[wahyinghung]

Commuters will get a new 10-lane “super bridge” to replace the Port Mann Bridge, but the estimated cost is almost $1 billion more than it was eight months ago for a smaller four-lane span.

“This will clear a bottleneck that’s been plugged for years,” Premier Gordon Campbell said Wednesday.

“It will reduce travel times by one-third. We can’t finish it soon enough.” Added Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon: “This is the right bridge at the right time for B.C.”

The new structure will have provisions for rapid bus and light-rapid transit systems in the future.

It will replace the old five-lane Port Mann bridge, which will be torn down after construction on the new crossing is finished in 2013.

Falcon said the capital cost of building a new span has escalated from about $1.5 billion last June to about $2.46 billion today.

He said the increase was due to several factors, including inflationary pressures since 2006, when the original estimate was made.

He also said commuters will be getting a 10-lane bridge instead of a new four-lane bridge.

Until Wednesday, the government had planned to twin the existing Port Mann with another four-lane bridge and retain the existing bridge.

The total cost of the new span, including borrowing, is now estimated at $3.3 billion.

However, a contract with a group of private partners who will build and operate the bridge has not been signed.

The province will borrow $1.15 billion and become a one-third partner in the project.

Falcon said contractors believed it made more sense to replace the 45-year-old Port Mann Bridge because maintenance costs keep going up and up.

But Nemy Banthia, a professor of engineering at UBC, said he was “astonished” by the decision to replace the Port Mann.

“The design life for Canadian bridges is 75 years. After 45 years, it should still have 30 years left if it is properly maintained,” he said.

NDP MLA Bruce Ralston said the almost $1-billion cost increase speaks to “poor management.”

“The tolls are projected to be $3 on opening day, but I don’t believe they will stay that way. There will be escalating clauses, which we haven’t seen,” he said.

Ralston said one of the private partners, the Macquarie Group, appears to be in financial difficulty in Australia.

“What will the risk be to taxpayers if there is a default?” he asked. “This is high-stakes poker.”

Campbell said the government will keep control of the price of the tolls, which will be removed when the costs are paid off.

Eric Doherty of the Livable Region Coalition said “harmful freeway projects” keep people in their cars and cost money which could be better spent on mass transit.

Falcon said the Port Mann is a traffic bottleneck 14 hours a day. He said traffic slowdowns cost the B.C. economy $1.5 billion a year. “Completely replacing the bridge is definitely superior to adding a twin,” said Michael McBratney of Get Moving B.C., a travel-monitoring group with ties to the Liberals.

“It will eliminate the worst traffic bottleneck in the Lower Mainland.”

Construction of the new bridge will create an estimated 8,000 jobs, with some workers to be hired immediately.

The project includes two new highway lanes west of the bridge (one in each direction) and four new lanes east of the bridge (two in each direction).
© Copyright (c) The Province
http://www.theprovince.com/news/story.html?id=1253518

[Nanaki]

"Campbell said the government will keep control of the price of the tolls, which will be removed when the costs are paid off."



big deep breath .........







BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA yeah i'll believe it when i see it

[alex.w *//]

hmm i think im goin to travel this way

exit to 104 ave, pattulo, columbia, brunnette, then back to highway 1

doing it that way will be longer but it also saves me $6 round trip. $6 of gas can get me around 50-100km

[ncrx]

wait till gas prices rise again, more fuel taxes, rebuilding of patullo, there is no escape. i hope they toll every exit. :D

[murd0c]

they took to tolls off the coke they will take them off the bridge in 40 years im sure

[Gridlock]

I hold them to that. They removed the tolls for the coquihalla. I think replacing the bridge is a bit extreme, and I disagree that its a bottleneck 14 hours a day.

[carisear]

KEVIN FALCON FOR PM!!!

i love this guy -- he's no nonsense, common sense.

[Volvo-brickster]

ok i dont get it...a 10 lane bridge

does that mean all of hwy 1 from vancouver will then be 3 lanes + HOV, and hwy 1 from port man to abbotsford and beyond will be 3 lane + HOV ?

