Five Burrard Inlet rapid transit crossing options announced

NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Rapid transit to the North Shore is one step closer to being delivered after the completion of a technical feasibility study, with five potential crossing options.

The list for a third Burrard Inlet crossing — finalized by the B.C. Ministry of Transportation — includes links to either downtown Vancouver or Burnaby, via a tunnel or bridge.

“We are now able to move forward on some more technical planning around that. That’s the really exciting part, for me. There’s at least five feasible options,” said Linda Buchanan, mayor of the City of North Vancouver.

She’s not saying which option she prefers, though.

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“At the end of the day, I just want to make sure that we can do the next phase of the work, and we really are looking at getting a line that starts us to be able to move people and goods and greener and sustainable ways, keeps our cities vibrant and makes us more prosperous.”

The MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale, Bowinn Ma,  also says she’s happy, but it could take years for construction to start, and whatever choice is made will cost billions of dollars.

“Projects like this require consistent, collaborative effort from all levels of government. This is the first-ever technical feasibility study to actually investigate a rapid transit solution for the North Shore.”

The Burrard Inlet Rapid Transit study is to help with Transport 2050 planning.

The study was led by Mott MacDonald Canada and listed as crossing options:

• Downtown Vancouver to Lonsdale via First Narrows (tunnel crossing);
• Downtown Vancouver to Lonsdale via Brockton Point (tunnel crossing);
• Downtown Vancouver to West Vancouver via Lonsdale (tunnel crossing);
• Downtown Vancouver to Lonsdale via Second Narrows (new bridge crossing);
• Burnaby to Lonsdale via Second Narrows (new bridge crossing).

“Our government is committed to creating greener and more liveable cities and boosting access to transit as much as possible,” Claire Trevena, minister of Transportation and Infrastructure, says in a release.

NEWS – Technical feasibility study for a high-capacity rapid transit crossing from #Vancouver across the Burrard Inlet to the North Shore is complete, with five potential crossing options: https://t.co/OcNcP6minG#CleanBC #NorthVan #WestVan @Translink pic.twitter.com/etQHJk6hd3

— BC Transportation (@TranBC) September 15, 2020

“This study shows possibilities that can be considered in future planning. It’s exciting to look towards a future high-speed connection that will make moving around on the North Shore and Greater Vancouver easier and greener.”

Connecting Lonsdale City Centre with Vancouver’s metropolitan core and the regional rapid transit network, while considering compatibility with existing and future land use, is one of the recommendations put forward by the Integrated North Shore Transportation Planning Project.

Both Ma and Buchanan add they still want seabuses to keep running between Lonsdale Quay and downtown Vancouver.

No timeline or start date has been set for the crossing project, nor have costs.