Fraser River North and South Arm Crossing Study Is One of Four Componentstudies of the South Coast Transportation System Plan

FINAH, REPORT FRASER RIVER NORTH AND SOUTH ARM + CROSSING STUDY PreparedFor: PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Mnvmz~ OF R~ANs~ORTA~ON AND HIGHWAYS BC TRANSPORTATION FINANCING AUTHORITY GREATER VANCOUVER REGIONAL DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL LAND COMMISSION BC FERRIES CORPORA~ON BC TRANsrr PreparedBy: REID CROWTHER & PARTNERS LTD. #300 - 4170 Still Creek Drive Bumaby, BC vsc 6C6 And WARD CONSULTING GROUP #520 - 1112 West Pender Street Vancouver, BC V6E 2Sl 32802-3 July, 1995 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 Background to the Study The South Coast Transportation System Plan builds from and responds to the recommendationsof the GIRD’s Livable Region Strategy Plan (LRSP) and Transport 2021’ and representsan important stage in an on-goingtransportation planning process. The general principles set out by the Provincial Transportation Strategy apply to this processand theseare: o To make betteruse of existing transportationfacilities and services. o To make more strategictransportation investments o To developmore costseffective methods for project serviceand delivery. o To strengthenlinks betweentransportation revenuesand expenditures, and between responsibilityand accountability for transportationinitiatives; and o To maintain competitivenessof transportation serviceproviders. The Fraser River North and South Arm Crossing Study is one of four componentstudies of the South Coast Transportation System Plan. The regionalstudies include: o East-West ConnectorStudy o Trans-CanadaHighway Study o HOVStudy o Fraser River Crossing Study (with a sub-component dealing with the Ladner- TsawwassenArea.) ’ Transport 202 1. ‘A Long RangePlan for Greater Vancouver.’ A Joint Project of the Greater Vancouver Regional District and the Province of British Columbia. September,1992. Reid Crowther & Partners Ltd. ES - 1 Ward Consulting Group 8 This reportsummarize s an assessmentof the trafk characteristicsof the demandfor the c crossing of the North and South Arm of the Fraser River during the morning peak period. 8 The base land use data for this study is the Livable Region Strategic Plan and the traffic data is taken from the recommendationsof the Transport 2021 Study. The Transport 8 2021 recommendationscould result in increasedtransit and High OccupancyVehicle trips during peak periods through the implementation of selectedinfrastructure and transport demandmeasures. In the analysis,this report examinesthese implications through a series 8 of twelve options. The options are reducedto three using an evaluationtechnique based on Multiple Account Evaluation. A preferred option is identified and an implementation 8 strategydeveloped for inclusion in the regionaltransportation system. I 4 Study Area The Study Area is located in Exhibit ES. 1. The area is boundedby the Strait of Georgia 8 on the west, the east end .of Annacis Island in the east, Marine Way in the North and the Canada-U.S.border in the south, and encompassesmost of Richmond and Delta. 8 The existing crossingsof the North Arm in the area are the Arthur Laing Bridge, the Oak Bridge, the Knight Street Bridge and the QueensboroughBridge. The South Arm is 8. currently crossedby the Alex Fraser Bridge and the George Massey Tunnel. Additionally, the Puttallo, Port Mann and Pitt River Bridges east of the study area affect the total trafk 8 in the area at any time. 8 Major controlled accesshighways in the area include the following: Highway 99 from the United States border to the Oak Street Bridge. There are 8 interchanges at the Ring George Highway, Crescent Road, Highway 9 l(south interchange),Matthews and Highway 10 south of the Fraser River. Highway 99 crosses the river through the GeorgeMassey Tunnel. There is a southboundaccess to River Road 8 immediately south of the tunnel. On Lulu Island, there are interchangeswith Highway 99 at Steveston Highway, Westminster Highway, Highway 9 l(north interchange) and 8 Bridgeport Road. Peak Hour volumes through the George Massey Tunnel in excess of 8 6000 vph have beenobserved. Highway 91 extends from Highway 99 (north of Westminster Highway) eastward to Hamilton/Highway 91A and then south across the Alex Fraser Bridge to rejoin Highway 8 99 west of 120th Street. There are interchangesat Knight Street, River Road/NordelWay, 80 72nd Avenue, 64th Avenue and Highway 10 before the facility rejoins Highway 99. There 8 Reid Crowther & Partners Ltd. ES-2 Ward Consulting Group are traflic signals on Highway 91 at Hamilton Avenue, Highway 91A, and 72nd Avenue. Northboundmorning peak period volumes havebeen observed in excessof 5800 vph. Highway 17 between Highway 99 and the ferry terminal has limited access control with signal&d intersectionsat Highway 10, 56th Street and 52nd Street. There