[hotjoint]

hmm i think im goin to travel this way

exit to 104 ave, pattulo, columbia, brunnette, then back to highway 1

doing it that way will be longer but it also saves me $6 round trip. $6 of gas can get me around 50-100km

:werd: I ain't paying to use no bridge that i've been using free for years. If they made another bridge and it was tolled from the start then I would pay if I ever had to use that bridge.

[Jassanova]

I wonder how many people are going to pay the extra what.. $120 a month to use the bridge? Anybody here going to do that?

[dton13]

"Campbell said the government will keep control of the price of the tolls, which will be removed when the costs are paid off."



big deep breath .........







BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA yeah i'll believe it when i see it

Ever heard of the coquihala? (sp)

[shenmecar]

lets hire the crazy guy who tried to burn the pattulo bridge to burn this one too when its built

[Aetios]

hmm..I thought the focus was to replace the Patullo since it is older, narrower and more dangerous.

[BlackV62K2]

A new bridge is useless unless you add more lanes to the highway. Otherwise we're just shifting the bottleneck point. So this 10 lane bridge merges back to our current 3 lane highway? Doesn't make a lot of sense.

[smoothie.]

lets hire the crazy guy who tried to burn the pattulo bridge to burn this one too when its built

if its supported by wood, im definitely not paying lol

[orange7]

$3!!!! that's a lot considering if you must cross that bridge twice everyday for 365 days a year for the next 10 years or more?

GG.......

Hm.. is it possible to bargain with the guy sitting inside the toll??

toll guy: "That will be $3 please"

driver: "Oh sorry, I only brought $1.50 with me. Can I just give you $1.50 and get by? There's a line up behind me."

toll guy: "Do you have credit/visa/master cards?"

driver: "Nope"

toll guy: "$2.50 then"

driver: "$2 + the piece of gum i'm chewing?"

toll guy: "Look $2.50 is the lowest I can, or you will just have to go back."

driver: "$2.25 + a top secret porn site address?"

toll guy: "look, $2.50! if you save 50cents here and 50cents on the way back for 3 consecutive days, you will have $3 so that mean you can get 1 free crossing."

[Koflach]

does anyone remember the speaches that Kevin Falcon was giving about toll bridges when the topic first really started to gain media attention? he was saying something like there would never be a toll bridge only option for people and that it would only be used on bridges where there was an alternate travel route that was easy to use. I am paraphrasing A LOT here but that is the jist of it iirc. It seems to me that he is back tracking on what he said here as the Patullo is not much of an option for people and what he is doing here will simply cause even more traffic back ups in surrey/new west going over an already over used and dangerous bridge. bad move liberals, I may vote NDP because of this.

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

10 lanes bridge may sound nice but if the hwy is still stuck with 2 bullshit lanes and a useless HOV lane this plan is a major fail.

I dont even understand why the fuck we use HOV for. HOV is useful when we get enough lanes for the traffic to move, but we dont!!! so wtf

same with Barnet hwy from port moody to Burnaby north. 6am to 8:30am HOV occupies?? which means there is only one lane to travel? wat kind of bullshit is this? u cant even pass someone if there is a slow mofo sitting in front of u driving below speed limite. fuck even the normal roads gets two lanes, what kind of hwy only runs with one lane? fuck

:rolleyes:

[91civicZC]

So you create a bigger bridge to help traffic, then slow traffic down to stop so they can pay the toll for it? Im not sure I get the point here......

Being that the only other way around this is pretty far away, I can see people (including myself) getting REALLY upset about the "toll" bridge.

[bossxx]

"Campbell said the government will keep control of the price of the tolls, which will be removed when the costs are paid off."



big deep breath .........







BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA yeah i'll believe it when i see it


lol I just got a Coquihalla hwy flashback.

[bossxx]

It said that they are going to add 2 lanes on each side of the east side of the bridge and 1 addition lane on each side of the west side of the bridge.

So that is good.

[Mr.HappySilp]

I like the idea. I haven't cross to surrey for years so why should my tax dollar go towards a bridge I will never ever use?

Let the ppl who use it pay for it.

[quasi]

I like the idea. I haven't cross to surrey for years so why should my tax dollar go towards a bridge I will never ever use?

Let the ppl who use it pay for it.

I got into this debate in another thread on here but everyone East of the fraser could use the same argument for every provincial dollar spent West of the river. Rav line, 80 million in seismic upgrades to Lions Gate, Second Narrows and Burrard bridges. How do those things benefit me in Langley?

