New West to talk Pattullo
New Westminster has come up with ways to incorporate public discussion of the Pattullo Bridge into its Master Transportation Plan (MTP) process.
TransLink recently began its public consultation on its plans to build a new bridge to replace the aging 75-year-old structure. In early February, city council decided not to be part of that discussion.
Instead, the city has decided to put the discussion in its upcoming third phase of developing the MTP and to include talk about some subjects TransLink did not engage in during its workshops in New Westminster and Surrey last month.
TransLink has narrowed its discussion to simply replacing the four-lane bridge with a six-lane structure near where the current one is. New West intends to also talk about other possible Pattullo alignments, the improvements to local roads that would be required, tolling, and the impact of other regional infrastructure projects.
"It's important right now, because of what TL is doing with their planning, that we put this one up the queue and have some good consultation with the public. We need to address some of the shortcomings of the plan and make things right," said Coun. Chuck Puckmayr. "We have some concern about alignments, and the limited options put on the table. We think there were a lot of options that weren't looked at ... This bridge brings a freeway through New Westminster without any mitigation."
New West's open house and workshops are tentatively planned for the last week of March or first week of April. A telephone survey is tentatively planned to occur in late April or early May.
COMMENTS
Let's keep comments:
We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters.
We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.