this project right and the trips helped it learn what not to do.

The project has not been without financial problems. Like other public works, it is affected by both “scope creep” and a white-hot construction market that is creating shortages in skilled labour and materials.

As an example, Scott said, the oval was costed out at $206 million after all of the project designers, engineers and interested parties were asked what they wanted to see in the oval. It was then pared back to what the city could afford.

Scott said it was similar to someone telling a developer about the dream home they want, only to have to cut out the library, swimming pool and expansive gardens once the dream’s sticker price is added up.

Ultimately, the city agreed to spend an additional $23 million over its original $155-million price to include the parkade.

WHAT TURIN IS DOING:

Venue: Speed-skating oval

Location: Turin

Size: Overall covered area: 26,500 square metres. Track size: 400 metres x 12.60 metres.

Seating: 8,463.

Number of events: 12

Distance from athletes’ village: 3 kilometres.

Post-Games use: Fairs and exhibitions in concert with the existing, and massive Lingotto Fiere convention centre, a former Fiat factory.

Cost as of 2005: 70.45 million euros, ($99 million) of which seven million euros ($9.8 million) come from the City of Turin and the rest from the federal government.

Of note: The new oval is in the centre of Turin, and a short walk from the Lingotto Fiere centre, where the main media centre is being housed. Construction began in 2003 and was finished late last year.

Source: Jeff Lee

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

 

Vancouver city councillors from all parties express doubt about bridge plan and extra lane on Hwy 1

Frances Bula
Sun

The man in charge of the Gateway Project did not receive a valentine from Vancouver city council Tuesday.

In a rare show of unanimity, councillors from all parties expressed doubt and concern about the project’s plan to twin the Port Mann bridge and add an extra lane to Highway 1 from Langley to the Cassiar tunnel in the northeast corner of the city.

One after another asked whether this wasn’t just rewarding suburban councils for having created traffic problems by putting in business parks and residential developments far from transit.

Both Vision Vancouver Coun. Tim Stevenson and Non-Partisan Association Coun. Kim Capri told Gateway Project executive director Mike Proudfoot that he has a “very tough sell” ahead of him in Vancouver.

“This council has not proven itself to be united on tough issues, yet here we are speaking with one voice,” said Capri.

Proudfoot repeated several times in his 90-minute grilling by councillors that the Highway 1 changes will not bring a flood of traffic to Vancouver streets. Expanding the highway will actually make it easier to improve bus, carpooling, cycling and future rail options along the corridor, he said, while a toll on the bridge will make people think about other options besides travelling alone in their cars.

He said the Port Mann is so jammed now that buses can’t use it because it’s impossible to keep to schedules. And he said the project’s modelling of future traffic congestion predicts there will be a 17-kilometre rush-hour lineup by 2021, compared to the five-kilometre one now. That is costing the local economy $500 million a year, said Proudfoot.

But NPA Coun. Peter Ladner said people made the same arguments about the Lions Gate bridge a decade ago, claiming that “if we didn’t build a third crossing, the world would come to an end.”

In spite of pressure, the only change made was to improve, but not expand, the three-lane bridge.

“We still have some congestion there,” he said, “but somehow people work around it.”

Ladner also pointed out that according to the project’s statistics, the congestion actually hasn’t changed on the Highway 1/Port Mann bridge for the past decade, suggesting people have already adjusted.

Mayor Sam Sullivan wanted to know where the province is flexing any political muscle to demand that suburbs make some changes to “more responsible land use” in exchange for this temporary transportation fix. Both councillors Suzanne Anton of the NPA and David Cadman from the Coalition of Progressive Electors asked why the project doesn’t put more effort into other ways to reduce congestion on the bridge and highway before it starts spending money there.

Proudfoot came to council to present a brief overview of the project as part of the beginning of its community consultation, which will last until May.

Capri and others asked whether what the community has to say will make any difference at all.

Proudfoot acknowledged that it’s a provincial highway and the province can make whatever decision it feels necessary.

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

POLAND: Alpine resort not only a favourite of Pope John Paul, it vied for the Olympics

Shirley O’Bryan Smith
Province

ZAKOPANE, Poland – You could say Zakopane, Poland, is blessed. After all, it was the late Pope John Paul’s favourite recreation spot. He spent a lot of time there as a young priest — skiing the Tatra mountains and hiking the Podhale hills — and he returned later as he climbed the ranks in the Catholic Church, then finally as pope.