I use the Port Mann bridge and if it's tolled it's not going to cost me anything because my work will pay when cross but that's not really the issue. I don't even really have that big of an issue with the toll.

The whole argument of why should MY tax dollars from people East of the fraser who think their holier then thou really irks me. People that live on this side of the river are tax payers to and our taxes are always helping fund projects that we won't benefit from but you don't see us crying about it.

[silk]

always got this question in mind, anyone knows why they redraw the lines on hwy 1 starting around SFU area going west and canada way going east ???
i thought they were expanding to 4 lanes, they made the road all crooked

[!SG]

kinda like how the kok tolls paid off the highway years before, but they just kept charging the toll...



"Campbell said the government will keep control of the price of the tolls, which will be removed when the costs are paid off."



big deep breath .........







BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA yeah i'll believe it when i see it

[alex.w *//]

hey at least there will be job openings for toll collectors :D

[RRxtar]

since so many people seem to not be able to remember passed the last news story, ill try to remember for you to clear up some stupidity in this thread. specifically point 1.

1 - its not moving the bottle neck. they are making highway 1 roughly 10 lanes from surry to vancouver

2 - i dont think there will be a toll booth that you stop and pay at. so traffic wont be stopping to pay.

3 - im not 100% sure but i dont think you, specifically, have to pay for your crossing. i think its a program that automatically counts the cars that cross in a day, and then that amount of money is pulled out of the gas tax. as a way to pay the private investors.

4 - for those of you who are saying you dont want to pay for the bridge because you dont cross the bridge, look beyond the end of your own fucking nose for a second.

[Durrann1984]

being a toll collector is gonna be a bitch

everyones gonna be bitching at you everyday

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

10 lanes from surrey to vancouver? of our hwy no.1??? is this confirmed? since when is our goverement this generous??? lol


if its true that would be some good news we havent had for quite awhile lol

:thumbsup:

[tgill]

fyi there are no toll booths its all electronic
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/www.vancouversun.com/gallery+port+mann+bridge+widening+announced/1253899/1253928.bin?size=620x400
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/www.vancouversun.com/gallery+port+mann+bridge+widening+announced/1253899/1253921.bin?size=620x400

[trduhs]

since so many people seem to not be able to remember passed the last news story, ill try to remember for you to clear up some stupidity in this thread. specifically point 1.

1 - its not moving the bottle neck. they are making highway 1 roughly 10 lanes from surry to vancouver

2 - i dont think there will be a toll booth that you stop and pay at. so traffic wont be stopping to pay.

3 - im not 100% sure but i dont think you, specifically, have to pay for your crossing. i think its a program that automatically counts the cars that cross in a day, and then that amount of money is pulled out of the gas tax. as a way to pay the private investors.

4 - for those of you who are saying you dont want to pay for the bridge because you dont cross the bridge, look beyond the end of your own fucking nose for a second.

ermm... uhhh so if number 3 is right... gas is gonna be like 175 ishh? FUCK! ME IN THE ASS :mad:

[Expresso]

I was wondering the same thing.

Most cities that have tolls have a transponder that will keep track then bill or deduct off some pre-paid account. You won't have to worry about coins and such.

[Durrann1984]

If there are tolls or booths or whatever

wouldnt there be lineups because people are lining up to pay anyway?

doesnt that defeat the whole purpose of smooth traffic lol

[!Yaminashi]

A new bridge is useless unless you add more lanes to the highway. Otherwise we're just shifting the bottleneck point. So this 10 lane bridge merges back to our current 3 lane highway? Doesn't make a lot of sense.

My thoughts exactly. Looks like they didnt think this one through very well:haha:
I highly doubt they'll "lift" the fees after the bridge is paid off, of course they're gonna want to
keep the $3 to cross, they'll make money off of it. Just like how they pocket money off of the "carbon" tax or whatever
it was that was supposed to better the environment?

I heard on the beat that prices to cross will eventually rise, not go away
Hooray for government taking your monies!

