Traffic snarls caused by Lions Gate bump show need for transit improvements

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) We were supposed to have a much smoother commute over the Lions Gate Bridge today, but the bump traffic problems persist. The Ministry of Transportation assures work happening tonight should solve the problem.

Crews were busy last night attaching extra plates to even out the slope grade and adding rubber to stop it from making that metal grinding sound. Even with the changes, drivers are still slowing down to clear the bump and causing traffic to back up.

Executive Director of Highway Operations Norm Parkes is a little perplexed about why drivers are so apprehensive. “The slope up to it is about 5.5 per cent. I think people were hesitating when they’re approaching it. It’s a conundrum. I don’t know why this one, this particular one, people are slowing down on it.

He says they’ll be trying again to smooth things out tonight. “Tonight we’re going to… extend the approaches so that the transition from deck to the 1.5 inches, which is about the thickness of a 2×4 will extend over twice the distance.”

Crews will be trying to speed up the joint replacement work on the bridge and get it done faster than the planned four weeks. The City of North Vancouver’s mayor says the traffic snarls caused by this bump show just how much transit improvements are needed in the region.

Building another bridge isn’t the answer according to Mayor Darrell Mussatto, who says that will only flood the North Shore with even more traffic it can’t handle.

“A third crossing has been discussed for 50 years,” says Mussatto. “In reality, if you build a third crossing, it will bring even more density and congestion and people to the North Shore, and I don’t think that’s what the people of the North Shore want.”

So he wants the province to step forward with cash to fund transit improvements.

“We have to invest in public transit to allow those who can take public transit to do so,” says Mussatto. “It will help alleviate, significantly, the congestion, and if we do that, we’ll be better off.”

Among the upgrades Mussatto is calling for, he wants more SeaBus service, with trips leaving every 10 minutes, rather than the way it is now, with one arriving every 15 minutes.

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