New lane and bridge to tackle North Vancouver congestion

$60M solution for North Shore bottleneck Mi-Jung Lee has details on a $60-million plan was announced to tackle congestion in one of the worst choke points in Metro Vancouver.

A new collector lane and two-lane bridge are part of a $60-million plan to improve an often congested section of Highway 1.

The additional funding for the Lower Lynn corridor was announced by representatives of all three levels of government on Friday. The section of highway connects Metro Vancouver to the North Shore, the Horseshoe Bay ferry and Highway 99.

It is a highly-trafficked roadway, but its interchanges were built more than 50 years ago and are in need of upgrades and improvements, the province said when the first phase of the project was announced last year.

In a statement, the federal and provincial ministries of transportation said the $60 million will pay for a fourth phase of work in the area. Friday's investment brings the total funding for the project to $198 million.

The governments' initial plan was three phases for $150 million, but a public consultation held last January made politicians revisit their plans, and add another phase.

The money will cover the costs of construction of a westbound collector lane from Mount Seymour Parkway to Mountain Highway. It will also go toward a new, two-lane bridge to be built on either side of the existing bridge over Lynn Creek, and an eastbound on-ramp from Mountain Highway to Highway 1.

Construction is expected to be completed in the spring of 2021.

"This project, once completed, will have an extremely positive impact on traffic congestion on Highway 1," North Vancouver MP Jonathan Wilkinson said.

Residents who are just trying to drive across the North Shore will no longer be forced onto the highway, cutting down on the number of eastbound vehicles to just those using the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.

North Vancouver-Seymour MLA Jane Thornthwaite called the investment a "huge announcement," and said that the construction project is one of the most complicated in the province to date.

"This is like the choke point of the entire region," she said.

"Highway 1 between the north and south shores of Metro Vancouver is a critical route for commuters and those going to Horseshoe Bay."

The route is also used by motorists trying to get to or from the Sea-to-Sky Highway to Squamish and Whistler. But even those travelling short distances have trouble with the bottleneck, Thornthwaite said.

She said she's been stuck in traffic for hours in the area, even just trying to travel between the Seymour area and Lynn Valley.

With files from CTV Vancouver's Mi-Jung Lee