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Construction options for Highway 99 presented to council

Four-year construction period will have major impact on business The Ministry of Transportation has presented options for fixing the Sea to Sky Highway but it has yet to figure out the economic costs to businesses in the corridor.

Four-year construction period will have major impact on business

The Ministry of Transportation has presented options for fixing the Sea to Sky Highway but it has yet to figure out the economic costs to businesses in the corridor.

The construction timeline runs for about four years, for three seasons each year.

For four days a week the road will be closed for eight hours during the night and four hours during the day.

"Here we are talking about something that could just devastate this economy," warned Councillor Nick Davies after a presentation by Peter Milburn of the Ministry of Transportation at Tuesday’s council meeting.

"Council and staff must allocate money and understand what the implications are for this community.

"We need to understand what that impact will be as quickly as possible."

His comments drew a cursory applause from some members of the community at the meeting.

The presentation by Milburn, project director for the Sea to Sky Corridor with the Ministry of Transportation, was the first glimpse at options for upgrading the highway, and the first step in bringing major transportation issues to the public.

It marks the beginning of a wave of open houses throughout the summer, at the end of which one of the options will be selected.

All options are costly, ranging from $400 million for safety improvements and no increase in highway capacity, to $1.8 billion for a four-lane freeway from Horseshoe Bay to Whistler. All are disruptive, some more so than others.

A decision on corridor transportation is required by late 2002 to support the Vancouver 2010 Olympic bid.

Milburn began his presentation talking about growth in travel predicted in the corridor. That growth is expected to increase more than 50 per cent by 2025. The 11 million cars currently using the Sea to Sky Highway will jump up to 17 million cars in less than 25 years.

Within the next five to 10 years there will be routine congestion on the highway as a result of that growth.

"We’re at a critical decision point," he said.

Councillor Ted Milner questioned Milburn’s growth statistics, asking him where all the growth was coming from if Whistler was soon reaching capacity.

"You’re letting unlimited growth drive the highway," Milner said, adding that there was no pun intended.

Milner suggested there be an option to limit growth through the whole corridor.

In addition to the sheer numbers coming up the road, telephone surveys conducted for the ministry show only three to six per cent of drivers will switch to another mode of transportation, like buses or ferries, if tolls and other incentives are made available.

Councillor Ken Melamed was disappointed with those figures, especially as Whistler strives towards sustainability and a reduction of greenhouse gases.

"We have to target a higher diversion than that," he said.

Milburn reviewed the four route options between the Lower Mainland and Whistler, which include the Indian Arm route, the Seymour route, the Capilano route and the existing Sea to Sky corridor.

The first three routes all go through watersheds that provide drinking water to the Lower Mainland, making them tough sells. There are also prohibitive grades, avalanche paths, high elevations, First Nations issues and provincial parks. Added all up, none of the first three routes is really viable.

That leaves the Ministry of Transportation with the Sea to Sky corridor.

Milburn said the crashes on Highway 99 are well above the provincial average, both in numbers and in severity. It is much less reliable than most roads in a similar class.

Over the last 10 years alone, $100 million has been spent maintaining the highway.

"It costs a lot to keep this road going in its current shape," said Milburn.

Milburn presented three options to council for the future of Highway 99: a four-lane freeway; a "context and sensitivity" design with either four lanes or three lanes between Horseshoe Bay and Squamish and three lanes from Squamish to Whistler; and a basic upgrade for safety and reliability that wouldn’t increase highway capacity.

The four-lane freeway will have multiple tunnels and allow speeds between 90 and 100 km/h. The total costs come in around $1.8 billion. The service horizon, when the road will become congested again, is around 2050.

The context-sensitive design, which would have at least three lanes, would try to influence driver behaviour with gates and visual lane narrowing. The road will look narrower to drivers, causing them to slow down, but in fact it will remain just as wide. Speeds are predicted around 80 km/h.

The total costs of this option come in around $1.1 billion with a service horizon of 2016 or 2050, depending on whether three lanes or four lanes are chosen for the Horseshoe Bay-Squamish section.

The cheapest option, the safety/reliability upgrades, will cost around $400 million but it will not solve the long-term problems associated with growth and congestion.

Milburn said the time is ripe to tackle the highway problem and if it is not dealt with now, the costs are just going to get higher.

But whatever option is chosen construction is going to cause major disruptions.

The most extreme construction has to be done between Horseshoe Bay and Porteau Cove, where 2.8 million cubic metres of rock needs to be excavated.

The area between Squamish and Whistler is relatively easy construction with just a few hot spots.

None of the councillors seemed to be enamoured by any one option presented at the meeting.

"Hopefully there are some variations on the variations," said Mayor Hugh O’Reilly at the end of the presentation.

The Ministry of Transportation is currently in the process of pre-application for an environmental assessment of the options as well as attempting to identify how the construction will effect business in the concerned communities.

Davies warned that any economic benefits that could result from the 2010 Olympics may be negated by the four years of construction on Highway 99.