When he was a cardinal, someone mentioned it might be inappropriate for a man of his position to ski. His reply was that it was only “unbecoming for a cardinal to ski badly.”

Well, no matter how well — or badly — you ski, there’s a slope to suit you around Zakopane. Some of the most popular are located at Kasprowy Wierch, which can be reached by cable car or lift, and Gubalowka, which is accessible by tram and T-bars. But there are many others.

And even though there’s a lot of snow in the winter, there’s also artificial snow-making to supplement when necessary.

The winter sports are so good in this area that Zakopane was a finalist for the 2006 Olympics.

During the summer you can bike, raft, climb, hike, paraglide or just stroll through the mountain meadows. There are also several folk, art and musical festivals there.

Zakopane is about 100 kilometres south of Krakow near the Slovakian border. It’s nestled up against the Tatras, the highest alpine range in this region of Europe. Because of its location, it has become a major winter destination. Its year-round population swells during tourist season.

Many of those people come for reasons other than the winter sports. For me, it was the shopping. And I can tell you, I didn’t leave empty-handed. Neither did my daughter, the shoe queen, who walked away with a great pair of red leather knee-high boots for around $40 US.

The town centre is a charming blend of old world meets new.

The architecture is a mix of carved wood villas with traditional high-sloped roofs and newer European-style stone storefronts.

We were lucky enough to be there while the Christmas decorations were still up and there was plenty of snow on the ground. It added even more old-world charm to the scene. Homes were decorated with holiday lights and religious icons, many of which were built right into the side of the houses.

Parents pull high-sided wooden sleds along the streets. Inside are their pink-cheeked babies nested in fleecy blankets, caps, snowsuits and mittens.

Look on the corner and you’ll see a T-shirt vendor and someone selling fuzzy puppets on a stick. Look the other way and there’s an old woman in a patterned headscarf selling cheese and pickles.

You can catch a horse-drawn wagon ride, mingle with the street performers, duck into any number of really good restaurants, museums or churches, stroll over a quaint wooden bridge or sign up for a more modern diversion — a bungee jump.

The main shopping street is Krupowki, where you can find quality European fashions, bookstores, gift shops, household items, glassware, jewelry, ski clothes and warm outerwear, and of course shoes and boots.

And while I did pick up some souvenir items on Krupowki, I found a better selection on one of the side streets where vendors set up rows of wooden stalls. They were full of sheepskin and leather goods, fur, glassware, rugs, slippers at around $4 and local rough wool sweaters for about $10.

You can also find a huge selection of carved wooden boxes, religious icons, chess sets, nut crackers and kitchen utensils. My favourite, though, were the starched and embroidered table and dresser cloths, napkins, and doilies. I bought several of them, thinking they’d make wonderful gifts. Unfortunately for my friends, I fell in love with them and now they’re all over my house.

This market also had a variety of cheeses and farm products, military items and several litters of St. Bernard puppies. Cute, but wouldn’t fit in my suitcase, especially since it was stuffed full of linens.

The food in Zakopane is very good — except for an odd concoction I bought on the street. It turned out to be a piece of bread soaked with thick hot bacon fat — definitely an acquired taste.

Other than that you can expect a good selection of sausage, pork, bread, cheese, potatoes, other hearty vegetables, and beer. Many restaurants feature servers dressed in highly decorative native costumes and musicians playing a local form of Polish highlander music called “muzyka goralska.”

Oh, and one more thing about Zakopane. It has a good environmental reputation. A large part of it is heated by geothermal energy coming from hot water underground. Local officials are proud of their recent efforts to keep the area’s water, air, land and views pristine.

IF YOU GO

– Zakopane: www.zakopane-life.com or http://goeasteurope.about.com. Polish National Tourist Office: www.polandtour.org/

– Getting there: Accessible by train from all the major cities in Poland. From Balice International Airport in Krakow, Poland, take a car or bus to Zakopane.

– Culture: Cultural attractions include the Tatra Museum, Zakopane Style Museum, Witkacy Theatre and other museums and galleries. Also, drive around to see the distinctive wooden houses and other local architecture.

