Cyclist fumes over SkyTrain ban after bridge closure

A cyclist who travels on SkyTrain is angry TransLink banned bikes from the metro Vancouver commuter train in order to make more room for people, following the Pattullo Bridge shutdown.

The bridge, which connects Surrey and New Westminster over the Fraser River, was closed on Sunday after a fire damaged a wooden trestle supporting the southern end of the aging structure. TransLink banned bikes temporarily in the expectation that traffic jams on alternate routes would spur more commuters than usual to opt for public transit.

Robert Baikie, who normally commutes from Burnaby to Surrey by bike and SkyTrain, said he barely made it to work on time after he was forced to return home to get his car in order to get to work.

"Closing down SkyTrain to bikes indefinitely is an overreaction by TransLink. They're encouraging people to use transit and at the same time they're making it harder for me and every other bike rider out there to use transit," he said.

Traffic chaos continues at Fraser River crossings

On Monday, TransLink officials added extra buses and SkyTrains to encourage people to use public transit, but the anticipated crowds did not arrive, leaving many trains with plenty of space for bikes.

TransLink said it expected it would take a few days for people stop attempting to drive to work and switch to buses and the two SkyTrain routes instead.

Meanwhile Metro Vancouver commuters who stuck to their vehicles faced another day of traffic chaos on Tuesday morning following the closure of the bridge.

The closure jammed traffic on the three other main routes across the Fraser River — the Port Mann Bridge, the Alex Fraser Bridge, and the George Massey Tunnel — again on Tuesday morning, resulting in traffic gridlock and up to three-hour delays on some routes.

Investigation continues into fire

Police continue to investigate the blaze that damaged the bridge. The RCMP had said they suspected the fire was ignited by a campfire lit by a group of homeless people living under the bridge.

Local business owner Dave Pasin said he told the City of Surrey a number of times that homeless people had breached the fence and were living under the Pattullo.

"We've called many, many a time, myself and my neighbours. When the metal prices were high, we had a little caravan of shopping carts going by all the time."

Pasin said there was a large hole cut in the chain-link fence meant to keep people out.

New bridge 10 years away

TransLink estimated it would take four to six weeks to repair the bridge, and a plan for an entirely new bridge, which was approved in principle last year, could take 10 years to complete.

TransLink CEO Tom Prendergast said the design of the new bridge will be straightforward but predicts work on the road networks — the approaches to the bridge on the Surrey and New Westminster sides — will take time. 

"We are going to have approaches to those bridges that are going to have environmental impacts that have to go through a very inclusive process with the communities because if you put a road and a highway with high traffic volumes next to somebody that didn't have it yesterday they've got a concern with that," said Prendergast.

TransLink has said the new bridge would have to be funded by tolls.