Surrey Board of Trade pushes for Pattullo Bridge expansion to be six lanes

The Surrey Board of Trade is asking for the capacity of the Pattullo Bridge reconstruction to be increased to six lanes.

In a letter to Transportation Minister Rob Fleming, the board is asking the ministry why the bridge isn’t being expanded, saying that the need is there.

It adds the bridge needs to have six lanes, instead of the four lanes currently planned.

“Surrey, and the south Fraser economic region, have been compromised in the lack of transportation investments that we need. We are growing by 1,200 to 1,400 people a month. We need to have additional transportation infrastructure,” President and CEO Anita Huberman said.

Huberman says that because of the continued population growth, and limited transit options in the area, the bridge needs to be expanded and not just replaced.

“The Ministry has indicated that the bridge will not open with six lanes, and that four lanes will suffice for the time being,” Huberman said in a statment.

She says simply replacing the bridge is not the answer, as the population continues to rise.

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“Replacing a four lane bridge with another four lane bridge, in the face of continued population growth, and limited transit options, is not productive to ensure we have a resilient economy,” she said.

With an additional 1.3 million people set to move into the Metro Vancouver region by 2050, Huberman adds the transportation infrastructure needs to reflect future population growth.

The bridge design allows for an expansion to six lanes one day, but the current plan is for it to open with four lanes in 2024.

“Our organization, our business members, and Surrey residents, know that we need the six lanes now,” she added.

Huberman says they received word from the minister, saying, “He’s not willing to reopen the bridge with six lanes.”

But she says they will continue to present their side.

“It doesn’t make sense,” she added.

This isn’t the first time the board has asked for the lane-change. In January of 2020, the board called for an “urgent” review of the replacement, but were unsuccessful.

She says part of the blame rests with the City of New Westminster.

“The city of New Westminster does not want that additional traffic flow, there needs to be road expansion on that side of the river,” she said. “The city of New Westminster is not even willing to look at what is good for regional economic development.”