is a partial interchangeat Deltaport Way. TsawwassenRoad is an at grade intersection. Additionally, major urban arterials in the study area include StevestonHighway, Gilbert Road, Bridgeport Road, No 3 Road, Westmmster Highway and Garden City Road in Richmond. In Delta, major arterials include Highway 10 and River Road. The population of the study area proper is projected to be 335,000 persons by the year 2021, while employmentis expectedto be 175,000jobs. Activity centres are defined as centres of economic activity which has significance nationally, provincially, regionally and locally. Many of thesetend to be important trafIic attractorsand generators. It is further assumedthat becauseof the economic significance of the activity centre, a higher value can be placed on thesetrips. As such, service to and from these centres should be available at a very high level of service. Three primary activity centres have been identified in the study area and these are the BC Ferries Terminal at Tsawwassen, the seaport facilities at Roberts Bank, and the Vancouver InternationalAirport. Additionally, four secondarycentres have been identified and these are the Boundary Bay Airport, the North Richmond Industrial area, the South Richmond Industrial Area and the Mitchell Island, Marine Drive area. c) Review of Study Approach A basetransportation network encompassingthe recommendationsof the Transport 2021 Study servedas a basis for developingtrafIic projections for the study area. The traffic simulations for the morning peak period for the year 2021 were examined in respectto capacities of the river crossings in the study area and selected expressway links on Highway 99 and Highway 91. From this examination, it was possible to establish transportation objectives for a series of feasible options. The objectives for the transportationoptions, included the following: q Improve levels of service for the river crossingsin the Study Area including; George MasseyTunnel, Alex Fraser Bridge, QueensboroughBridge, Knight Street Bridge and Reid Crowther & Partners Ltd. ES-3 Ward Consulting Group the Oak Street Bridge. Options identifying new capacity and new HOV designations were developed. 0 Improve level of service for the East West trafIic by improving Highway 91 capacity and or addingHOV lanes 0 Reducethe high trafEc accident rate at the southentrance to the Massey Tunnel. 0 Improve serviceto the BC Feries’ Terminal at Tsawwassenby improving the level of service from Highway 99 along the Highway 17 Corridor. 0 Improve service to the Vancouver International Airport by improving network connectivity in a north/south and east west direction. At the same time, cross border and provincial traffic would receiveincreased levels of service. 0 Ensure that transit competitivenessis maintained. 0) Evaluation of the Options In total, 12 feasible options were identified in three corridors; the Highway 99 Corridor, the Highway 91/Tree Island Corridor and the Boundary Corridor. An analysis of the traffic planning model output indicated that from a traI%icperspective, the options met the objectives to a greater or lesser degree and that they could be implemented. In other words, all the options were feasible. The feasibleoptions were compared in an evaluation matrix, that identified criteria from a number of sourcesas follows: o The transportationplanning model provided base information of vehicular and transit volumes, averagespeeds, vehicle kilometers travelled and so on. o Financial information was developedfor each option through capital and maintenance estimates. o An environmental overview of the study area provided base information on the environmentalimpacts. o Estimates were developedfor the land requirementsthat would be neededfor each option from the Agricultural Land Reserveand from Indian lands. Reid Crowther & Partners Ltd. ES-4 Ward Consulting Group o other variables such as emergencyresponse, transit encouragementand provincial connectivity which were qualitative in nature were basedon descriptions. The evaluation was usedto identify three favoured options and thesewere: o One option basedon the Tree Island Corridor o One Option basedon the Highway 99 Corridor o One Option combining featuresof the Tree Island and Highway 99 Corridors. The options were modified to incorporate the recommendations of the Ladner/ Tsawwassenarea and to ensurethe overall network was continuous,logical and flexible. The transportation planning model again served as a basis for projecting the morning peak period travel for the year 202 1. The evaluation criteria were reassessedand a preferred option identified. The Referred Option’ The preferred option is shown in Exhibit ES.2 and the physical components are summarizedas follows: 9 The Oak Street Bridge3is extendedto five lanes and additional lanes are constructed on Highway 99 from 8th

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