Surrey business group renews calls for 6-lane Pattullo Bridge

Artistic rendering of the new Pattullo Bridge. (Fraser Crossing Partners)

The desire for additional road capacity for the new replacement Pattullo Bridge is once again being raised by the Surrey Board of Trade (SBOT).

Anita Huberman, the president and CEO of the SBOT, says she has formally made a new request to the provincial government to create a policy framework to outline the criteria for considering the future widening of the replacement bridge.

The $1.4-billion replacement bridge is currently under construction as a four-lane bridge, with two lanes for each direction. Major construction activities began in Spring 2021 and it is set for completion and opening in 2024.

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SBOT takes issue with the new replacement’s capacity being a one-for-one replacement of the existing 1937-built, four-lane bridge.

Early in the process of the replacement bridge’s planning under TransLink, there was consideration to build a six-lane bridge, but this was rejected by the City of New Westminster over the concerns of additional arterial vehicle traffic streaming through its streets.

The provincial government has since taken over jurisdiction of the bridge replacement project and is building it as a four-lane bridge expandable in the future to six lanes — three lanes in each direction. This would be accomplished by narrowing the width of the four lanes and replacing the cycling and pedestrian pathways on both sides of the bridge deck with a third lane in each direction. Under this six-lane configuration, the cycling and pedestrian pathways would be relocated to a cantilevered widening of the bridge deck.

Artistic rendering of the final 2020 design for the new Pattullo Bridge. (Government of BC)

Artistic rendering of the new Pattullo Bridge. (TransLink)

“We need to know at what point in time or what event will trigger the widening of the bridge to six lanes. The environmental impact of congestion could be reduced with the opening of six lanes. 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,” said Huberman.

When the existing Pattullo Bridge was built nearly nine decades ago, Metro Vancouver had a population of just under 400,000 residents, including only about 15,000 within Surrey.

The entire region is expected to see an additional 1.3 million by 2050, growing to three million residents. Over the same period, Surrey’s population is forecast to increase from about 580,000 today to nearly 900,000.

“Will it be when the Lower Mainland’s population increases to a certain figure, or when other key transportation routes such as the Alex Fraser Bridge or Port Mann Bridge are backed up with significant congestion? Our organization, our business members, and Surrey residents know that we need the six lanes now,” she continued.

However, critics of car transport previously argued any additional road capacity would only serve to increase private car use in the region. On average, the existing bridge currently sees an average of about 75,000 vehicles per day.

The future four-lane bridge will have wider lane widths and a concrete barrier between both directions as a safety measure. It will also largely use the existing bridge’s road network in Surrey and incorporate major upgrades on the New Westminster side.

The new bridge will provide a new direct, off-ramp connection between the southbound direction of the bridge and the westbound direction of Highway 17 (South Fraser Perimeter Road).

The existing bridge is in need of replacement not only for its poor bridge deck design for vehicles, but also severe structural issues that make the bridge prone to a catastrophic collapse during a major wind storm, a moderate earthquake, or a ship strike of its unprotected piers in the Fraser River.

With nearly all of the new bridge piles now complete, the new replacement structure is expected to visibly rise later this year, including the mid-river pile that will support the bridge’s single suspension tower — reaching a height of 558 ft.

pattullo bridge construction spring 2022

Spring 2022 construction progress on the new Pattullo Bridge. (Government of BC)

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