Vancouver to replace tunnel with toll bridge

In an effort to reduce "the worst bottleneck" to traffic in the region, Vancouver, British Columbia, is to replace the Massey Tunnel on highway 99 with a wider bridge that is expected to be a tolled. The four-lane lane tunnel, which opened in 1959, is heavily overloaded for much of the day, carrying an average daily traffic of around 80,000 vehicles. Public consultation favoured a new bridge over the alternatives of renovation and additional tubes.
September 30, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
In an effort to reduce "the worst bottleneck" to traffic in the region, Vancouver, British Columbia, is to replace the Massey Tunnel on highway 99 with a wider bridge that is expected to be a tolled.

The four-lane lane tunnel, which opened in 1959, is heavily overloaded for much of the day, carrying an average daily traffic of around 80,000 vehicles.  Public consultation favoured a new bridge over the alternatives of renovation and additional tubes.

It is believed that a bridge should be less susceptible to earthquake damage, while removal of the tunnel will eliminate an obstacle to deepening of the channel for shipping.  Cost of building the bridge is anticipated to be around US$970 million.

Engineering and technical work is now under way to develop a project scope and business case for the new bridge and associated Highway 99 corridor improvements. This work will be presented for public discussion next spring, ensuring that the project remains on track for construction to begin in 2017.
Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • Why keeping count is so important for traffic management
    November 21, 2023
    Traffic engineers need to have multiple solutions in their toolbox to complete the most accurate and safe data collection programmes possible, explains Wes Guckert of The Traffic Group
    Read More
  • E-tolling is the new normal
    April 29, 2020
    Electronic tolling has become a cornerstone for the next wave of innovation, says IBTTA’s Bill Cramer. So is this the end of the road for toll plazas?
    Read More
  • The case for using toll revenues to fund Interstate improvements
    May 11, 2012
    High road toll increases threaten new regulation, but states should be free to use toll revenue for Interstate improvements. Bob Poole reports Large toll rate increases have been implemented recently by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, justified in part to help pay for its World Trade Center project. In response, a bill was introduced in Congress that would allow the Secretary of Transportation to regulate tolls on every bridge on the country’s Interstates and other federally aided highways. F
    Read More
  • ‘Free’ power for signs, shelters and so much more
    March 17, 2016
    David Crawford looks at the sunny side of the street. Solar power has been relatively slow in entering the transport sector, but a current blossoming of activity bodes well for the large-scale harnessing of an alternative energy that is zero-emission at source and, in practical terms, infinitely renewable. Traffic management and traveller information systems, and actual vehicles, are all emerging as areas for deployment. Meanwhile roads themselves are being viewed as new-style, fossil fuel-free ‘power stati
    Read More

Highlighted Content