Ferry costs to go up - time for a bridge?

[Rwede]

The Strait is too deep for conventional bridge building like the Confederation Bridge. And, it's a major shipping lane that would be blocked with a floating bridge. The ferry system is the best solution at the best price, and considering that most island dwellers don't want a bridge, it's a dead issue, IMO. If people choose to live on the island, they also choose to pay for whatever the ferries cost them. No one is forcing them to live there.

[Al Czervic]

The Strait is too deep for conventional bridge building like the Confederation Bridge. And, it's a major shipping lane that would be blocked with a floating bridge. The ferry system is the best solution at the best price, and considering that most island dwellers don't want a bridge, it's a dead issue, IMO. If people choose to live on the island, they also choose to pay for whatever the ferries cost them. No one is forcing them to live there.

I think that sums it all up from what I have read over the years.

[NAB]

if they upgraded the northern end of hwy 99 and junctioned off at pemberton to the coast towards campbell river with a bridge system that would be a decent corridor and would open up a great area of the province. i bet powell river would love being connected to the rest of the world. but around lillooet the road (basically its a glorified logging road) is switchbacks down valleys and you have to go across 1 way bridges at the bottom praying that an insane logging truck driver doesnt kill you as you pass over. but then again thats probably all the connector to merrit was years ago too. in that respect it would be win/win because it would be an alternate route for travelers to go from whistler to the island and more usefull for people in the central part of the province to either get to whisler or to the north end of the island. but in the end it doesnt really help anyone from nanaimo and victoria to get to the mainland. its about 4 hrs drive to campbell river from victoria and then you are in the middle of nowhere till you make your way to whistler area. im not so sure 12 hours of driving with convenience and freedom to vancouver is worth a 2 hr overpriced ferry ride. wonder if the terain is anything like hwy 20 from williams lake to bella coola. it is a vast expanse on a plateau and then all the sudden a tremendous drop-off down to the fjord to bella coola proper. my breaks were definately warm when i got to the bottom thats for sure. on the coast the terrain would be something else though. making a highway through there would be quite an undertaking. instead of 1 bridge you would have dozens spanning valleys and gorges along the way. but maybe the trickle down of the port trade would be something that would make that a possibility. i think it would be a nice option in terms of people comming from alberta too. lillooet is just a hop skip and a jump from kamloops which is the highway hub, industry hub, and train hub of BC. and if there was a viable highway i bet they would think of using it.

Thanks for that sooperphreek. Definitely food for thought. One thing I might contribute is that the idea either mainlanders in the close to Vancouver region or islanders have a great need for a ferry link Vancouver - Victoria/Nanaimo is quite a bit overblown. Many (most?) travelling in either direction have destinations or origins beyond those centres. In fact, many who have a need to travel specifically between those points rarely take the ferries... they fly!

IF that north island route to Kamloops could be opened up with a rail, pipeline, hydro, and modern road/bridge link I think it would have tremendous potential. Islanders I don't think are as interested in their links to Vancouver as they are in becoming linked to the rest of BC, and particularly CANADA ;-)


Oh, and as for the importance of Victoria in this whole thing, real islanders don't even go there if they can possibly avoid it ;-). And avoiding it is quite easy.

Nab

[twobits]

I don't think the cost of a bridge is at all feasible if the focus remains on connecting south island to the lower mainland. The link if any has to be at north island. And as a resident of the island for the last 9 years, and in close contact with it for the past 20 years, I have never once come across anyone who holds the view that the island should continue to be isolated from the rest of BC. That attitude seems to come from the rest of BC because the island has long been viewed as a socialist backwater and NDP stronghold (also not true).

Nab

Geez Nab, I was going to pop over for a beer despite the boat but now will just stay on my side of the strait.

[NAB]

LOL. That's OK twobits, come on over. It's really just all the cheapskate socialist hordes from your side we would prefer stay away ;-) They are welcome on the other side of the hump in Victoria area though. Lots of comrades and brothers and ferries there. Even the politicians stay away from the place as much as possible these days.

Nab

[regbc259]

Please don't build a bridge.

It's a mega project that we just can't afford.

I can't believe we are paying for a new roof on BC Place.

Reg

[NAB]

Oh, I get it LOL. Now that the Okanagan has their unaffordable new mega project bridge and toll free highways, as does the lower mainland (X 3 at least), ....suddenly the Bros. on Vancouver Island and in the north and in the east are *bleep* outta luck ;-) Damn, that'll teach us to elect all those Liberal MLA's.

Nab

[LoneWolf_53]

Oh, I get it LOL. Now that the Okanagan has their unaffordable new mega project bridge and toll free highways, as does the lower mainland (X 3 at least), ....suddenly the Bros. on Vancouver Island and in the north and in the east are *bleep* outta luck ;-) Damn, that'll teach us to elect all those Liberal MLA's.

Nab

Is it fair to look at the Island from the same perspective as Vancouver and the Okanagan though?

In fairness I've only ever been to the Island once many many years back but I've always been under the impression that for the most part it's retirees and government. Is that way off base?

I mean the bridge we got is a vital part of Hwy97 which has to move goods from the States right up through Prince George and Alaska even.

Somehow I doubt the Island sees the same kind of volume though I suppose I could be wrong.