– Nearby attractions: For a short daytrip, try the medieval castle of Niedzica, east of Zakopane at Czorsztyn.

– Churches: Church of Our Lady of Fatima in Zakopane has a statue of Pope John Paul outside, several historic wooden churches and chapels as well as some new ones. Some have souvenirs of the pope’s visits.

– Reading: Lonely Planet’s Poland, by Tom Parkinson, Richard Watkins and Neil Wilson.

© The Vancouver Province 2006

Hollie Shaw
Sun

TORONTO — Hudson’s Bay Co. agreed Tuesday to sell its credit-card division to GE Money, a unit of General Electric Co., for net proceeds of $370 million.

The country’s oldest retailer, which accepted a friendly offer last month from shareholder Jerry Zucker, did not reveal what it plans to do with the payment.

Analysts say Zucker could put the money toward paying down HBC’s half a billion dollars in debt, or to revamping the store portfolio, one of his stated goals for the chain.

The agreement includes a 10-year alliance in which GE Money will provide HBC with credit, marketing and analytic support, as well as credit servicing and customer care for the retailer’s 3.1 million retail cardholders. HBC will transfer 650 employees to GE as part of the deal.

The owner of the Bay, Zellers and Home Outfitters chains said it will receive an annual revenue stream from the alliance “similar to the historic earnings levels from HBC’s financial services business, which generated $162 million in earnings before interest and taxes in 2004.”

Performance payments from GE Money will be based on the level of credit sales, new accounts and new product introductions, which could include a co-branded credit card, said HBC spokeswoman Hillary Stauth.

A previous HBC deal to create a co-branded card with an “unnamed bank,” rumoured to be Royal Bank of Canada, was cancelled as part of Tuesday’s sale. The net proceeds of the deal don’t include a $50-million break fee HBC will pay to that bank, securitized receivables, transaction costs or taxes. Under a previous agreement, the bank had a first right to match any offer received by HBC for its credit-card business.

Although initially upset about HBC putting the credit division up for sale in October, Zucker says he believes the GE deal reflects a fair value for the asset.

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

WWW.SURREYREUSES.COM: Almost anything under $99 can be sold on site

John Bermingham
Province

Tomorrow, the City of Surrey launches a recycling website that will allow residents to sell, trade or give away their old stuff to others.

The www.surreyreuses.com site amounts to a bulletin board for old computer equipment, appliances and furniture.

The group that started the website plans to offer similar sites throughout the Lower Mainland.

“What we’re about is reducing the amount of waste,” said Brock Macdonald of the Recycling Council of B.C. Friday.

“If we can do that by promoting the reuse of things, then we keep material out of the landfill.”

The website rules allow items to be sold for up to $99, but prohibit sales of illegal or hazardous materials.

The site also includes a list of non-profit organizations that will take household goods and clothing.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts says she’s thrilled at such a practical use of the Internet. “We simply see this as a terrific means of promoting and encouraging household reuse and recycling through direct person-to-person exchange,” she says.

“This will take household recycling to an entirely new level.”

Rob Constanzo, Surrey’s solid-waste manager, says the city used to run a curbside reuse program, but had to can it because the items were getting scattered around on the street or ruined by the rain.

“We felt the best way to handle this would be through a person-to-person communication, via the website,” he says.

Since December 2004, the recycling council has been operating a similar recycling website in Vancouver, at www.vancouver.reuses.com.

It now has 722 registered users, who have exchanged about 600 items and diverted more than 8,500 kilograms from the city’s landfill.

Lindsay Moffit, City of Vancouver recycling manager, says the website is valuable because it allows for the exchanges of low-end goods that too often end up in the landfill.

The next challenge is getting the word out, he adds.

“Web pages are great, and definitely a big part of the future,” says Moffit. “But people have to know where to go and what the service is and what it is to begin with.”

Those without Internet access can call the Recycling Council of B.C. hotline at 604-732-9253 if they’re in the Greater Vancouver Regional District, or 1-800-667-4321 elsewhere in B.C.

© The Vancouver Province 2006

Sweeping plan includes twinning of the Port Mann Bridge and Highway 1 from Langley to Vancouver — and probably a $2.50-per-vehicle fee

Frank Luba, with a file from John Bermingham
Province

Lower Mainland commuters, frustrated with congestion on the Port Mann Bridge, are getting a $3-billion solution.

