A proposed connector between McBride Boulevard in New Westminster and Highway 1 in Burnaby is unnecessary and runs counter to Burnaby’s climate goals, city staff determined.
The proposal came at the end of May from transit advocate Nathan Davidowicz, who suggested the city incorporate the so-called Stormont-McBride connector into its transportation plan, which is currently in the works. In particular, he cited the Pattullo Bridge replacement and potential related increases in traffic as a reason for considering the project.
Currently, McBride Boulevard ends at 10th Avenue, forming a T-intersection with a small park blocking the route from continuing onto Newcombe Street.
The connector would have continued past 10th Avenue in an 800-metre-long tunnel underneath Newcombe until 18th Avenue. Past 18th, the road would run on ground level, veering right for several blocks and then turning left to connect with the Gaglardi Way bridge over Highway 1.
The connector was proposed in the city’s first transportation plan in 1979, as well as having a spot in the 1995 transportation plan. Since the 1980s, the city has been acquiring properties along the east side of Newcombe Street to accommodate the connector’s construction.
In a report presented at a meeting this week, staff recommended against including a Stormont-McBride connector in its transportation plan.
Because the connector would be costly and its function would not be entirely local, the city has generally believed it would be a TransLink or provincial project, but neither has shown interest.
Staff also note the intention for the Pattullo Bridge replacement is not to increase capacity but to improve safety.
The new bridge will have wider lanes that meet roadway design standards, be more seismically sound and include pedestrian and cycling lanes. The provincial government declined to expand the bridge to six lanes, though extra lanes remain an option for the future.
“The province has forecast daily volumes of 78,000 on opening day, rising to 85,000 by 2045,” notes a staff report. “These are increases of 1% and 10%, respectively.”
But on the New Westminster side, McBride Boulevard is expected to remain a four-lane road with traffic controls at Sixth, Eighth and 10th avenues, and Burnaby city staff said that would likely limit increases in traffic volume to Burnaby.
In fact, staff said building the connector would encourage more car traffic, something the city’s trying to discourage.
The 1979 transportation plan is described by staff as “almost entirely a ‘roads’ plan,” while the 1995 plan balanced transit and roads and introduced active transportation. The plan currently being devised is seeking to encourage active transportation and transit in 75% of all trips originating in the city, as it’s tied with the city’s climate action plan.
As such, only a handful of roads are proposed for widening in the upcoming plan, “and these are typically targeted for specific purposes, such as supporting the focus of new development into our town centres and urban villages.”
Coun. Sav Dhaliwal suggested the province was underestimating the increase in traffic from the bridge replacement, particularly if it is expanded to six lanes in the future. He expressed frustrations with the heavy traffic flow from Canada Way, which he said was being used by drivers crossing the Pattullo Bridge, seeking a connector to Highway 1.
The Stormont-McBride connector isn’t necessarily the right fix, he said, but he did say something needed to be done to alleviate traffic on Canada Way, which he said would only get busier with the new bridge.
“Let’s clean up our roads,” he said. “If we aren’t going to do it, well, let’s close some parts of Canada Way so that people can’t come through there. So we could make it, really, a bus route.”
Coun. Pietro Calendino said he sympathized with Dhaliwal’s qualms but said the Stormont-McBride connector would only encourage even more traffic. He said he wished the bridge would have been placed elsewhere to avoid routing traffic through Burnaby.
“But hoping for a tunnel that would take traffic onto Highway 1 is simply shifting the problems from one side of the city to another side of the city. Highway 1 has become a parking lot at times,” he said.
“I’m not sure what the solution is, other than discouraging single-occupancy traffic, and that’s something beyond our capability.”
Council voted unanimously to receive the report for information and not include the connector in the transportation plan.
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