North Vancouver lane realignment on pause following public outcry

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is pausing work on a lane realignment along Main Street toward the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge following pushback from the community.

The $5.1 million project would have removed a dedicated traffic lane for North Vancouver’s Dollarton neighbourhood to focus traffic on two eastbound bridge lanes. The project also includes the installation of a new storm sewer along the south side of Main Street.

North Vancouver resident Peter Teevan organized a petition calling on the ministry to stop the project, claiming it would have a profoundly negative impact on all residents who live and work east of the bridgehead.

“Anybody who is trying to get east of the Seymour river would be caught up in the traffic jam that almost always exists to get on the bridge,” said Teevan.

Teevan adds the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge is one of the busiest and oldest bridges in Metro Vancouver and there is constant backup. He says he started the petition to give those in his community a voice.

“I figured a lot of people might not exactly know what words to put down and what to say or how to go about it, so that’s why I started the petition.”

On Friday, the District of North Vancouver confirmed on social media that the ministry had paused its lane realignment at Main Street and Mountain Highway.

Teevan says the project will be paused until Spring 2025, and while he’s pleased, he does hold on to a sense of impending doom.

“I likened it to someone else, they said ‘how do you feel about this’, I said I feel like it’s a boxing match and we just scored a point in round one,” Teevan said.

Teevan says he hopes this change will show the provincial government the Ironworks Memorial Bridge needs to be upgraded to address ongoing congestion issues.