ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: 27 February 2001
Author/Local: L. LaClaire/6690

RTS No. 01736

CC File No. 5560-1

T&T: March 13, 2001

TO:	Standing Committee on Transportation and Traffic
FROM:	General Manager, Engineering Services and the Director of Current Planning
SUBJECT:	Third Auto-oriented Crossing of Burrard Inlet and the Downtown Transportation Plan

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT work on the current Downtown Transportation Plan proceed without further consideration at this time of the potential for a new auto-oriented crossing of Burrard Inlet at or near Main Street, as this question will not become relevant until after the implementation time frame of this plan.

B. THAT Council defer consideration of a new Burrard Inlet crossing until, at the earliest, the next review of the long term regional strategic plan.

CITY MANAGER'S COMMENTS

Any consideration of a third auto-oriented crossing of Burrard Inlet would require significant policy changes to the Livable Region Strategic Plan, the Regional Long Range Transportation Plan for Greater Vancouver, TransLink Strategic Transportation Plan, and the City of Vancouver Transportation Plan. Demand projections indicate that such a crossing will not be required prior to 2021 and consideration of it now would be premature and could be misleading as many other aspects of regional transportation supply and demand will change during that time period.

POLICY

It is Council policy that the existing network of the primary and secondary arterial roads within the City generally not be expanded.

Under Provincial legislation, the Major Road Network within the City of Vancouver is co-managed by the City and TransLink.

SUMMARY

The public has expressed some support for a third auto-oriented crossing of Burrard Inlet near Main Street, and some have suggested that it should be considered as an option in the Downtown Transportation Plan that is currently underway. This report concludes that a third crossing should not be considered as an option within this Downtown Transportation Plan, but that this decision does not eliminate the potential for integrating a third crossing in a future plan for the Downtown should future work conclude that such a facility is warranted.

A third crossing is not a part of the current Livable Region Strategic Plan, the region's Long Range Transportation Plan, nor the TransLink Strategic Plan. Nor is it consistent with the City's Transportation Plan. Given that a Main Street tunnel crossing is not required within the planning horizon, it should not be considered as part of the terms of reference for the Downtown Transportation Plan.

The City of Vancouver, together with Park Board, TransLink and other stakeholders, has committed to displacing general traffic from the Stanley Park causeway by 2030. A comprehensive review of the alternative methods of achieving this will be required as part of the next regional strategic transportation plan.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to identify some of the issues related to the creation of a third automobile-oriented crossing of Burrard Inlet near the Main Street corridor and to consider the consequences for the Downtown Transportation Plan.

BACKGROUND

Access to the North Shore is currently served by two 400 passenger SeaBus vessels and nine general traffic lanes on bridges at the First and Second Narrows. A third crossing of Burrard Inlet has been proposed several times in the past, sometimes as a component of a downtown freeway system or a rapid transit link and most recently as a component of a renovated First Narrows crossing.

The City of Vancouver, Park Board and other stakeholders have committed to the long term goal of removing private vehicle traffic from the Stanley Park Causeway by the year 2030. With the renovation of the Lions Gate Bridge now underway, bridge closures andconstruction delays have stimulated new interest in the concept of a third crossing.

During the initial public consultation for the Downtown Transportation Plan, some stakeholders have raised the issue of a third crossing near Main Street and suggest that the planning for this new crossing be included in the scope of work for the Downtown Transportation Plan.

DISCUSSION

1. Regional Context

The issue of a third crossing of the Burrard Inlet must be considered within the context of regional priorities. Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm together form one of the major water bodies that separate the region into five subregions. The other major water bodies that divide the region are the North Arm Fraser River, the Fraser River, and the Pitt River. Most of the tunnels and bridges that connect the five subregions are currently at or near capacity during the peak periods. The busiest of these crossings are located on the Fraser River, the North Arm of the Fraser, and Burrard Inlet. Long range plans for the region are identified in Transport 2021 and include the following projects related to water crossings (A Long-Range Plan for Greater Vancouver, Transport 2021, 1993):

1. High-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) facility on the Port Mann Bridge.
2. HOV facility at or in the vicinity of the Alex Fraser-Queensborough Bridge corridor.
3. Rapid transit crossing of the North Arm Fraser, as part of a Vancouver-Richmond line.
4. Fixed-link crossing of the Fraser River from Langley to Maple Ridge (with HOV facility).

The Medium-Range Transportation Plan also identified the potential for additional lanes on the Lions Gate Bridge to accommodate buses, but these were subsequently ruled out for the reconstruction of the bridge.

The construction of an eastbound HOV lane on the Port Mann Bridge is nearing completion. This project completes the Trans Canada HOV facility. Conceptual planning for the new Langley-Maple Ridge crossing is in the early stages.

The projects listed above were identified based on the growth in trips projected for 2021. Seven years have passed since the long and medium range transportation plans were developed by Transport 2021. Population growth trends indicate that the North Shore is the subregion with, by far, the lowest growth rate (see Table 1). This is consistent with growth trends that were projected by the regional plan.

Table 1: Population by Subregion

Subregion	Population - actual		% Growth	Forecast	% Growth
	1992	2000	(1992-2000)	2021	(1992-2021)
1. North Shore (North and West Vancouver)	161 000	175 000	9%	205 000	27%
2. Burrard Peninsula (Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, etc.)	862 000	1 002 000	16%	1 360 000	58%
3. Richmond	135 000	165 000	22%	212 000	57%
4. North of Fraser (Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge)	63 000	78 000	24%	117 000	86%
5. South of Fraser (Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langleys)	466 000	573 000	23%	870 000	87%

The transportation analysis for this study concluded that "There is not a need to increase the capacity for single occupant vehicles over the Lions Gate and Second Narrows Bridges" (Transport 2021, 1993). The report further concluded that "Carpool lanes across the bridges will not be particularly effective because trips to and from the North Shore are relatively short and do not offer much opportunity for the significant time saving required to induce carpooling."