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

ermm... uhhh so if number 3 is right... gas is gonna be like 175 ishh? FUCK! ME IN THE ASS :mad:

wow that is true, fuck that


how is one being selfish when he doesnt pay for the fucking service

If u dont get a blowjob u dont pay the bitch, same shit


If one does not cross to the land of slurrey than why does the person needs to pay to cross the freaking bridge when he never travels to slurrey in his lifetime? I dont take the skytrain, hence i dont pay monthly gay pass

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

My thoughts exactly. Looks like they didnt think this one through very well:haha:

actually they payed a lot of money getting the ENGINEER they so called to figure this out, guess not!!!

[blkgsr]

since so many people seem to not be able to remember passed the last news story, ill try to remember for you to clear up some stupidity in this thread. specifically point 1.

1 - its not moving the bottle neck. they are making highway 1 roughly 10 lanes from surry to vancouver

2 - i dont think there will be a toll booth that you stop and pay at. so traffic wont be stopping to pay.

3 - im not 100% sure but i dont think you, specifically, have to pay for your crossing. i think its a program that automatically counts the cars that cross in a day, and then that amount of money is pulled out of the gas tax. as a way to pay the private investors.

4 - for those of you who are saying you dont want to pay for the bridge because you dont cross the bridge, look beyond the end of your own fucking nose for a second.


1) true, but it's only 4 each way
2) it will be electronic
3) you will be charged individually...why would the government use money it's already collecting when it can just use a toll systems
4) no shit...how do you think your grocery stores and everything else get's stocked up? commercial trucks use the bridge too

[RRxtar]

ermm... uhhh so if number 3 is right... gas is gonna be like 175 ishh? FUCK! ME IN THE ASS :mad:
the gas tax is already in place at 3.5 cents/liter

10 lanes from surrey to vancouver? of our hwy no.1??? is this confirmed? since when is our goverement this generous??? lol


if its true that would be some good news we havent had for quite awhile lol

:thumbsup:
they are adding 2 lanes from the port mann into vancouver and adding 4 lanes from the port mann into surrey.

[quasi]

wow that is true, fuck that


how is one being selfish when he doesnt pay for the fucking service

If u dont get a blowjob u dont pay the bitch, same shit


If one does not cross to the land of slurrey than why does the person needs to pay to cross the freaking bridge when he never travels to slurrey in his lifetime? I dont take the skytrain, hence i dont pay monthly gay pass

You don't pay a user fee but your tax dollars (assuming you work and pay taxes to the Provincial Government) went to pay for the infrastructure that is the skytrain and the RAV line when it's finished. Also I'm fairly certain that most if not all the bridges in Vancouver were paid for at least in part by the Provincial Government which means people who live in the okanagan, in the North and everywhere else in the province also helped pay for them, what benefits do they receive from those things specifically?

The mine is mine and yours is mine attitude of tax dollars is mind blowing, no really it is.

Edit: To add to that Kelowna also received a new bridge paid for by the Provincial Government so everyone in the Province helped pay for that including you and me. What kind of Province would we have if everything was paid for out of pocket by just the citizens that lived there? It would be messed up.

[LongDongSilver]

It's called differential revenue and differential cost guys, you move out to bum fuck no where and decide to get a cheaper house but you get a job or whatever in the city it's the price to pay.

Frankly, I don't want my tax dollars to pay for shit I'll never use.

[MarkyMark]

Just because you don't use the bridges doesn't mean they don't affect you at all...Ever notice how stuff magically appears in Burnaby or Vancouver? Most of it got there from trucks bringing it to you...you need them just as much as we do.

[quasi]

It's called differential revenue and differential cost guys, you move out to bum fuck no where and decide to get a cheaper house but you get a job or whatever in the city it's the price to pay.

Frankly, I don't want my tax dollars to pay for shit I'll never use.

LOL, but you think it's fair that people West of the fraser help pay for your infrastructure? Have some cake and well your at it eat it to.

Edit: I love bum fuck nowhere. Give me the same house, same land in Vancouver for even 20% less and I'd still live here. :)

[LongDongSilver]

LOL, but you think it's fair that people West of the fraser help pay for your infrastructure? Have some cake and well your at it eat it to.

Edit: I love bum fuck nowhere. Give me the same house, same land in Vancouver for even 20% less and I'd still live here. :)

What infrastructure asshole?

We haven't seen a new bridge in 50 years.

Thanks!

