NEWS file photo”

THE INTERSECTION of Marine Dr. and Capilano Rd. handies
Lions Gate Bridge traffic in the morning rush hour. Cars slowly

make their way to the bridge.

ridge congestion
just part of problem
for N. Shore drivers

THE NORTH Shore has its
share of congested intersec-
tions.

By Kevin Gillies
Contributing Writer

Anyone who has had to wait in
ling to access the Lions Gate
Bridge in morning rush-hour
traffic can attest that these ap-
proaches are among them.

Even without the rush hours,
the intersections of Taylor Way at
Marine Dr. and Capilano Rd.. at
Marine Dr. are two of the busiest.

There is a tet of speculation on
what changes will take place when
something is done about Lions
Gate Bridge’s reparation or
replacement in the future. These
intersections would see changes
alongside the bridge's changes and
they can’t come soon enough.

These intersections straddle the
north end of the bridge a half-
mile from each other and are con-
nected by Capilano Bridge.

Casual observation of rush-
hour traffic at Marine and Taylor
has shown an overloaded intersec-
tion.

Westbound Marine traffic and
southbound Taylor traffic clogs
the intersection when vehicles get
stuck in the middle of the in-
tersection when the traffic light
changes.

While it could be argued that
this problem is caused by poor
judgement on the part of drivers,
ther behavior is symptomatic of a
stressful situation,

Adding to this
congestion — are
towers on the
southeast corner.

The towers contain 182 living
units. A predevelopment traffic
impact study said 1,300 to 1,600

intersectian’s
the twin
intersection’s

vehicle trips generated by a pro-
posed restaurant and 196 living
units would be relatively minor
and ‘‘should not cause perceptible
changes in conditions.”’

Traffic from the towers to the
freeway is facilitated by a road
under the Capilano Bridge to
Taylor Way on the north side of
the intersection. Although this
road bypasses the intersection it is
of no use to drivers wanting to
access Marine Dr. in North or
West Vancouver.

The Park Royal Shopping Cen-
tre has recently added 21 new
stores to its north mall and 16
more to its south mal! bringing the
total to slightly more than 200.

A spokesman for the shopping
complex said conservative
estimates indicate approximately
175,000 people visit the mall every
week. The last traffic count done
by the mall was in May, 1992 and
at the time they counted 142,000
visits per week; but that was be-
fore the opening of many popular
retailers.

The intersection of Capilano
and Marine does not have the
same kind of development around
it but is still where North Van-
couver’s Lions Gate traffic con-
verges in the morning.

A development company __ is
looking at building a housing de-
velopment on a 4.5-acre (1.8 hec-
tare) piece of property it owns just
northwest of the intersection.

They have said they are in favor
of an option that would include
346-350 living units, a seniors’
centre and @ community centre.

This should add to the amount
of traffic the imersection handles.

In addition to the congestion at
the intersections is the two-lane
Capilano Bridge that connects
them.

Three lanes of traffic become.

See ICBC page 34

ROA!

THE FOLLOWING are the
scheduled road closures and
detours for the coming week in
North Vancouver District, City,
West Vancouver District and
along area highways.

Ave.: Roadwork under way. Ex-
pect delays or detours. Use alter-
native routes if possible.

Mountain Hwy., Arborlynn Dr.,
to Kirkstone Rd.: BC Hydro
trenching. Expect delays. Flagging

LOCKS

detours.

© West Vancouver District:
Taylor Way: Taylor Way south of
Marine Drive will be closed to
traffic for read construction,

control,
® North Vancouver
scheduled road

@ Ministry of
scheduled road
detours.

Highways: No
City: No closures or

closures or

@ North Vancouver District:
Redwood St., Sowden St., Phitip

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