Premier Gordon Campbell announced yesterday that the province is going ahead with the region-wide Gateway Program, including twinning of the Port Mann and the Trans-Canada Highway from Langley to Vancouver.

But neither he nor Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon could answer how the Gateway plan will be paid for, although a toll on the Port Mann is a distinct possibility.

“It would be irresponsible to not put forward the option of tolling,” said Campbell.

The anticipated $2.50 toll for cars would pay for another Port Mann twin worth approximately $800 million. But the government hasn’t determined how to pay for other parts of the plan like a new Pitt River Bridge or the South and North Fraser Perimeter roads.

The idea of tolls was overwhelmingly condemned by motorists interviewed by The Province.

“I could understand paying a toll if the bridge was privately financed, but since the government is building the bridge with our tax dollars, we shouldn’t have to pay to use a bridge that we’re already paying for with our taxes,” said Tim Shrigley of Vancouver.

Campbell said tolls weren’t the only solution to paying for the improvements and promised wide public consultation.

“Clearly, by the time we’re through this project, we’ll know how it is going to be funded,” he said.

“It may be funding partly by public-private partnerships, partly by tolling. I can’t give you the answer to that,” Campbell said.

For his part, Falcon doesn’t have any problem with tolls.

“Is it worth a couple of bucks?” said Falcon.

“I think most people will say it is. Certainly from a business point of view, there’s no question that’s an easy answer.”

But NDP transportation critic David Chudnovsky, the MLA for Vancouver-Kensington, questioned the business case for the plan.

He pointed to data from Philip Hochstein, president of the Independent Contractors and Business Association of B.C., that indicated construction costs have risen 45 per cent over the past five years and is likely to continue for the next five years with average yearly inflation of 10 per cent.

Chudnovsky, who doesn’t deny there’s a congestion problem, predicted construction costs could translate into another $1.5 billion for Gateway.

“I don’t know who they’re trying to kid with the costs,” said Chudnovsky. “Come clean. Where is the money going to come from?”

But Falcon said the project would come in on budget.

“That $3 billion will be sufficient to get this project built exactly as we said it would be built,” he said.

Surrey Mayor Diane Watts liked what she heard.

“I think it’s great,” she said.

“The level of frustration is very high and it has certainly increased over the past number of years,” Watts said of the congested bridge and lack of transportation options south of the Fraser.

“We need options,” she said. “We need choices in transportation.”

In contrast to his position before being elected, Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan appeared to be in favour of twinning the Port Mann and levying tolls.

I am right now keeping an open mind,” said Sullivan, who has yet to read the Gateway report. “I’m going to listen to the options.”

But he liked tolling. “I think that’s a very interesting option and I would support it,” he said.

The plan included an artist’s depiction of a new Port Mann Bridge with cyclists, an HOV lane and even a light-rail transit train.

The plan also pledged $50 million for cycling improvements

Trace Acres of the B.C. Automobile Association applauded the plan, saying that “doing nothing is simply not an option.”

But he cautioned that “over the longer term it’s widely understood that if you build it, they will come.”

Acres said that BCAA polls show 70 per cent support for tolling on new projects and 50- to 55-per-cent support for tolling on highway expansion projects.

In the Lower Mainland, there is support from 50 to 55 per cent of BCAA members for tolls on an expanded Port Mann Bridge.

The plan’s details, all 90 pages of them, are available on the Internet at www.gatewayprogram.bc.ca.

GATEWAY FAST FACTS

– Traffic on the Port Mann Bridge is 20 per cent higher than San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, despite having fewer lanes.

– In the past five years, the number of registered vehicles in the GVRD grew by 12.5 per cent –greater than the population growth.

– There have been no significant increases in major road capacity since the completion of the Alex Fraser Bridge in 1986.

– If tolls are implemented, they would likely be about $2.50 each way for cars. Trucks would pay more and motorcycles would pay less.

– The province claims that tolls on cars will reduce the amount of traffic on the bridge. Without tolls, they say, the bridge would be congested in 10 years.