Projecting beyond the Regional planning horizon of 2021, the City, Park Board and other stakeholders have committed to remove private automobile traffic from the Stanley Park Causeway by 2030. Fulfilling this objective would likely require building a new facility for general vehicle traffic to replace the Stanley Park causeway.

Regional land use and transportation planning is an iterative process that starts regionally and ends with local area implementation plans, such as the Downtown Transportation Plan. Proposals, such as a new or expanded crossing of the Burrard Inlet, have regional impacts and must be assessed within the regional spending priorities. Implementing the existing regional transportation network expansion program remains the first priority.

2. Comments from TransVision

The advocacy group called TransVision, which supports an additional crossing of Burrard Inlet, has stressed that recreational traffic volumes can be particularly high on the Lions Gate Bridge. Specifically, TransVision supports the construction of an auto/rail combination tunnel near Main Street that would be an additional crossing for vehicles rather than the Lions Gate replacement scenario described in this report. TransVision also believes that the population growth along the Sea to Sky Highway and the possibility of hosting the Olympics in 2010 create a need to expand the number of traffic lanesacross Burrard Inlet.

A vehicle count station has been in place near the Lions Gate Bridge for a number of years. This station continuously records vehicle volumes on the bridge. Weekend and holiday traffic volumes provide an indicator of the demand for recreational trips. A review of these data reveals that, on the whole, weekend volumes are lower than weekday volumes and weekend peak hour volumes are lower than weekday peak hour volumes.

Trips originating from Lions Bay and all points north of Lions Bay comprise percent of the total southbound traffic volume using the Lions Gate Bridge during the morning peak hour. If this contribution were to double, it would result in a new demand for 175 vehicles during the AM peak hour. An event, such as a Olympics, would not justify construction of major transportation projects based on traffic volumes that would be generated during the short-term event. However, a major event like the Olympics could help advance components of the Transportation Plan that have yet to be implemented, such as the Richmond/Airport - Vancouver rapid transit line.

3. Rail Connection to the North Shore

It has been suggested that a new tunnel crossing near Main Street could accommodate a heavy rail link to the North Shore that could allow for passenger trains to operate between Seattle and Whistler with a stop in Downtown Vancouver. The North Shore has an existing rail link via the railway bridge at the Second Narrows that provides good access for freight services to the North Shore.

From a regional perspective, the Fraser River rail crossing near the Patullo Bridge has been identified as a key bottleneck that is restricting the further expansion of both passenger and freight rail service between Vancouver and Seattle. Improving or expanding the Fraser crossing would likely be a higher priority for rail service providers.

One option that does show some promise for improving passenger rail service to Whistler is a proposal to relocate the existing BC Rail station from Pemberton Avenue in North Vancouver District to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver City. This would provide a convenient connection to the regional transit system via a major bus exchange and the SeaBus terminal.

4. Transportation Demand Management and the Transportation Model

Tolls are one of the most important transportation demand management (TDM) tools that would help achieve the goals of the region's strategic transportation plan and Liveable Region Strategic Plan. It has been suggested that a new crossing could be partially funded by implementing tolls. If tolls were implemented only on the new facility, thentraffic would tend to use the facilities without tolls, especially during off-peak periods. It is more practical to implement tolls on all Inlet crossings equally to help minimize travel distances. At the regional level, it is assumed that tolls would be implemented on all major bridges before 2021. The regional model predicts that a $1.00 toll (1996 dollars) on bridges to the North Shore would reduce traffic demand across Burrard Inlet by approximately two thousand vehicles per hour during the morning peak hour (700 fewer vehicles on the Lions Gate).

5. False Creek Flats

Council has requested "THAT the False Creek Flats Industrial Area Study explore the impacts of an automobile-based third crossing through the False Creek Flats area." This work is underway at a conceptual stage. Important components of this work include transportation linkages to and through this area, and the development of a new, more urban, structure for the Flats. Implementation of a complete transportation network for the Flats is a long term prospect that is dependant on the relocation of the railway tracks and ongoing evaluations.

CONCLUSIONS

A third auto-oriented crossing of Burrard Inlet near Main Street is not part of the Liveable Region Strategic Plan, the region's long range transportation plan, nor is it consistent with the City's Transportation Plan. The Downtown Transportation Plan will be the third in a series of transportation plans with increasing focus, from the regional to local level. The Downtown Plan is more an operational/implementation plan with a ten year time frame. It fits within the larger Vancouver and regional transportation plans. However, the Downtown Transportation Plan currently under development will not prevent the development of a third crossing at Main Street in the future, should future reviews of the Regional Strategic Transportation Plan conclude the facility is warranted.

A Main Street tunnel crossing goes beyond the scope and terms of reference of the Downtown Transportation Plan currently underway. Given that a Main Street crossing is not expected to be constructed within the planning horizon of the plan, and may not even be feasible, the Downtown Transportation Planning Team should continue with the development of a plan that does not specifically incorporate a Main Street tunnel crossing of Burrard Inlet. If a Main Street crossing becomes part of the future regional transportation plan, an updated Downtown Transportation Plan could be undertaken at that time and it would be evolved from the transportation strategies that will result from implementation of the plan now underway.

The City of Vancouver and other stakeholders have committed to displacing general traffic from the Stanley Park causeway by 2030. The first comprehensive review of thealternative methods of achieving this will be required as part of the next regional strategic transportation plan. This is very early in the time frame projected for closure of the causeway and may even be premature given the number of transportation supply and demand changes that will likely take place over the next 30 years.

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(c) 1998 City of Vancouver