Full speed ahead
The $1.2bn South Fraser Perimeter project highlights how the public sector can, quite literally, lay the groundwork for a successful public-private partnership
AT $75 BILLION of annual trade, Port Metro Vancouver is easily Canada's busiest port. But busy ports lead to busy roads and - without a strategy to deal with them - congestion, pollution, lost time and safety concerns.
"In some cases, local neighborhoods have container trucks going on municipal streets, right through neighborhoods. That's the unacceptable situation," says Geoff Freer, project director at British Columbia's Ministry of Transportation.
So in 2003, the Ministry decided to do something about this. Officials surveyed traffic patterns, consulted with local communities and crafted an initiative known as the Gateway Program.
The Gateway Program seeks to get truck traffic off Vancouver's streets and onto four new roads specifically designed for trucks: the South Fraser Perimeter Road, the North Fraser Perimeter Road, Port Mann Bridge and Pitt River Bridge.