– Tolls, along with improved transit service, high-occupancy-vehicle lanes, transit and commercial-vehicle priority lanes, could keep congestion below current levels until 2031 or beyond, planners say.

– The government estimates that, after the project is complete, a commuter travelling from

Langley to Vancouver could save from 50 cents to $1.50 in operating costs and approximately $5 in travel time savings in each direction.

 

© The Vancouver Province 2006

But critics want government to release studies of project it claims will relieve traffic congestion

William Boei and Scott Simpson, With Files From Jonathan Fowlie
Sun

The business community loved the Gateway Program — the $3-billion highway and bridge-building megaproject unveiled Tuesday by Premier Gordon Campbell — but critics said the government has not provided enough information to judge whether it will ease gridlock in Greater Vancouver, and for how long.

Campbell released an outline of the plan, called it the key to B.C.’s future prosperity and said it will create thousands of jobs in the region’s ports.

But the government did not make public the dozens of supporting studies, on everything from the impact the project will have on traffic congestion to its environmental impacts. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said last week that the studies would be released Tuesday.

NDP transportation critic David Chudnovsky challenged the government to release the studies proving that the project would relieve congestion, that it would not work at counter-purposes to the Greater Vancouver Regional District’s livable region strategy, and that it would not increase pressure for development on the Lower Mainland’s agricultural reserves.

“Very often these projects are built, they cost a fortune, and within a year or three years or five years, the project draws increased traffic,” Chudnovsky said.

Gateway Program director Mike Proudfoot said the studies, which may run to thousands of pages, will be posted on the government’s website over the next few weeks.

Business reaction was clearly supportive. Campbell drew two standing ovations from delegates to a B.C. Chamber of Commerce conference where he announced the plan, and chamber president John Winters enthusiastically endorsed it.

“Support from the business community is strong,” he told Campbell, “and we want these projects to move forward as quickly as possible.”

Commuters had mixed reactions.

“Absolutely excellent. If you sit on that highway your traffic is unbearable,” said Warren Doerksen, a tradesman who lives in Walnut Grove and works throughout the Lower Mainland.

He said a proposed toll of $2.50 a trip across a twinned Port Mann Bridge would be fair.

But another commuter didn’t like the price.

“I like the idea of twinning it. I don’t like the idea of paying $2.50,” said Pamela Smith, a welder who lives in Coquitlam and works in Langley.

“Five dollars a day to go back and forth — that’s way too high,” Smith said. “I don’t think you should have to pay. We pay taxes already.”

Campbell described the Gateway Program as a keystone in his government’s plan to turn British Columbia into the funnel through which Asian goods pour into North America.

Even if B.C. does nothing, container traffic will more than double in the next 15 years, he said. If B.C. wants to increase its share of trade — and Campbell said his government aims to quadruple it — “we’re going to have to invest more.”

“We believe that we can reach for a whole new set of opportunities in this province, which will bring thousands and thousands of new jobs,” he said.

Port-related jobs can be increased from 26,000 today “to 71,000 direct jobs,” Campbell said.

He also promised the plan will ease congestion on the Port Mann Bridge, “the largest traffic choke point in our province.”

“If we don’t take action now, we’re going to see a significant, a substantial decrease and deterioration, not just in moving goods, but in the quality of our lives,” the premier said.

Chudnovsky also questioned the cost of the plan, which Falcon said will not exceed $3 billion despite strong cost inflation in the construction industry.

“Construction costs in the next five years are going to increase 55 per cent,” said Chudnovsky, citing research by a construction industry group.

“I think we know already that the cost of this project is going to be at least $1.5 billion more than the premier is telling us, and that should be of concern to the people of the province,” he said. “How is it going to be paid for?”

Vancouver councillor and former TransLink director David Cadman also predicted the project will go well over budget.

But Falcon disagreed.

He said construction will be staggered from 2009 through 2013, after B.C.’s big building binge — Olympic venues, the Sea to Sky Highway, the new convention centre and two new rapid transit lines, among others — has wound down.

Each component of the Gateway Program already has built-in contingencies that have built-in inflation cushions, Falcon said.

The program consists of:

– Twinning the Port Mann Bridge and expanding the Trans-Canada Highway from Langley to Vancouver at a cost of $1.5 billion.

