Traffic turmoil predicted for 2nd Narrows BY IAN NOBLE News Reporter EMERGENCY REPAIRS to the Second Narrows Bridge on April 16 left motorists returning to the North Shore with a taste of what life may be like during months of bridge renovations scheduled to begin in June. But drivers such as North Vancouver's Dan Ellis found the 24 hours of Tuesday afternoon gridlock hard to swallow. He is looking to the Ministry of Transportation and Highways, municipalities and B.C. Transit. for leadership to mitigate traffic problems during the bridge: tepair period, which is expected to extend to mid-August. Judging from a transportation “ministry presentation at a council meeting last week, however, that leadership seems lacking, said Ellis. “The message I'm getting is that there's a lot of hoping for the best going on here.” he said. “I don’t pretend to be an expert but ... I'm very concerned.” “T’m also very concerned because the num- ber of bridges and number of lanes suggest traffic problems several times worse than the Oak Street bridge.” Ellis, who commutes both to downtown and Burnaby, said he is willing to take transit. “It’s a big opportunity for transit,” he said. Currently, taking transit to Burnaby from North Vancouver, Ellis said, is “absolutely brutal.” _ Norm Parkes, who’s the ministry’s man in charge of traffic management for the project, agreed the situation confronting North Vancouver commuters is worse than that for Oak Street bridge commuters last year. “It’s going to be congested unless peopic take transit or ride share,” he said, adding North Shore commuters could see traffic backed up to Lonsdale depending on how much of a shift to high-occupancy vehicles occurs. Second Narrows has two more Janes than the Oak Street Bridge, but more cars use Second Narrows and fewer alternative trans- portation choices are available to Second Narrows commuters. Parkes said the ministry and transit are looking at high-occupanecy vehicle (HOV) lanes and bus lanes to get commuters to the Phibbs Exchange. A direct connection NEWS photo Mita Wakatieid DON DAVIS (left) and Dan Ellis want public agencies to keep traffic flowing during bridge repairs. between Phibbs and the Dollarton on-ramp is also being considered so buses can n jump to the head of the queue. B.C. Transit media relations’ manager Trace Acres added that a bus or high-occupancy vehicle on-ramp may be added at Main Street. He said B.C. Transit's Second Narrows traffic mitigation plan calls for maintaining existing services and providing additional ser- vices where warranted by demand. For example, the SeaBus will maintain its four sailings each way during rush hour. However, if numbers demand it, the boats will run five times each hour. “If the Second Narrows presents a problem to buses then we would also look at the possi- bility of directing more services into SeaBus PORT BUSINESSES, like com- “muters, are tloubled by the uncer- tainty surrounding Second Narrows repairs, said Lynnterm’ sales manager John Ellis. Much of the pulp delivered to Lynnterm for shipment travels over -the Second Narrows in 46 to 60 trucks a day, he said. Now, the ter- minal is starting to get flak from lumber shippers concerned about travelling to and from Lynnterm over the bridge. “It could constrict our busi- ness,” said Ellis. Lumber is not allowed to be trucked over the landmark Lions Gate Bridge, he added. it’s an issue that concerns many waterfront businesses, he said. Bridge repairs also mean that a “good number of longshoremen™ who must leave the central dis- patching office in Vancouver and be at Lynnterm at 8 a.m. will be inconvenienced. WHERE THEY GO DURING THE morning rush hours, commuters scatter to all comers of the Lower Mainland after crossing the Second Narrows Bridge, Norm Parkes is in charge of traffic manage- ment for the Second Narrows Bridge project. He said traffic models show: 2) 13% of bridge travellers travel to downtown Vancouver; 241% to the rest of Vancouver; 2) 34% towards the New Westininster area; [11% to Surrey; 3 2% to the northern part of ' Burnaby, Coquitlam; : 6% to other Lower Mainland destinations tike Richmond and Delta; and 213% beyond those areas, and bypassing the bottleneck at Second Narrows altogether,; he said. B.C. Transit is now surveying ” the large number of commuters who ‘don’t travel to Vancouver, :Those commuters are. being asked if they. would take transit. If signifi fcant numbers of commuters to areas such as New Westminster, Surrey and Burnaby are interested in transit, a shuttle from Phibbs to the SkyTrain may be put in place, said Acres. B.C. Transit, which is‘now working with local municipalities and the transportation ministry, will have a tentative Second Narrows” traffic mitigation plan in place i in a week to 10 - days, said Acres. Ellis suggested using the wain tracks on ‘the Second Narrows or a barge to’ take vehicles across Burrard Inlet. But Parkes said the train tracks will be used to haul freight and there is .‘ no way to get vehicles down to the waterfront i. to barge them. No HOV fanes will cross the ‘bridge,’ because that would mean fewer cars could get over the bridge, said Parkes. Traffic system funds allocated — THE PROVINCE has earmarked about $13 million for highway projects on the North Shore under 1996-97 capital and rehabilitation programs. Capital projects include: - @ construction of the Upper Levels Westview Interchange; @ environmental and technical studies to lead to a short-: list.:7 options for the Lions Gate crossing. Rehabilitation projects include: & seismic retrofitting of the Lions Gate Bridge; G Lions Gate Bridge sidewalk repairs; & repair of outside stringers of the Lions Gate Bridge to maintain its structural integrity; @ improving the surface of the Second Narrows Bridge : by repairing joints, repaving, building a new median barrier, street lighting and railing to protect cyclists and . desizians; conduct traflic studies to evaluate travel efficiency, and safety through Taylor Way at.Marine Drive; @ implement a traffic study to evaluate traffic safety and | efficiency as it affects Upper Levels Highway. traffic at’ the Forn Street interchange in North Vancouver. Woman drove in wrong > direction down highway ‘From page 1 West Vancouver Police Sgt. Barry Nickerson said he didn't know why West Vancouver Police say Kelly was driving in the wrong direction on the Upper Levels Highway when her 1988 Isuzu pickup slammed into Tsogas’ Jeep. Police say Tsogas was pulled from his burning vehicle. Attempts to revive him failed. Kelly was tranped in her truck. There were no passengers in the vehicles. Kelly was driving west in the cast- bound Hane. : Nickerson said that Kelly was reportedly driving the wrong way on the highway from the 15th Street exit. Tsogas is survived by his parents, Gus and Irene, older brother, Stathis, and younger sister Margarita. A funeral service wilt be held today at 2 p.m, at St. Nikolas Greek Orthodox Church in Vancouver. Diving deaths not so common has being diving for 37 years. He repairs and maintains scuba From page 1 the water near the shore. The police said that Shubin was a master diver, having completed more than 200 dives. They said that Benjamin had been diving for three years and Nikkel and Peters were relatively new divers. The tragic plunge has saddened diving equipment in North Vancouver. Barker said the marine park near Whytecliff is popular because the water access is convenient for divers and the area is one of the better shore dives in the Lower Mainland area. He said fatal aecidents involving ‘FLOWERS MARK the crash site on the Upper Levels Highway where two West Vancouver resi- i dents died on Friday. Coe a ee ee ee aD at sett te . oe taeh wah aTat atatale PS PS ee ee ie ———s ; * local divers. NEWS photo Mike Wakefield cat pnatelye's bees a en awe ee ae et ene “We all come down a bit. It doesn’t really matter what or how it ost _, happened,” ” sid Robin Barker, who « diving are rare. Barker added that most fatal div- ing accidents are attributed to human | uilty equipment? 1! ¢ en