MASSEY BRIDGE: Vanc. Ceremony Disrupted

MASSEY BRIDGE: Vanc. Ceremony Disrupted

Postby Oscar » Thu Apr 06, 2017 11:56 am

Delta-Richmond chapter & allies disrupt groundbreaking ceremony for Massey Bridge

[ http://canadians.org/blog/delta-richmon ... sey-bridge ]

April 5, 2017 - 5:36 pm

The Council of Canadians Delta-Richmond chapter disrupted the groundbreaking ceremony intended to mark the beginning of the construction of the Massey Bridge.

The $3.5 billion ten-lane bridge is being built to replace the existing four-lane George Massey Tunnel that goes under the south arm of the Fraser River estuary and joins the municipalities of Richmond and Delta about 20 kilometres south of Vancouver city centre.

The Council of Canadians and allies oppose the bridge over the following concerns: the loss of prime agricultural land to build the bridge, the additional greenhouse gas emissions that come with adding more space for cars, the government's lack of commitment to public transit alternatives, and the bridge's $3.5 billion price tag. We are also concerned that the proposed removal of the George Massey Tunnel could affect the salinity of the lower Fraser River.

Chapter activist Robert Ages says, "We had a great little protest. Forced the BC Fiberals to hide inside instead of using their nice power-shovel props."

Global News reports, "Work is scheduled to begin today on the replacement for Massey Tunnel; a new bridge over the Fraser River. But not everyone is happy about it. The first shovels are expected to go in the ground this morning and protesters were on scene to have their say. The protesters gathered around the crew, using megaphones to make their voices heard."

Tweets within that article then highlight, "Protesters crash the province's Massey Bridge 'groundbreaking'... The transportation minister will have to compete w/ protesters when he arrives. And they have megaphones... Cops here. 'Groundbreaking' scrapped. Minister will speak to reporters inside old fire hall... protesters chanting outside."

CTV adds, "A groundbreaking ceremony for the George Massey Tunnel replacement bridge was forced indoors Wednesday by a group of protesters holding their own mock event. Dozens of people opposed to the project gathered peacefully outside Delta Fire Hall No. 4, where a podium was set up for B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone to speak. Stone was late to the ceremony, however, and a man wearing a mask of the minister's face co-opted the space, waving an oversized blank cheque made out to 'Port Metro Van'."

News 1130 notes, "People, some holding cardboard masks of BC’s transportation minister, were heard shouting, clapping and chanting ahead of the event. 'We live here. How many of you live in Ladner and Tsawwassen and Delta? Shame! Shame! Shame!' exclaimed one woman. Some protesters even held a mock news conference at the podium before politicians entered the scene to make their announcement on the $3.5 billion Massey Bridge project."

And Surrey Now reports, "The protesters, holding signs saying 'A (Todd) Stone Age Concept' and 'Schools Before Bridges' arrived several minutes before the announcement was scheduled to start and lined the edges of the announcement area."

For Global News footage of today, click here: [ http://globalnews.ca/news/3358428/work- ... ey-bridge/ ], CTV footage is here. News 1130 footage is here: [ http://www.news1130.com/2017/04/05/prot ... placement/ ], CKNW footage here: [ http://www.cknw.com/2017/04/05/protest- ... dbreaking/ ]. And Surrey Now footage here: [ http://www.thenownewspaper.com/news/418382623.html ]

Tags: chapters
[ http://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm

Re: MASSEY BRIDGE: Vanc. Ceremony Disrupted

Postby Oscar » Fri Apr 14, 2017 3:43 pm

Delta-Richmond chapter holds public forum opposing the 10-lane Massey Bridge

[ http://canadians.org/blog/delta-richmon ... sey-bridge ]

April 14, 2017 - 3:39 pm

The Council of Canadians Delta-Richmond chapter held a public forum titled, 'Connecting Community? Impacts of a New Bridge on Richmond' yesterday evening.

The featured speakers were Harold Steeves (a long-time member of the City of Richmond's city council), Susan Jones (who is with APE, Against Port Expansion in the Fraser Estuary BC) and Eric Doherty (a transportation planner, communications consultant and Council of Canadians activist).

A tweet by Philip Steiner‏ says, "@Eric_Doherty: You can't build your way out of congestion! #MasseyBridge boondoggle will turn #RichmondBC into a parking lot #bcelxn17"

The George Massey Tunnel is a highway traffic tunnel in Metro Vancouver that is located about 20 kilometres south of Vancouver city centre. The four-lane highway goes under the south arm of the Fraser River estuary and joins the municipalities of Richmond and Delta. The tunnel opened in 1959.


In September 2012, Premier Christy Clark announced plans to replace the tunnel within 10 years. A year later, she announced that construction of a bridge to replace the tunnel would begin in 2017. A ten-lane bridge is now being built to replace the four-lane tunnel at a cost of $3.5 billion.

Opposition to the construction of the bridge has focused on: the resulting loss of prime agricultural land, the additional greenhouse gas emissions that come with adding more space for cars, the government's lack of commitment to public transit alternatives, the $3.5 billion price tag, and the proposed removal of the tunnel which could affect the salinity of the lower Fraser River.

Doherty has stated, "We must stop spending public money on making the climate crisis worse, and shift the money to solutions like public transit and electric trains. It’s time for all concerned people to take a stand against these freeway projects that are cooking our planet."

The Delta-Richmond chapter has been expressing its opposition to the bridge since at least March 2013.

The Council of Canadians supports the Leap Manifesto demand for affordable public transit in place of more cars.

