Among the major BC bridges and tunnels surveyed, the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge carries the highest traffic volume per lane, according to a report going to District of North Vancouver council. The report will be discussed at an upcoming council meeting on April 13.
The six-lane bridge now handles approximately 130,700 vehicles per day — about 21,800 per lane — making it the most congested crossing in Metro Vancouver by that measure. It carries the second-highest total daily volume of any major crossing in the region, behind only the Port Mann Bridge, which has 10 lanes.
The findings are based on 2025 data obtained from the Ministry of Transportation and Transit, supplemented by figures from TransLink. Staff say post-pandemic travel patterns have now stabilized enough to make the data reliable, replacing 2019 figures that had been used for years to make the case for provincial investment.
Traffic on the bridge has grown 6% since 2019, bucking the trend at several other crossings. The Alex Fraser Bridge, George Massey Tunnel and Lions Gate Bridge all saw volumes fall in the same period. The Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges absorbed significant post-pandemic growth — around 20% and 22% respectively — but both had more room to absorb it. The Ironworkers were already under severe strain before the pandemic.
The bridge was previously second to the George Massey Tunnel in per-lane congestion. By 2025, it had surpassed it.
The report is blunt about the consequences. When the bridge stalls — due to a collision, a stalled vehicle or emergency deck repairs — gridlock spreads across the North Shore and can take hours to clear. The impacts go beyond frustrated drivers: transit reliability suffers, emergency response times increase and residents lose access to their neighbourhoods.
The municipal road network was never designed to absorb spillover traffic from a regional crossing, and the geography of the North Shore — hemmed in by creeks, hillsides and private property — leaves little room to expand local roads even if the district wanted to.
Despite the pressure, the province has no committed upgrades to the Highway 1 corridor serving the North Shore.
Council has several options before it. In addition to receiving the report, members could direct the mayor to write to the Ministry of Transportation and Transit — copying the premier and local MLAs — requesting a status update on bridge replacement timelines and corridor improvements. Council could also direct staff to develop public-facing materials explaining the congestion problem, the district’s limited jurisdiction over provincial infrastructure, and what residents and senior governments can do about it.
Please please fix this problem bridge. Here are my suggestions:
1. I live in the Seymour/Deep Cove community & I have to plan to be home no later than 2 pm or be stuck in traffic for hours. We desperately need a cross community road from 29th to Mt Seymour Parkway
2. Upgrade the bridge
3. Create a third crossing
20 years ago when Metro brought in their tax (in addition to what we pay CNV, DNV etc) we were specifically promised Skytrain (connecting to MetroTown) as our main benefit of the new levy.
Skytrain – NOT “RapidBus” which only further clogs our roads and does zero to prevent present trends from continuing. So on TOP of the levy that didn’t deliver we are about to get a second levy to cover the grossly mismanaged Sewage plant. How does THAT make you feel?
(And bear in mind that the disastrous sewage plant system and subsequent MV management of the contract was approved by the ENTIRE Metro Vancouver board of 41 NOT only the 3 voters from the North Shore – it was a collective blunder but North Shore residents are being required to pay the lion’s share of the entire MV board’s blunder – and we have no say whatever on who the other 38 votes might turn out to be. Think of this as “DEMOCRACY IN ACTION”!)
The ongoing congestion at the Second Narrows Bridge has become both stressful and inequitable for North Shore residents. Commuters are losing significant time each day with very few viable alternatives, and it’s hard to see meaningful relief in the near term.
If a replacement or expansion of the bridge is still 10 or more years away, we need to look seriously at interim solutions. One option worth exploring is a vehicle barge or ferry system connecting the North Shore to downtown Vancouver. While unconventional, other regions have implemented similar solutions to ease pressure on critical crossings, and it could provide at least partial relief.
At the same time, the long-discussed expansion of SkyTrain to the North Shore remains, in my view, the most effective long-term solution. It would significantly reduce reliance on bridge crossings and provide a reliable, sustainable transit alternative. However, progress appears unclear, and residents deserve a transparent update on where this plan stands and what timelines we can realistically expect.