By David Schreck
Published: February 1, 2006
www.TheTyee.ca
The headline on the government's news release reads: "Premier Launches
Gateway Transportation Program". "Launches" is a bit of an exaggeration
given the history of the Gateway Program. Those whose memories go back
over the last 15 years will recall that the components of the Gateway
Plan were pet projects advocated by Glen Clark, although the Harcourt
government was less enthusiastic.
The issues are what the completion dates will be and precisely what will
be delivered by those dates. It appears that the Campbell government has
abandoned the Livable Region Plan and wants to increase supply rather
than rely on demand management strategies; it has accepted reliance on
the private, single-occupant automobile, SUV or "passenger-truck".
The covering letter on the 1993 report of the "Transport 2021" steering
committee was addressed to Art Charbonneau, then Minister of
Transportation and Gordon Campbell, then GVRD chairperson. The executive
summary to that report stated:
"Certain roads intended as long-haul links with other parts of the
Province - such as the Trans Canada Highway between the Port Mann Bridge
and Chilliwack - are encouraging urban sprawl and are losing their
function for long-haul traffic."
"The solution to this problem is to reverse past practice and limit all
single-occupant long-haul commuting from the valley towns, e.g. through
deterrent tolls or traffic lights at on-ramps."
No studies, no maps
The news release for the latest incarnation of the Gateway Program says
that Premier Gordon Campbell unveiled a comprehensive $3-billion plan.
Isn't it interesting how governments can put precise price tags on
mega-projects when they can't produce a single engineering study or map
that shows what changes will be made at the ends of the Port Mann
Bridge, whose homes will be confiscated to build the project and which
neighbourhoods will be affected.
The government handled that challenge on the Sea-to-Sky improvement
project by offering a fixed price and asking contractors what they could
build for the specified cost. That can work when the specified cost
exceeds the minimum required for the project, but if the budget proves
inadequate, either it has to be increased or the tolls have to be
increased. The trial balloon suggests a toll of $2.50; media reports
indicate that is one way, not round trip. What will happen to those
without transponders who obscure their license plates with devices
designed to foil red light cameras? Details like that should be flushed
out before contracts are let and construction begins.
Still years off
If anyone thinks the "launch" is a sign that the project is any closer
to completion than it was as a gleam in Glen Clark's eye, notice that it
begins with 18 months of community consultation. That will take us to
July 2007, less than two years from the May 2009 provincial election.
Unless the engineering work happens concurrently with the public
consultation, something that would expose the consultation as a sham, it
could easily take another two years before rough costs could be
estimated.
Stay tuned for opponents of freeways to object on principle to any plan
that favors automobiles over transit. Those opponents might strengthen
their opposition by simply asking for the details that are not available
on the new Gateway Program website, where clicking on the link for Port
Mann Bridge Reports produces the note "[coming soon …]".
Political analyst David Schreck publishes the online journal
Strategic Thoughts where
a version of this appeared.
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