Further reading:

Delta-Richmond chapter & allies disrupt groundbreaking ceremony for Massey Bridge (April 5, 2017)

[ http://canadians.org/blog/delta-richmon ... sey-bridge ]

Tags: chapters
[ http://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm

Re: MASSEY BRIDGE: Vanc. Ceremony Disrupted

Postby Oscar » Sat Apr 29, 2017 5:01 pm

Vancouver-Burnaby chapter tweets alternatives to $4 billion to be spent on 10-lane Massey Bridge

[ https://canadians.org/blog/vancouver-bu ... sey-bridge ]

April 28, 2017 - 9:09 pm

The Council of Canadians Delta-Richmond chapter and allies disrupted the groundbreaking ceremony featuring B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone intended to mark the beginning of the construction of the Massey Bridge, April 5, 2017.

The Council of Canadians Vancouver-Burnaby chapter has re-tweeted an op-ed published in The Province that highlights how $4 billion could be better spent than on a 10-lane bridge that has been described as a climate crime.

The op-ed -- by Victoria chapter activist and transportation consultant Eric Doherty and allies Bob Chitrenky, Peter McCartney and Harold Steves -- highlights, "There are many reasons why so many people and 20 out of 21 area mayors oppose the proposed $3.5-billion bridge. The fact that the project is certain to worsen traffic jams on the bridges between Richmond and Vancouver is one, the cost of the project is another and the loss of farmland is a third. But perhaps the biggest reason is that investing billions in an unnecessary bridge deepens our dependency on car travel at a time when many would rather take public transit — if only it were available where we live and work."

They add, "The more we deepen that dependency, the greater our collective losses will be. We lose quality of life and affordability in a region that is already grotesquely unaffordable. We lose more of our depleted farmland base and we lose down the road as greenhouse gases rise and we are forced to spend billions more on future public infrastructure projects, such as raising the dykes to counter rising sea levels."

Doherty, Chitrenky, McCartney and Steves then ask, "If we are to spend $4 billion of public funds (don’t for a moment think that the projected cost of the Massey Tunnel replacement bridge won’t increase — such costs invariably do) what else might we do?"

They answer, "For a relatively modest $1.32 billion, we could expand our fleet of buses in the Lower Mainland or across B.C. by a whopping 750 vehicles. Assuming a 35-per-cent recovery in operating costs from transit fares, we could operate that expanded fleet for 10 years. For another $1.3-billion we could upgrade or replace all 152 schools that pose the highest danger to students in an earthquake. And, in a region crying out for massive increases in available cheaper housing, we could build another 5,520 affordable housing units for a projected $1.38 billion."

They conclude, "As we said at the outset, there are numerous problems associated with the provincial government’s surprise announcement that it is going ahead with a bridge that many Lower Mainland residents do not want. But perhaps the biggest problem with that decision is that members of the public never got the opportunity to have a discussion to which they are so richly entitled."

To read the full op-ed, please click here:
[ http://theprovince.com/opinion/op-ed/wh ... um=twitter ]


To follow the Vancouver-Burnaby chapter on Twitter, go to @VanCofCDNs


Tags: chapters
[ https://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm

Re: MASSEY BRIDGE: Vanc. Ceremony Disrupted

Postby Oscar » Thu Jun 08, 2017 10:08 am

Delta-Richmond chapter optimistic Massey Bridge will be cancelled

[ https://canadians.org/blog/delta-richmo ... -cancelled ]

June 5, 2017 - 12:22 pm

The Council of Canadians Delta-Richmond and Vancouver-Burnaby chapters have long opposed the construction of the ten-lane Massey Bridge.

Long-time Delta-Richmond chapter activist Cathy Wilander says, "NO BRIDGE!!!! It's been years of many of us including Delta/Richmond chapter of the Council of Canadians activists picketing, leafleting, holding community events, media releases, standing and talking with people outside gov't pro bridge events, sometimes we were in pouring rain, dealing with police etc etc. but IT"S DEAD!!!"

The $3.5 billion ten-lane bridge championed by (outgoing) Premier Christy Clark is being built to replace the existing four-lane George Massey Tunnel that goes under the south arm of the Fraser River estuary and joins the municipalities of Richmond and Delta about 20 kilometres south of Vancouver city centre.

Now the Delta Optimist reports, "The two B.C. political party leaders who could very well be forming the next government in the coming days are certainly making it sound like the George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project will be scrapped... Earlier this week New Democrat leader John Horgan, who has not stated whether he's outright opposed to the $3.5 billion project, said it's not likely the best plan and that he would defer the issue to the region's mayors. The region's mayors, as well as Metro Vancouver, have already stated their opposition, indicating the 10-lane bridge is unnecessary."

The article adds, "Interviewed on CKNW radio Wednesday, Green leader Andrew Weaver claimed a second tunnel would be 'much cheaper' and also that the new bridge was not part of an overall transportation plan. Saying congestion would be transferred to the Oak Street Bridge, the Green leader noted what is needed is a comprehensive strategy in Metro Vancouver for transportation that includes public transportation, bridge retrofits, and may include a second tunnel."

While it is not known at this point, there is speculation that the current government's Throne Speech could be read on June 19, followed by a confidence vote at some point over the next two weeks, and that NDP leader John Horgan could be sworn in as the Premier of British Columbia by July 1.

It is our hope that the construction of the bridge will be cancelled shortly after that.

The Delta-Richmond and Vancouver-Burnaby chapters have been opposing the bridge since at least March 2013.


Tags: chapters
[ https://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]


Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm


Return to Other

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests

cron