District staff are proposing that the provincial government help fund a Pemberton Avenue bridge that would ease traffic concerns downtown.
Based on a study done in 2016 as part of the Waterfront Landing development, the District is predicting that a new bridge would need to be constructed before 2030 to avoid major traffic issues.
New developments, including the oceanfront and Waterfront developments, will contribute to more traffic — but the report notes that even without those two projects, traffic issues will increase.
“If the Waterfront Landing development was never built, the bridge would still be required to manage traffic generated by other developments in the downtown and Valleycliffe areas as well as general highway traffic growth,” reads the report presented on Tuesday.
Currently, the only route into downtown is Cleveland Avenue.
The new bridge would extend Pemberton Avenue over the Mamquam Blind Channel, running parallel to Highway 99 and following the path of the rail line.
A plan for the bridge, including a timeline and funding model, is due to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure by June 2018. The District doesn’t currently have a cost estimate, but there are multiple urgent road projects competing for limited funds.
Because the new bridge would alleviate traffic concerns at the Highway 99 and Cleveland intersection, the District is planning to ask the provincial ministry for help funding the project.
“It seems reasonable that the province assume some responsibility for the Pemberton Bridge funding,” reads the report from planning staff.
“The ministry has indicated that they are open to discussing funding and working with District staff to progress on that,” said the director of major projects David Marrow.
Marrow said staff would be undertaking data analysis and traffic modelling to make a strong case for the bridge and its impact on the congested highway.
The ministry has also asked the District to seek other funding sources.
Mayor Patricia Heintzman said if the ministry requires a bridge, they should help fund it.
“MOTI needs to take pressure off their own problem that they’ve created with the design of the Cleveland intersection and other pieces, so this is a solution they’ve imposed on us to solve their problem, and yet they can’t put money towards it,” she said.
“Regardless of what they say they can or won’t fund, there’s a bigger conversation that needs to be had with the government on their failure with the highway and their need to come to the table to find solutions.”
