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Vehicle traffic expected to get worsen

Public transportation key to handling growth, study says

By Andrew Mitchell

For people who already think the highway through Whistler is too busy, brace yourself — traffic demand and growth studies suggest it’s about to get a lot busier.

According to the information presented at Tuesday’s transportation open house, two-way peak hour traffic is expected to increase by 39 per cent, to 6,950 cars, by the year 2020. Regular traffic is expected to increase an average of 20 per cent daily.

Putting those percentages into perspective, travel time between the day skier lots in Whistler Village and Function Junction is expected to increase from an average of 14 minutes to 21 minutes with a reduction of average highway speeds from 60 km/h to 37 km/h. On busy Sunday afternoons, when cars are already crawling as day skiers and weekend visitors head back down the highway, things will only get worse.

The good news is that the municipality has recognized the problem early, and is working closely with the Ministry of Transportation to address the issues. According to James Hallisey, who is helping to coordinate the RMOW’s Whistler Resort Transportation Study and strategy, the solution will be heavily reliant on getting people to leave their cars at home, with a few modifications to the highway to improve the flow of traffic.

“It’s going to take a mix of carrots and sticks,” he said, adding that all options for getting people out of their cars are on the table. “The study that was done indicates that if we can achieve every one of the 16 study recommendations we have we can reduce traffic congestion without increasing the size of the highway.”

One plan calls for the addition of a second southbound lane from the village, while the Ministry of Transportation still has an unpopular plan on the books to build a Whistler bypass around the west side of town. The municipality wants to avoid both options if possible.

On the incentive side, the municipality is looking at options like expanding the range of free bus service, increasing the number of buses in the community, adding more regular commuter buses between Pemberton and Squamish, and creating programs to subsidize bus passes for employees.

On the disincentive side, options being considered include pay parking, the creation of a satellite day skier lot opposite Function Junction and shuttling visitors to the lifts.

There are several reasons why the highway through Whistler is expected to get busier between now and 2010.

The first is the increase in resident skiers, from 950 on an average day to 1,150. Day skiers are expected to increase from 1,550 to 2,700, while guest skiers will increase from 4,000 to 5,050.

Day visitors (including summer traffic) are expected to increase from 600 to 950 per day, while guest visitors numbers will grow from 1,200 to 2,000.

The number of residents using the roads on a daily basis is expected to rise significantly, from 900 to 1,400, while employees commuting to Pemberton and Squamish should increase from 1,100 to 1,400.

Under the heading “Resident Other” — residents who are not specifically commuting to work — the number of vehicles will increase from 2,350 to 2,900.

Compounding the problem is that vehicle counts have discovered that the average number of people per car is decreasing, from a high of 2.1 people per vehicle in 2002 to 1.8 people per vehicle in 2006. There are also fewer people on the buses, but Hallisey says that may just be a matter of optimizing bus schedules — the Whistler and Valley Express still has the highest ridership of any transit service in British Columbia.

“Looking ahead with the Whistler 2020 plan for sustainability, this is what we want to do,” said Hallisey. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to be easy, but it’s a path we have to commit to now if we want to get a handle on a growing traffic problem.”

According to Whistler-Blackcomb planner Arthur DeJong, the main challenge for the resort is to reduce cars without making the trip onerous for guests.

“It’s a sensitive issue,” he said. “Business for the resort has been flat the last four years, and we wouldn’t want to do anything to discourage people from coming here. On one hand we want to charge for parking and get people to carpool and take buses, but on the other we’re probably not going to go there because there is already the whole perception of value in the regional market we’re trying to address.”

Adding new day skier lots in Function Junction could also discourage visitors, says DeJong. However, he says Whistler-Blackcomb recognizes that traffic is a growing problem that will have to be addressed before the resort reaches buildout.

One idea he supports is to create more incentives for visitors to take the bus to Whistler, a solution that he says has not been fully explored.

Another option is to use the mountains to better educate guests about the issue of global warming, which will result in some people changing their travel habits.

“There’s a huge opportunity to be an advocate and to educate guests about what they can do,” he said. “For example, when they’re skiing on the Blackcomb Glacier why don’t we have signs up telling them why the glaciers are receding? There are lots ways to connect to people, and get them to make connections of their own that will achieve two goals, getting them to car pool and take buses, and reducing greenhouse gases.”

In all, more than 60 different options were considered at the outset of the study, which resulted in 16 recommendations. The public will have an opportunity to comment on the study and short-list of recommendations, as well as to add their own ideas to the plan until mid-December.

Among the 16 recommendations:

• Establish Transportation Demand Management Programs with bus operators to create a shift from private automobiles to transit for day skiers, commuters and resident employees to reduce auto trips in peak periods by at least 50 per cent in the next five to 10 years;

• Develop a south base day skier parking lot;

• Improve the intersection at Lorimer and Highway 99 to allow dual left hand turns onto the highway heading southbound;

• Create a sign system to inform guests about the status of day lots in the village and Creekside, as well as the proposed south base lot;

• Examine traffic signal operations every two years to ensure their use is optimized;

• Implement the Whistler Inter-modal Transportation Study;

• Add a 1.5 metre bicycle lane from Function Junction to Emerald Estates, and correct pinch points or gaps along the Valley Trail (both identified in the Bicycle Transportation Plan);

• Provide pedestrian overpasses at Alta Lake Road, Spring Creek, and near Village Gate Boulevard;

• Add bus bays on Highway 99 at existing stops to create more formal bus stops;

• Add a transit stop on Highway 99 at Spring Creek Road;

• Install signage to better orient visitors, and improve visitor arrival experience;

• Create a visitor centre at the southern entrance to Whistler;

• Add lanes on the highway for people making left turns from Autumn Road/Summer Lane, Emerald Drive and Meadow Lane, making it easier for residents to merge with traffic.

The completed draft strategy will be presented to council once public input has been gathered, and shared with the Ministry of Transportation. According to Hallisey, plans that will help traffic in 2010 will get priority treatment, but otherwise the Ministry of Transportation is supportive of the RMOW’s goals.

People can make comments online at www.whistler.ca.