It's not like we're talking about subsidizing your road repairs, we're spending 3 billion dollars to build you a fucking bridge, subsidize your fucking transit into the fucking city, upgrade your highways and tunnels so you can commute here.

Meanwhile, we don't have skytrains, we don't have new bridges, we don't have a damned thing.

Okay, you want to live out there? Pay the price to be there.

[Mugen EvOlutioN]

It's called differential revenue and differential cost guys, you move out to bum fuck no where and decide to get a cheaper house but you get a job or whatever in the city it's the price to pay.

Frankly, I don't want my tax dollars to pay for shit I'll never use.

fuck ya, especially when they are taxing me 25-30%

[LongDongSilver]

fuck ya, especially when they are taxing me 25-30%

They get taxed the same way so I don't see how it's relevant.

It's like living on the Sunshine Coast and having fixed commitments in the city every week, when you move out there you accept the fact you have to pay to take the ferry into town.

[carisear]

welcome to socialist canada. you may as well move now longdong, because 90% of your taxes are being paid for shit you'll never use.

btw, just because it's toll doesn't mean you won't be paying anything if you don't use it -- i'm a trucker who drives across it everyday. while i may not increase my delivery charge to customers right away, other companies will. those companies will pass along those costs to you.

as for the tolls not going away after 35 years (or whatever it takes to pay it off) -- as a PPP i believe the gov't will hold the company accountable.

[quasi]

What infrastructure asshole?

We haven't seen a new bridge in 50 years.

Thanks!

It's not like we're talking about subsidizing your road repairs, we're spending 3 billion dollars to build you a fucking bridge, subsidize your fucking transit into the fucking city, upgrade your highways and tunnels so you can commute here.

Meanwhile, we don't have skytrains, we don't have new bridges, we don't have a damned thing.

Okay, you want to live out there? Pay the price to be there.

Asshole? You don't have skytrains? I was assuming you're talking about Vancouver/Burnaby and alike? Unless they've done a lot of super ninja demo in the past few days Vancouver has skytrain and it was paid for at least in part by the citizens (that includes us here west of the fraser) of British Columbia yet most of us don't use it. Read my other example, 80 million Provincial tax dollars are being spent on seismic upgrades to Vancouver bridges.

Like I said I don't have a problem paying to live on this side. What I have an issue with is people like you suggesting that your tax dollars shouldn't pay for any infrastructure that doesn't specifically benefit you but feel that others should pay for things that don't benefit them.

Take it for what is, be a hypocrite or don't be I don't really care. Retort back with some more insults it's all good. :jerkit:

[LongDongSilver]

welcome to socialist canada. you may as well move now longdong, because 90% of your taxes are being paid for shit you'll never use.

btw, just because it's toll doesn't mean you won't be paying anything if you don't use it -- i'm a trucker who drives across it everyday. while i may not increase my delivery charge to customers right away, other companies will. those companies will pass along those costs to you.

as for the tolls not going away after 35 years (or whatever it takes to pay it off) -- as a PPP i believe the gov't will hold the company accountable.

Oh I understand that but atleast it is partly cost covered by the primary users.

[LongDongSilver]

Asshole? You don't have skytrains? I was assuming you're talking about Vancouver/Burnaby and alike? Unless they've done a lot of super ninja demo in the past few days Vancouver has skytrain and it was paid for at least in part by the citizens (that includes us here west of the fraser) of British Columbia yet most of us don't use it. Read my other example, 80 million Provincial tax dollars are being spent on seismic upgrades to Vancouver bridges.

Like I said I don't have a problem paying to live on this side. What I have an issue with is people like you suggesting that your tax dollars shouldn't pay for any infrastructure that doesn't specifically benefit you but feel that others should pay for things that don't benefit them.

Take it for what is, be a hypocrite or don't be I don't really care. Retort back with some more insults it's all good. :jerkit:



I don't live in Vancouver you cunt for brains, and when I did I did not live within a 25 minute drive of a sky train station.

Wow 80 million dollars on Seismic upgrades for Vancouver bridges.

Dare we bring up the 3 - fucking - billion dollars we have to pay because some jackasses decided to move over a river?