[GordonH]

Single biggest problem in having a fixed link is the price tag. Secondly which could or would be used being aware of the fault Lines in the region. So ferries it is........ sorry to disappoint.

[NAB]

Oh, I get it LOL. Now that the Okanagan has their unaffordable new mega project bridge and toll free highways, as does the lower mainland (X 3 at least), ....suddenly the Bros. on Vancouver Island and in the north and in the east are *bleep* outta luck ;-) Damn, that'll teach us to elect all those Liberal MLA's.

Nab

Is it fair to look at the Island from the same perspective as Vancouver and the Okanagan though?

In fairness I've only ever been to the Island once many many years back but I've always been under the impression that for the most part it's retirees and government. Is that way off base?

I mean the bridge we got is a vital part of Hwy97 which has to move goods from the States right up through Prince George and Alaska even.

Somehow I doubt the Island sees the same kind of volume though I suppose I could be wrong.

Yes, you are somewhat off base LW, I held a similar view years ago. But when I moved here in 2002 I learned differently. The only criticism I have related to the island is I wish they would put an impenatrable wall at the top of the Malahat to keep the Victoria area types at bay, and ship all the environut types off too Haida Gwai or some similar other island. One small ( but likely very noisy as is their way) ferry load should do it LOL.

Seriously though, this government has completely isolated the Island in terms of it getting its fair share of their largess over the last decade. And that now needs to be put to rights. As for the Okanagan being an important arterial route for moving goods from the states up through PG and to Alaska, no insult intended but I have to give that idea a resounding LOL. Nothing moves "through" the Okanagan if there are any ways to avoid it (and there are).

Nab

[LoneWolf_53]

I'm not suggesting that everything moves through the Okanagan but there's no denying there is a lot of commercial traffic that goes right through Kelowna and I'm sure they wish there was a bypass.

I'd venture when comparing population serviced by our new bridge, the cost would pale by comparison to what the ferry system has cost and will continue to cost.

I'm not an engineer but I think in the long haul it would be smarter to build a bridge if they found a suitable location to do it where the challenges were not overly extreme.

Engineers could view it as a challenge to showcase their ingenuity. LOL (I don't believe a word of that)

[NAB]

An interesting fact LW is that Vancouver Island has a population of approximately 750,000 souls, and is the largest Pacific Island east of New Zealand (which is actually 2 islands with ferry and air connection between), a country in it's own right with a population of less than all of BC at around 4,300,000.

A more interesting comparison however is Prince Edward Island, a province in its own right with a population of less than only 150,000 with both ferry service and a massive bridge. The only Canadian Island with a population larger than Vancouver Island is the Island of Montreal. Our Island population is even significantly higher than that of Newfoundland and Labrador which is only roughly 500,000.

I don't know the population of the Okanagan Valley these days, and no question it can be a delightful little place as an off the beaten path holiday or brief visit destination. But no comparison at all in terms of population, resources, Industry, cultural diversity, and so many other things, including our inside marine highway that links directly to the rest of the world. Perhaps we should just separate huh LOL? Yes, we got our Island Highway (still not complete), the interior got its (now toll free) Coq and Connector, (and now its toll free new bridge), but if you look at the last ten years it has all been mainly about Vancouver and the lower mainland and its "Pacific Gateway". That's where most of Islander's contributions to provincial taxes have been going (and yours too for that matter), and quite frankly we get a bit jealous at times, particularly when you consider how expensive it can be just to get off the Island via ferry for a break or to visit family on rare occasions, ...or for tourists and goods to get here, ...compared to the Okanagan. Virtually everything here costs more as a result, including massive "tolls" (ferry fares). Yet we have all been taxed to the eyeballs over the past ten years and well into the future to fund and subsidize primarily that lower mainland bottomless money sink hole.

Anyway, I agree with you and those who realize that a bridge between the island and the lower mainland is not at all feasible from either a technical or financial viewpoint, and the ferry system can be a costly and time consuming pain in the butt that sucks money out of islanders pockets by the millions even if we don't use them. Which is why, as I indicated earlier in the thread, that if a land/bridge link to the mainland is to be ....it has to be from north island through to Kamloops in my opinion. I know the bridge portion would be very short by comparison and quite feasible, but I don't know if there is a viable route through to Kamloops on the mainland side.

Nab

[Symbonite]

I can't remember the figures, but the cost of building a bridge to the island is obscenely more than the cost of building the Confederation Bridge.

Here they are...

http://www.th.gov.bc.ca/publications/reports_and_studies/fixed_link/fixed_link.htm

Just read Nebulas link

There is no way that we could put a bridge in....They were looking at it since 1980 and its not gonna happen. They would have to toll that bridge and to break even (1980) dollars its a $180 dollar one way trip fee. at the least!

[NAB]

That only applies to a bridge at the south end of the Island.

Nab

[Symbonite]

Even if its up north its in Earthquake Territory...and you will need a bidge that is tall enough for tankers and cruseliners to get under it. When I was in Campbell river I saw at least 4 cruise liners go by an hour....so its heavy traffic that goes through.

And most likely the bridge will be tolled not for the bidge but the upgrading of a road from Kamloops. Plus time...to me it looks like a long way from Kelowna to Victoria on that map...I mean campbell river was 1.5 hours from Naniamo and that was driving pretty quick.