South Fraser Perimeter Road prompts capacity concerns
Posted April 5, 2013 2:46 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
DELTA (NEWS1130) – The Lower Mainland’s next major road link is expected to open in December, but there are concerns the South Fraser Perimeter Road will be over capacity on day one.
Delta’s Chamber of Commerce says in a report that it has been told the highway will see more than 1,100 truck trips per day. The chamber points out, though, those estimates are from 2007 and don’t take into account a massive expansion planned for Deltaport, the very facility the South Fraser Perimeter Road is supposed to serve. Its own estimates reach higher than 5,000 truck trips a day. The estimates do not include regular commuter traffic.
Chair Orville Nickel says it’s great the route is taking trucks off local streets, but feels opening it with traffic lights instead of interchanges will create big problems at the Tilbury industrial park and in accessing the Alex Fraser Bridge.
“The major concern that I had is that when you bring [trucks] to a stop at an intersection, that’s going to create some congestion.” And, he adds, the chance of bad accidents and a negative impact on the economy.
Nickel says Ministry of Transportation traffic projections he’s been handed indicate intersections will accommodate traffic in the interim, but he’s concerned with the prospect of a 30 per cent increase in capacity at Deltaport by 2015.
“I’m not sure how into the future they projected but they said traffic volume projections at the intersections are sufficient to handle that kind of volume,” he explains.
Phase one of the new Highway 17 is open, phase two of the 80 km/hr 40 km long route from the Pattullo Bridge to Deltaport is expected to open in December. The Transportation Ministry has said interchanges are planned sometime in the future.
Nickel says the situation reminds him of the opening of the Alex Fraser Bridge and Highway 91 in 1986. It was built with traffic lights and, within years of opening, had to be significantly upgraded. The chamber argues with construction crews already at work and while construction prices are lower, the provincial government should build the SFPR to its full potential.
The Ministry is responding to the concerns by making three key points:
- Traffic studies by the ministry clearly show that intersections at Sunbury and Tilbury can accommodate traffic volumes on opening day.
- The ministry has bought and prepared property to allow for future interchanges at Tilbury and Sunbury when needed.
- The SFPR will improve the quality of life and safety for families and communities by removing industrial truck and commuter traffic from residential roads.