I do not have an issue with my tax money building you a bridge, I do have an issue with the fact that my part of town has not seen a major infrastructure upgrade in nearly 60 years. The last major upgrade we got, we WIDENED the bridge because the government was unwilling to pay the extra cost of adding another lane.. because other infrastructure projects were usurping the funds (I wonder where those upgrades were).

I have an issue with the fact that the people that are actually going to use it aren't going to be paying more. But now that we have a toll for you guys it isn't really a problem.

Really, this isn't 'for us' it's for 'you' and I do believe that we should help you out, but I think it's ridiculous that people that will actually use it shouldn't participate more in paying it off.

[quasi]

I don't live in Vancouver you cunt for brains, and when I did I did not live within a 25 minute drive of a sky train station.

Wow 80 million dollars on Seismic upgrades for Vancouver bridges.

Dare we bring up the 3 - fucking - billion dollars we have to pay because some jackasses decided to move over a river?

I do not have an issue with my tax money building you a bridge, I do have an issue with the fact that my part of town has not seen a major infrastructure upgrade in nearly 60 years. The last major upgrade we got, we WIDENED the bridge because the government was unwilling to pay the extra cost of adding another lane.. because other infrastructure projects were usurping the funds (I wonder where those upgrades were).

I have an issue with the fact that the people that are actually going to use it aren't going to be paying more. But now that we have a toll for you guys it isn't really a problem.

Really, this isn't 'for us' it's for 'you' and I do believe that we should help you out, but I think it's ridiculous that people that will actually use it shouldn't participate more in paying it off.

I've already covered everything in this post no point in saying it again.

As far as me assuming you live in Vancouver, my bad I guess? Keep the insults coming big boy your E-Cock must be huge now?

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f336/quasione/fag-1.jpg

[MG1]

This reminds me of the Coors beer commercial.

"When is the beer going to turn blue?"
"We're waiting for the mountains to turn blue."

[CivicBlues]

heh @ 10 lanes = "superbridge"
plenty of interstate and 401 bridges that have 10+ lanes. Can't wait to see how Vancouver commuters handle all the OmFg XtRA LaNESS!!!!

[RRxtar]

heh @ 10 lanes = "superbridge"
plenty of interstate and 401 bridges that have 10+ lanes. Can't wait to see how Vancouver commuters handle all the OmFg XtRA LaNESS!!!!
the golden gate bridge in sanfran is only 6 lanes. on, and it also costs $6US to cross

[CivicBlues]

the golden gate bridge in sanfran is only 6 lanes. on, and it also costs $6US to cross

$6 only going IN to San Francisco, free going out. Is the new Port Mann going to be $3 each way?

The Bay Bridge is 10 lanes (double decker) and was originally built in the 1930s. Toll is $4 inbound to SF.

Driscoll Bridge in NJ (15 Lanes, but actually 2 bridges)
http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/2008/07/large_drisc.jpg

[eddoe]

People who say that the bottleneck point has shifted should really take a transportation and logistics class or read up on the definition of a bottleneck.

By making it 10 lanes they are improving the flow of traffic, there will not be a "shift" as the bottleneck limit will have increased greatly.

[DragonChi]

wow, you vancouver guys are bitching about a bridge when it's vancouver that decides to spending way more than that on the olympics... THERE is your major infrastructure upgrade...

[Armind]

I wouldn't mind the fuckin toll if they remove the tax on gas :D

[nipples]

I do not have an issue with my tax money building you a bridge, I do have an issue with the fact that my part of town has not seen a major infrastructure upgrade in nearly 60 years. The last major upgrade we got, we WIDENED the bridge because the government was unwilling to pay the extra cost of adding another lane.. because other infrastructure projects were usurping the funds (I wonder where those upgrades were).

I have an issue with the fact that the people that are actually going to use it aren't going to be paying more. But now that we have a toll for you guys it isn't really a problem.

Really, this isn't 'for us' it's for 'you' and I do believe that we should help you out, but I think it's ridiculous that people that will actually use it shouldn't participate more in paying it off.

yet if a child breaks his leg playing in a field, he pays no more health care costs than a kid who broke 2 legs. And come to think of it, i havent broken any of my legs, and have not been sick in the past couple of years. Oh wait, I dont even live in canada!!! yet I still pay the health care costs!!

