Close X
Sunday, November 24, 2024
ADVT 
National

John Horgan To Remove 'Unfair' Tolls On Port Mann And Golden Ears Bridges Starting Sept. 1

The Canadian Press, 25 Aug, 2017 11:52 AM
    PORT COQUITLAM, B.C. — British Columbia's NDP government is eliminating tolls on two Vancouver-area bridges, effective Sept. 1.
     
     
    Premier John Horgan says the tolls are unfair as others across the province who use public infrastructure like highways to commute to work aren't hit with special charges.
     
     
    The tolls are being eliminated on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges in time for the Labour Day weekend.
     
     
    Horgan says the move will save an average commuter $1,500 a year and commercial drivers crossing a bridge at once a day at least $4,500.
     
     
    About 121,00 vehicles a day use the Port Mann Bridge connecting Coquitlam and Surrey, and about 40,000 use the Golden Ears between Surrey and the Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge area.
     
     
    Green Leader Andrew Weaver, whose party is supporting the minority NDP government in the legislature, called the decision "reckless" because it will add bridge debt to the province, leaving less to spend on social programs.
     
     
    Both bridges are still in the red, years after being built. This year's provincial budget projected the Port Mann Bridge would lose $88 million in 2016-17 and $90 million in 2017-18. The Golden Ears Bridge lost $45.2 million in 2015.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Indian-Origin Irish PM Leo Varadkar To March With Justin Trudeau In Montreal's Pride Parade Sunday

    Indian-Origin Irish PM Leo Varadkar To March With Justin Trudeau In Montreal's Pride Parade Sunday
    OTTAWA — Leo Varadkar, Ireland's taoiseach, or prime minister, will join Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Montreal's Pride parade during a three-day visit that gets underway Saturday.

    Indian-Origin Irish PM Leo Varadkar To March With Justin Trudeau In Montreal's Pride Parade Sunday

    Drive-by Shooting In Abbotsford, Car Set On Fire, Police Investigate

    Drive-by Shooting In Abbotsford, Car Set On Fire, Police Investigate
    On Monday, August 14, 2017, at 7:50 pm, the Abbotsford Police Department received a call of a reported shooting. The caller indicated that he was the driver of a black Audi that was southbound on Bradner Road. 

    Drive-by Shooting In Abbotsford, Car Set On Fire, Police Investigate

    PICS: Johnny Depp Visits Patients At B.C. