Traffic on the Queensborough bridge can be outrageous at times, something New Westminster’s city council realized when it began searching for answers to alleviate the congestion.
Among other suggestions, one of the preferred options was to create a pedestrian and cyclist crossing between Queensborough and Quayside – an idea stopped in its tracks after a new report was issued detailing the hefty cost that the proposed project would incur.
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The project report from SNC Lavalin has put the cost of the crossing at $39 million.
This figure is nearly four times the $11 million New Westminster city council had originally budgeted.
Councillor Chuck Puchmayr admits the city knew that the $11 million put aside would not be enough, but were hoping to have a lower cost figure to make the project feasible.
New ideas are still floating around however, including the addition of a trolley over the train bridge.
“We have been in discussion with Southern Rail, looking at the possibility of running a trolley over the train bridge from downtown New Westminster over to Queensborough all the way down to the casino,” said Puchmayr, “I think that would be quite a significant asset to the city.”
In addition, the City of New Westminster is also considering the possibility of operating a ferry from Queensborough to the downtown River Market.
The ferry would be similar to the one operating in False Creek, but will face challenges as the Fraser River waters can get quite rough under certain circumstances.
Both potential ideas remain in early stages of discussion, with no timeline of when the city hopes to move forward.