Why is this ok?
Because it's CANADA!! when you were a kid, your costs were being subsidized by people in their 20s and 30s etc. same as the seniors. Why should it be any different for infrastructure?
--------

on a side note, they're going to incorporate the toll into gas prices??
Wouldnt it be easier to just get one of those transponder things that hold a balance that gets automatically deducted as you cross? That's the same system they have for the 401 isnt it?

[RRxtar]

$6 only going IN to San Francisco, free going out. Is the new Port Mann going to be $3 each way?

The Bay Bridge is 10 lanes (double decker) and was originally built in the 1930s. Toll is $4 inbound to SF.

Driscoll Bridge in NJ (15 Lanes, but actually 2 bridges)
http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/2008/07/large_drisc.jpg
haha thats the widest bridge in the world!

[johny]

Can't wait to see how Vancouver commuters handle all the OmFg XtRA LaNESS!!!!


there is going to be 5 cars side by side doing 60

[iwantaskyline]

I don't live in Vancouver you cunt for brains, and when I did I did not live within a 25 minute drive of a sky train station.

Wow 80 million dollars on Seismic upgrades for Vancouver bridges.

Dare we bring up the 3 - fucking - billion dollars we have to pay because some jackasses decided to move over a river?

I do not have an issue with my tax money building you a bridge, I do have an issue with the fact that my part of town has not seen a major infrastructure upgrade in nearly 60 years. The last major upgrade we got, we WIDENED the bridge because the government was unwilling to pay the extra cost of adding another lane.. because other infrastructure projects were usurping the funds (I wonder where those upgrades were).

I have an issue with the fact that the people that are actually going to use it aren't going to be paying more. But now that we have a toll for you guys it isn't really a problem.

Really, this isn't 'for us' it's for 'you' and I do believe that we should help you out, but I think it's ridiculous that people that will actually use it shouldn't participate more in paying it off.

The people who are using the bridge are paying a toll. Does that not qualify as "participating" more? Pretty funny how you call someone a cunt for assuming you live in Vancouver when your profile clearly indicates "Vancouver". Take a look at it this way. The Olympics in 2010 are going to be the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, not the British Columbia 2010 Olympics yet every citizen that doesn't reside in Vancouver will paying the same amount of tax dollars towards that event.

[snowball]

Only on revscene will you find people saying "I don't want to pay for a bridge that I never use" and "I don't want to pay for a bridge that I do use" in the same thread

[JHuJHu]

This is gonna be like HK.

[orange7]

$6 only going IN to San Francisco, free going out. Is the new Port Mann going to be $3 each way?

The Bay Bridge is 10 lanes (double decker) and was originally built in the 1930s. Toll is $4 inbound to SF.

Driscoll Bridge in NJ (15 Lanes, but actually 2 bridges)
http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/2008/07/large_drisc.jpg

haha thats the widest bridge in the world!

are you talking about only the bridge on the far left or all the bridges combined?

if you are talking about just the bridge on the left then wow.. i didn't know the world's widest bridge is in SF.

and if you're talking about all the bridges combined.. I'll have to slap you silly untill you realize three bridges side by side don't make the widest bridge in the world.

[CivicBlues]

are you talking about only the bridge on the far left or all the bridges combined?

if you are talking about just the bridge on the left then wow.. i didn't know the world's widest bridge is in SF.

and if you're talking about all the bridges combined.. I'll have to slap you silly untill you realize three bridges side by side don't make the widest bridge in the world.

The leftmost bridge in the picture above is 15 lanes wide, without the ones next to it. And it's in New Jersey.

This is the Bay Bridge:
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/groc0029/architecture/bay%20bridge%20san%20fran.jpg
5 lanes up + 5 lanes under = 10 freaking lanes!

[CanadaGoose]

^ look at that guy harsh cut off the schoolbus, what a dick :rofl:

[CanadaGoose]

Points have been given out...apparently some people think they can disrespect other members, and run their mouths on the forum http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/6259/thstfuthumbnu7.gif

Discussing is good, arguing is good too, but personal attacks/flaming/being a dickhead will not be tolerated

-RS Moderators

[jigga250]

The leftmost bridge in the picture above is 15 lanes wide, without the ones next to it. And it's in New Jersey.


