Editor:
The following is an open letter to Claire Trevena, minister of transportation:
When can we expect to see HOV lanes both north- and southbound between King George Boulevard and the Oak Street bridge on Highway 99?
As we know, the replacement for the Massey Tunnel will take a number of years to complete, in the meantime the volume of traffic on Highway 99 continues to grow, creating an ever-increasing source of frustration for drivers as well as leading to accidents and mounting costs, due to increased travel time.
HOV lanes would help relieve the congestion.
Currently, there is a hodgepodge of HOV lanes both north and south of the tunnel – a situation which defies logic, since vehicles travelling both north and south usually return on the same route.
When travelling north from King George Boulevard it starts with a bus-only lane, which eventually disappears at Highway 91 and is then later replaced with an HOV lane from the Exit 26 to the Massey Tunnel.
After the tunnel, it disappears and is replaced by a bus-only lane. Travelling south from the Oak Street bridge there is a bus-only lane which evolves into an HOV lane at Westminster Highway and exists until the Massey Tunnel, when both bus-only and HOV lanes disappear altogether.
A significant amount of money has already been spent in anticipation of the proposed, and subsequently aborted, bridge by pre-loading a large section parallel to the highway south of the tunnel. Why isn’t this being used as the basis for the HOV/bus lane?
Ken Harrap, Surrey
