Access to the Fraser River – including day moorage – was a key design principle in the development of Westminster Pier Park but was ruled out because of safety concerns.
In March 2010, the consultants working on a master plan for the project provided an update to council. At that time, they told council that it would not be safe to provide a boat launching facility at that site.
Bruce Hemstock, who was a principal with PWL Partnership in 2010, said moorage and direct access to the river aren't being recommended at the site because of concerns about safety, the speed of the river, and the likelihood of inexperienced boaters encountering difficulties with the strong current. He said commercial boaters who don't have a lot of experience could encounter some troubles pulling into a float in the facility because of the speed and current of the Fraser at that location.
After delving into the issue, he said it was determined that the site would a difficult area for inexperienced boaters or people in kayaks or canoes.
Harold Kullman, a marine engineer with Worley Parsons Westmar and a member of the project team that worked on Westminster Pier Park, said that anything over one knot is considered to be unsafe as a marina facility. At a March 2010 committee of the whole meeting, he told council that the current reaches about six knots at the site at its absolute peak.
"You have very high currents for a significant portion of time at this site," he said.
While there may be experienced people who could navigate the current and speed of the river in this area, Kullman said most wouldn't be able to do so safely.
"Can you make this site safe? Not within the confines of the property limits you have," he told council, noting, there no ability to build a breakwater at this site. "We can calm the water on this site, but not within the confines of this property. It is so narrow."
Hemstock told council that if someone fell into the water at that location, they would not be able to get out of the river until, perhaps, Port Royal.
A letter included in the March 15, 2010 agenda stated that during the course of the development of a master plan for Westminster Pier Park it had become apparent that the stretch of river in that area was “very aggressive” for a number of reasons, including the currents at the site and the river being a major marine transportation corridor with significant tugboat traffic.
“While the Westminster Pier Park is an aggressive riverfront site with associated safety concerns, it is possible to incorporate measures for safe access,” said a letter from Kullman to the Pier Park project manager. “Water access for boats should be limited to large vessels with experienced operators …
At the March 2010 meeting, Dean Gibson, the city's director of parks and recreation, said the city hadn't entirely dismissed the idea of providing an area where recreational and small boats could access the city's riverfront. He said an opportunity may exist at the future Muni Evers Park site (at the western end of the Quay near Poplar Island) because that may be a place where people can get in and out of the river in a safer manner.
"We don't intentionally want to put people in harm's way," he said. "We have some other alternatives."
In a Feb. 17 email to the Record, Gibson said the parks and recreation department isn’t currently actively looking at the issue of moorage or connections to the river as a stand-alone issue.
“In the absence of any other comprehensive studies of the issue, at the time park sites develop (or redevelop) on the riverfront, consideration of moorage and/or other connections to the river would be further investigated in response to public engagement undertaken specific to those projects,” he said. “I should emphasize that establishing river-based facilities for boating involves processes beyond simple approvals from the city. Other bodies such as Transport Canada and the Port Authority also have jurisdictional authority in many related approval processes.”