– A new South Fraser Perimeter Road intended to route truck traffic from the ports to the Trans-Canada Highway for $800 million.

– Linking existing roads from New Westminster to Maple Ridge to form a North Fraser Perimeter Road for $400 million, including a new bridge over the Pitt River.

Falcon said that leaves $300 million in an overall contingency fund. He added that much of the project consists of road-building, while the inflation pressure is mainly on concrete-and-steel structures.

“We believe it’s doable,” Falcon said of the $3-billion budget.

The province has not detailed how it plans to pay for the program, but Campbell indicated it will ask for federal help, since the South Fraser road will connect federal port facilities.

Falcon said some or all parts of the project could be built as P3s — public-private partnerships — but that had not been decided yet.

“P3s don’t work for every project,” he said, “but we look at them for every project.”

As much as half the project cost — $1.5 billion — could be raised through tolls on the twinned Port Mann Bridge, Falcon said.

None of the elements of the project are final yet. It now goes into 18 months of public consultations followed by more detailed design studies and environment assessment.

But Falcon strongly suggested the Port Mann will be electronically tolled, probably at about $2.50 per vehicle per trip. Regular bridge users will have transponders on their vehicles that automatically record the charges. Others will have their licence plates photographed and will be sent bills.

Falcon said tolling will not only bring in money to pay for the bridge, it will be used as a traffic demand management tool — to reduce congestion by discouraging some people from using the bridge.

Academics and environmentalists say — and Falcon has agreed in the past — that you can’t build your way out of congestion. But, he suggested Tuesday, you can keep it at arm’s length for a time.

“If you don’t put electronic tolling in place, you get the benefits [of new capacity] for about five to 10 years,” he said. “With the introduction of electronic tolling, you extend those benefits for 25 years and beyond.”

Falcon said it will be up to future governments to decide whether the tolls should stay in place past 2031.

But he said he is certain commuters will happily pay $5 a day for clear sailing across the bridge in return for an extra hour a day with their families.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts agreed.

“Nobody likes tolling,” Watts said. “However, if I have a choice between spending an hour in a lineup with my engine running and paying $2.50, I will pay the $2.50.”

B.C. Trucking Association president Paul Landry said his members were “absolutely delighted” about the plan, which is expected to provide some relief from the hundreds of millions of dollars that truckers annually waste sitting in traffic.

“The premier is providing the vision for the transportation of people and goods across the province for a way we haven’t seen in decades,” Landry said. “The projects that the premier has announced today offer relief from congestion that is choking our industry in the Lower Mainland and quite frankly creating problems elsewhere in the province.”

Cadman said the province hadn’t considered enough alternatives, such as encouraging the truck and port industries to work at night when roads are clear.

FIRST ROUND OF OPEN HOUSES BEGIN IN LANGLEY:

The provincial government starts public consultations on its Gateway Program (including the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge) this month that will go on for up to 18 months. It will move into more detailed design phases in 2007 and 2008, and construction should begin in 2009. Here are the times and locations of the first round of open houses to get the public involved in the process:

– Saturday Feb. 18, Langley, Walnut Grove Community Centre, 8889 Walnut Grove Dr., 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

– New Westminster, Saturday Feb. 25, Centennial Community Centre, 65 East Sixth Ave., 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

– Burnaby, Saturday March 4, Eight Rinks, 6501 Sprott St., 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

– Burnaby, Wednesday March 8, Bonsor Recreation Centre, 6550 Bonsor Ave., 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

– Vancouver, Saturday March 25, Hastings Community Centre Auditorium, 3096 East Hastings St., 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

– Vancouver, Wednesday March 29, Roundhouse Community Centre, Great Hall, 181 Roundhouse Mews, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

– Surrey, Saturday April 8, Guildford Recreation Centre, 15105 105th Ave., 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

– Surrey, Tuesday April 11, North Surrey Arena, 10275 135th St., 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

– Coquitlam, Saturday April 22, Coquitlam Library, Poirier Branch, 575 Poirier St., 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

– Coquitlam, Tuesday April 25, Planet Ice, 2300 Rocket Way, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

– Abbotsford, Saturday April 29, Abbotsford Recreation Centre, 34690 Old Yale Rd., 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

© The Vancouver Sun 2006

Four years to gold

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