The old main highway on Vancouver Island was riddled with lights and the route it took was through the middle of each town. In the mid/late 90s when they built an inland highway people were excited, hoping that this would be the end of slow travel. The chance for a rapid, direct route between towns was to cut down on accidents and travel time.

But they put traffic lights.... at almost... every..... town.

And only covered about 150 kms of the island to boot.

Because it's a cluster fuck.
Think of the rigs, tourists, and dummies on the sea to sky. Now think of the same drivers on a two lane highway.

Problem is, i have yet to see an Alberta plate moving over to the right lane...
:okay:

Is it really that bad? I was able to hold a pretty stupid high speed from here to Shuswap and I assume the highway is fairly similar? (Haven't driven past the Okanagan for years).

definitely needs to be changed in the future, its a pain in the ass driving to Ladner daily

Commuting from Pitt Meadows to Langley used to take my wife over an hour each way via the Port Mann, and burn 1/4 tank of gas per day to go a mere 35km each way. Taking the Golden Ears, it's 20 minutes and a little over a 1/4 tank per week for 16km each way.

If you figure a 50l tank and $1.30/l, that's $16.25 per day, or over $80/week in gas alone going the long way around... vs. the GEB at under $20/week for gas and $28.50 in tolls... nevermind getting home at 5pm rather than closer to 6, and being able to sleep in an extra hour in the morning.

For me, at $27/hr., if the toll bridge saves me 7 minutes on travel time, it's saved the company money.

If they built it with tax money, they wouldn't need tolls. :fulloffuck: :fulloffuck:

The tolls aren't collected the same as taxes though. Depending on the bridge, they're collected by the company operating it and put towards maintenance, and paying off the construction on a set schedule. They don't get "laundered" through gov't coffers first.

she didnt take the ferry to langley? :crazy2:

Not viable when going TO work - when the wait can be anywhere from half an hour to two hours, there's no way to accurately schedule your trip.

Man, good thing I never have to go to Surrey.

It will be funny if Gregor Robertson starts tolling every single car that enters downtown Vancouver just to build more bike lanes =D

I'm happy to hear about this. The tunnel badly needs to be replaced, especially with the South Fraser Perimeter project being built. Sure, outside of rush hour it's not that bad, but during rush hour you can sit in traffic for an hour before even hitting the tunnel.

Have you ever driven that route? It's absolutely terrible and highly congested at the best of times.

because even tho most of you never even go as far east as chiliwack, everything that comes to BC from other parts of canada come over the BC/Alberta border. the amount of heavy truck traffic on that highway is absolutely unreal, and its terribly dangerous in the winter (like september-may).

True story. This is the Trans Fucking Canada Highway we're talking about, this is THE main east-west route in the country. Out of four major crossings of the BC/AB border, this one gets probably 75% of the traffic. News flash to RS: there's a big world out there beyond your own bumper, and they all need to get around too.

The upper levels hwy in north van had two lights on it untill the late 80's. That is part of the trans canada hwy and it took decades to get rid of em so the one on hwy 91 might be there a while lol

Let's not forget the clusterfuck that was the intersection of Hwy. 1 and Hastings St., before Cassiar Connector was built in 1992.

I cant stand how Poco put in like 5 lights over the last several years on the lougheed hwy

especially that new one by the timmies :devil:

Keep in mind that a highway is not the same as a freeway. A freeway is like the express lanes on the I5, whereas a highway is basically any route between different points. A highway also includes cross streets, hence the need for lights.

They can't patch a road without accidentally adding a speed bump on either end, why should I trust them to replace a tunnel now?

Why? A large majority of us have no reason to go north of the fraser. I know I don't unless it's for personal reasons/visiting family. But my day to day live is south of the river and I cross over maybe 1 or 2 times a month.

A large majority don't have a reason to go North of the Fraser, but a large amount also do have a reason to go North of the Fraser on a daily basis. The amount of people that work in Vancouver, Burnaby, etc. and live in Surrey and Langley is astounding, mainly due to the fact that people can't really live near their place of work due to finances, lifestyle choice, etc.

Metro Vancouver needs better options for both private vehicle transit as well as improved public transit across the Fraser. Have to replace the tunnel, have to replace the Pattullo, have to get something more than that shitty Skytrain line as the only public transit link between the south and the north.

I know this, afterall my dad has commuted from Surrey to North Van for over 25 years. And he has said he is fine with a toll IF it takes time off the commute.