I count 12 lanes
http://tollroadsnews.info/artman/uploads/0918_BriscolBrApprchCrpd.gif

The $240 million project on the Garden State Parkway started a year ago and is scheduled to be completed in July 2009. It will add three lanes to the bridge, bringing it up to 15 lanes with eight lanes traveling northbound and seven lanes southbound. Each direction will also have two shoulder lanes.

Once completed, Driscoll will be the world's widest bridge, though it is not quite one mile in length. The project entails rebuilding the 12 lanes on the existing spans, plus a new bridge to accommodate the additional lanes.


When the project is finished, the Driscoll Bridge will have 15 lanes over three bridges -- eight northbound and seven southbound -- three more than the two older bridges together.

[iEatClams]

I like the idea. I haven't cross to surrey for years so why should my tax dollar go towards a bridge I will never ever use?

Let the ppl who use it pay for it.

this is such an ignorant statement.

Theres a lot of stuff that I will never use, but my tax dollars will pay for: Olympic Oval, the runs in Whistler, improvements to the lions gate bridge. etc etc. Why are my taxes being paid for this?

It's like the few rich people that pay 80% of all the taxes paid in Canada say "Why the fuck should I pay for all the health care for the teachers, janitors and poor people?". The top richest 10% of canadians account for like 80% of all the taxes paid in Canada or something like that. Should they just say, I don't use it, why should I pay for it? These rich guys, as much as you hate them, are paying for your roads, school, hospital, & teachers etc.

We live in a western country, where it is believed that the rich should subsidize others that need it. Or the usual saying, helping those less fortunate.

Also, the Port Mann is a huge bridge for commercial trucks, a lot of the goods that you get coming into Vancouver come from Eastern Canada, how the fuck will they get there?

You shouldn't be punished for being born in a middle income family that can't afford a $500K house in Vancouver.

The Port Mann is intensely used, it's not like it's barely used so the costs are not justified, the Port Mann is probably the most heavily used bridge in the Lower Mainland.

Like if this was some giant bridge in the middle of Northern BC where only 5 people use it per day, then yes, one can say it's a waste of taxpayers dollars.

If you live in Alberta, they got like 4 lane highways and the population there is half the size as us. In Montreal, theres like a bridge every 3 minutes away from the other bridge. Given Vancouver's relatively small population, it shouldn't be this bad.

BC is fucked up.

[iEatClams]

wow, you vancouver guys are bitching about a bridge when it's vancouver that decides to spending way more than that on the olympics... THERE is your major infrastructure upgrade...


QFT

[CanadaGoose]

If you live in Alberta, they got like 4 lane highways and the population there is half the size as us.

we also don't pay any provincial sales tax heheheh:D

[Girl]

Come on guys, get off it. There's actual life outside of your own existence you know. We're pretty lucky to not be tolled on every section of highway we go through, like say China? Toll systems aren't anything rare in other parts of the world like Europe or Asia. Try travelling sometime.


Here's an example of the cost of tolls in Hong Kong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnels_and_bridges_in_Hong_Kong

FYI: $1CDN - $6.2HKD

[CivicBlues]

Come on guys, get off it. There's actual life outside of your own existence you know. We're pretty lucky to not be tolled on every section of highway we go through, like say China? Toll systems aren't anything rare in other parts of the world like Europe or Asia. Try travelling sometime.


Here's an example of the cost of tolls in Hong Kong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnels_and_bridges_in_Hong_Kong

FYI: $1CDN - $6.2HKD

The big difference is, you don't need a car to get around in most of urban Asia and Europe. As much as we think we can get by with our skeletal skytrain and underserved bus system, we NEED a car to get around our cities. North American cities were built on the principle of free and autonomous movement provided by the car.

[RRxtar]

did you ignorant bastards know that you spent a billion dollars worth of your tax dollars to expand a highway and build a bridge thru the kicking horse canyon outside of golden? no you sure didnt because you dont even cross the fraser river out of your shell in the lower mainland. i bet you wish you didnt pay for that too, do you? something like 85% of all goods coming into BC from out east go over that bridge. but that has no effect on you at all.

http://www.gov.bc.ca/premier/media_gallery/downloads/2007/nov/06_PGC_GoldenBridge_560.jpg