So, tolls are put on the Port Mann Bridge, and truckers take the free route over the Pattullo Bridge instead. You don't have to be a traffic analyst to have predicted that outcome.
But how can you fix it? And, perhaps, more importantly, who has the power and will to fix it, and will they?
As city councillor Jaimie McEvoy said, New Westminster is 'ground zero' among communities suffering the consequences of poor transportation planning. A staff report states that the average daily traffic volume on Royal Avenue has increased by 1,300 vehicles per day (a five-per cent increase), and the heavy truck volume has increased by 360 trucks per day (a 63-per cent increase). Anyone who has had to drive across the Pattullo Bridge on a dark, rainy morning watching as a semi-trailer's tires creep over the white line, knows just how scary that bridge can be.
City staff have recommended that council formally request the province to immediately lower tolls for heavy trucks on the Port Mann Bridge as an incentive for trucks to move back to that bridge. They've also recommended that council ask TransLink to ban heavy trucks on the Pattullo if there's no decrease, approve an extension of the heavy truck prohibition on Royal Avenue to 24 hours (other than for local deliveries) and look at regional tolling.
These are all good measures. And we suggest that time is of the essence. More large trucks rumbling through neighbourhood streets is a recipe for disaster. New Westminster was never intended as a substitute route for heavy trucks. The streets are narrow, and not built for large amounts of traffic.
One only has to stand at the corner of McBride Boulevard and Eighth Avenue in the morning rush hour to see the amount (and speed) of trucks barrelling through the city. Just make sure you stand far from the curb.
