A petition is calling on the government to address worsening traffic congestion on the North Shore by adding a third transportation crossing to Vancouver.
Petition organizer Cheryl Lynn said traffic congestion has become a daily challenge for North Shore residents and motorists travelling through the area on Highway 1. She further added that the outdated transportation infrastructure no longer meets current and future demand.
Cheryl Lynn also noted that continued housing growth on the North Shore is placing added strain on existing roadways. She also said that even minor accidents or disruptions can bring traffic to a standstill, raising safety concerns, particularly during emergencies when response times are critical.
The petition argues that a third crossing is a necessity to prevent delays to emergency services and reduce chronic gridlock. According to Cheryl Lynn, a comprehensive reassessment of transportation infrastructure is needed to reflect population growth and future traffic forecasts.
The petitioner said that traffic congestion also has broader impacts, including increased pollution, higher stress levels, and reduced productivity. The petition urges residents to support calls for transportation improvements that ensure safer, more efficient, and reliable travel for the North Shore community.
I support the petition for a 3rd crossing.
Tell me something I don’t know, Cheryl…What a stupid idea…your 3rd crossing will do nothing, other than to compound congestion during it’s construction…
How about a freeze on the construction of high rise condos on the North Shore until the clueless governments at the municipal and provincial level do the necessary traffic capacity analysis they should have done 20 years ago ?
How about height limits on all commercial and residential “towers” ? Like 6 stories maximum ? Seriously? Are you in the real estate biz ? A developer?
I agree! The North Shore is FULL!!!!!!!!
A 3rd crossing of Burrard Inlet that would accommodate more automobiles than the current two bridges makes no sense. It would just result in more automobiles on the North Shore, thereby exacerbating traffic congestion on our roadways.
In 2018, MLA Bowinn Ma established the Integrated North Shore Transportation Planning Project (INSTPP) Steering Committee. It brought together representatives from all three North Shore municipalities — City of North Vancouver, District of North Vancouver, and District of West Vancouver — along with the Provincial Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure, TransLink, the Governments of Canada and BC, and the Squamish and Tsleil‑Waututh Nations to coordinate transportation planning for the region.
INSTPP has now evolved into North Shore Connects, which is working on a suite of projects to improve transportation and reduce traffic congestion to and from the North Shore (https://northshoreconnects.ca/projects/). It is a continuing partnership that includes those municipalities and First Nations working together on priorities such as rapid transit across Burrard Inlet (BIRT), corridor planning (e.g., Hwy 1/99 Upper Levels study), active transportation improvements, and goods‑movement logistics across the North Shore.
Exactly! Then people will be complaining about the delays!
This woman doesn’t have a clue how long a project like that would take.
Doesn’t she know that the government conducted feasibility studies about a third crossing years ago?
Obviously she doesn’t remember when the Ironworkers Bridge was resurfaced years ago. People got fed up with the delays and demanded that it be finished. So instead of a quiet, smooth road surface, they got a rough, noisy road surface!
Public impatience and a lack of the public’s understanding of the implications of major projects, lack of logical city planning long ago, too much immigration, the pressure of the real estate and development industries on our governments via campaign donations — all of these elements and more is why we do not have a third crossing. We want one, but there is no vial solution. Lack of space, costs too high, rerouting of existing traffic (to where?), environmental concerns, sub shoreline not strong enough for a bridge, etc., etc..
Whine, whine, whine.
Clueless. Absolutely clueless.
You are the voice of reason here.
I, too, think she’s in some arm of the real estate industry, trying to drum up business in the long term.
Meanwhile, how easily everyone has forgotten the most recent fiasco of the “new” wastewater treatment plant in NV. How many years more?
All thanks to one government official’s decision to fire the foreign construction company.
This is one sad example of a major infrastructure project gone wrong due to a lack of foresight by our “illustrious” leaders.
People who have lived on the North Shore for many decades (50 or 60 years or longer) have witnessed all kinds of “great” ideas gone wrong. All kinds of mistakes by our local mayors and city halls.
West Vancouver is the best, but soon to be ruined by real estate developers again. Iranians need a place to live. They are flocking here like sheep. Hah! Demonstrate against Iran much?
West Irancouver. A phrase coined in East Vancouver’s artists and amateur comedians. A country within Canada. Welcome to West Irancouver or North Irancouver.
The sad truth of why so much real estate development on the North Shore. .
I want the old West Vancouver back, the one I grew up in. Unicultutal West Vancouver, where everyone speaks English and gets along and socializes regardless of one’s original culture.
Au contraire – despite at least 3 promises from Victoria in the last 30 years (one of which was withdrawn when the City of Vancouver vetoed a third crossing landing at the N end of Main Street in Vancouver) the “Third Crossing” has been a broken promise since my childhood in the mid 1960s.
Meanwhile we have seen the expansion of port traffic in North Vancouver (NV currently moves more tonnage than the Port of Toronto – and that’s the N Shore ALONE without the rest of Vancouver) as well as the explosive growth of the Squamish/Pemberton area over the last 50 years notably from Whistler (which didn’t exist when the “new” Second Narrows was completed).
[I’ve been hearing all this regularly from my late father who with my grandfather built the 3rd and 4th homes in Blueridge back in the late 1950s and commuted to the Vancouver waterfront 1956-76 before starting a business on the North Shore until his passing when I was old enough to closely follow all this for myself]
North Shore residents have been sold a bill of goods by Metro Vancouver and Victoria since the MV Levy is primarily based on the assessed value of each home in Metro Vancouver – thus we pay substantially more per household than residents in Surrey and Langley who are getting both improvements to the highway system and Translink. 20 years ago we were promised TRANSLINK (note: NOT “Rapidbuses”) as our main benefit for paying more than our per capita share on Metro Vancouver projects. “Fool me once – shame on you – fool me twice, shame on me!”
