Back to the Bridge and the "Rotting" Tunnel Vision

 

You would hope that the Vancouver region could work on a cohesive vision of accessibility and affordability that includes actively listening to the Mayors’ Council and Metro Vancouver and their long-term plan. But in Delta with their 100,000 plus population and reliance on all things vehicle and related to the Port, an analysis of the best approach at the Massey Tunnel crossing holds no compromise-they want their bridge.
The Vancouver Sun and Jennifer Saltman report on the meeting held with Delta’ mayor and city manager  with the editorial board of the Vancouver Sun and Province newspapers.  You wonder if that editorial board was able to keep a straight face with the pronouncements that were pretty positional from Delta’s top brass. They maintained that “replacing the George Massey Tunnel should be a priority for the new provincial government because it’s old, congested, dangerous to drivers and first responders — and will not withstand even a moderate earthquake.”

 
“This tunnel’s rotting. Are we just going to let it rot?” Delta Chief Administrative Officer George Harvie said.”  The Delta contingent trotted out the same rationale as previously reported in Price Tags-the tunnel is too old, a bridge can stand a stronger earthquake, a new tunnel will disrupt farmland and be more expensive. Nothing new here-in fact all the other mayors in the region opposed the Massey bridge project because of its impacts on regional livability, the lack of a transparent public process, and changing and insufficient background information access. But never mind that, the Mayor of Delta believes that the Mayors are not dealing with the proposed bridge because it is a Provincial initiative.
Meanwhile back in Delta the lack of consultation with local residents over the Massey crossing has been further flamed by Delta City Hall’s full-page ad in the Vancouver Sun advocating their position of “Bridge Good” and “Tunnel Bad”. As Nicholas Wong (who ran as an independent MLA in Delta) notes  “Christy Clark announced the bridge in 2013, years before any inquiry was done to evaluate alternative options. Also remember, the real cost of the bridge was purposely withheld by the Liberals and redacted in the project’s public documents. Where is the due process? Despite this, Delta still thinks all necessary information is publicly available. Our rookie MLA (Ian Paton, who is strangely serving a dual role  as an MLA AND a member of Delta Council) even went so far as to say this practice of redacting documents and withholding information, like the bridge proposal has, is “just how you do business.”
“Delta can pay tens of thousands of our tax dollars to call out others for spreading rumours and misinformation, but turns around and uses statements from a report more than 28 years old as evidence for its position. There were supposed to be two phases of seismic upgrades to address those exact concerns.”
“This is by no means the extent to the unjustifiable information being put forth by those in favour of a bridge. They can continue to call this misinformation all they want, but all I did was take the time to read their own documents.
After years of research and extensively reading the documents presented on the bridge proposal, I understand how drastically any replacement option will impact our community. If anyone has any information that I do not have or questions about where or how I derive my facts, please get in touch.”