The ONLY improvements on the Second Narrows Bridge in the last 30 years have been the anti-suicide fences – and while I don’t doubt their effectiveness do nothing at all for increasing capacity in a region that has grown massively these last 30-40 years. And make no mistake about it, both port and Squamish/Whistler traffic have each heavily impacted our traffic jams.
I may have owned one of those homes your father built. In is on Lytton Place at the end of the cul de sac. It was built after WWII for a veteran. Very cool home. I kind of miss it.
The damage is done, adding new restrictions or freeze on new project now will do nothing to ease the current traffic condition in the north shore. I agree a new crossing is necessary, and please dont suggest taking public transit, people who are going to drive will still drive.
This is long overdue. The deadline has passed, and it’s time to take action.
More often than not it’s taking me upwards of a hour on what used to be a 15 minute drive. It’s absolutely ridiculous. Walking or biking is not an option all of the time. For one all the bike lanes are on main streets, which basically makes me a moving target for cars, the bike lanes should’ve been made never 2 blocks off the main road. Carrying large bags of groceries, shuffling the kid around and many other reasons driving is needed
I agree with John, cap residential building. New road will just lead to another artery being congested.
Remember when we were told that the 300 million on the Cut would make a difference? Not the case. There is something called “induced demand”. Build another crossing and it fills. No city has been able to provide enough road space for cars. We are in need of alternatives. Please do not complain about three hour drives to the airport when from Lonsdale Quay it takes an hour on public transit.
Good reply about an hour to the airport by Skytrain!
They all have brains, but so few use them.
So true.
I wish it was an hour! As most commutes typically count from the door where you live to the location, you’re going to, an hour seems like a highly exaggerated quoted time.
I was curious if I put my address in to see how long it would take, and at this exact moment in time, it would take an hour and 38 minutes from my house to the airport if I took the bus and seabus. If I were to drive at this juncture, it would take 49 minutes and this is why people drive. And this is also why yes there’s large traffic, but the reality is transit on the North Shore is great in certain locations, but not everywhere. It’s unrealistic to think that everyone is going to be able to get to seabus without having to have some level of commute to get there whether they get dropped off from someone or have to take a bus.
The North Shore only has 2 roadways in or out to the rest of the Lower Mainland. No other lower mainland community is limited in that way. If people want to whine about not building more bridges or roads because of ‘demand’, at least let’s start with an even playing field. A third roadway, or higher capacities for current 2, is needed. Also, we are the only community that has to deal with gridlock on weekends as well. Just look at the traffic maps to see this. Moreover, a large portion of the traffic contributing to this is not caused by the people who live here. You have Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal, skiing etc at Whistler, as well as skiing, hiking, etc. at the local mountains, for starters. Housing is too expensive here, so many who work here commute from elsewhere.
North shore needs a train under the water to Van, not another bridge fur more cars! Just like the much larger one from England to France under the English Channel!
Great idea!
Hey John, pausing residential and commercial construction just isn’t realistic — it’s a core part of every economy worldwide. There’s no way they’re freezing that.
From what I can tell, the whole point of this petition is simply to show the government what the community is asking for. Whether they choose to act on it or not is ultimately up to them. Sadly……
Only an hour? During last summer I had to visit an eye specialist near VGH from my home in Upper Lynn Valley and it took me 2 hours each way on public transit.
Absolutely right
Need Express buses from Lynn Valley to the SeaBus
I like both ideas, new bridge and cap on building.
Our resources are maxed-out.
Honestly, if the big trucks got off the road during rush-hour, then the roads would move much smoother in general. They should limit anything over the size of a 5 ton during commuting hours. Companies should be planning for deliveries at night that can be facilitated by larger truck vehicles and the ports should be operating 24 hours.
They should have 3 rd crossing traffic is night mare every day
You need to stop the construction and fix the issue of traffic. Its getting to be you cannot leave the North Shore after 1 pm. As for the ridiculous idea of a park over the highway maybe the CNV should put that $$ to better use.
Took me 40 minutes to go from park and Tilford to the entrance of the 2nd narrows. The 3rd bridge would be great.
Make transit/ferry free to and from north shore and put a toll on bridges for cars – cheaper in the long run and less disruptive
To reduce traffic congestion you do not increase the population on the North Shore. To reduce congestion and improve quality of like for residents on the North Shore
we need strong politicians who have good problem solving skills , knowledge of how to use legislations to their advantage on problem solving and have diversified business experience .
Know who you are voting for .
Nothing has been done. Need a proper bus plan , one BRT will do very little.
I live in North Vancouver, and daily traffic has become unbearable. Highway 1 needs more lanes, we need additional bridges, and a SkyTrain extension to the North Shore. The current transportation system is outdated and cannot support our growing population.
I’m not against big infrastructure chats, but a third crossing is basically “brilliant — see you in 2042,” and we’ll spend the build living inside a traffic cone.
If we want help this decade, try a realistic 90-day pilot that cities actually run:
Pick one neighbourhood getting absolutely mauled by rat-running and install 2–3 modal filters + peak-hour turn restrictions so side streets go back to being for local access, not the unofficial shortcut to the bridges. Keep access for residents, deliveries, trades, and emergency services (before anyone panics).
Then measure it properly:
– travel times on arterials
– traffic volumes on side streets
– emergency response access
– impacts on the local economy (because “I’ll just pop out and shop local” has somehow become a full-day expedition)
Adjust based on the data (because nothing works perfectly on day one), and expand only if it actually improves things.
…We need data, not vibes — although the current vibe is “I’ve aged 12 years trying to turn left.”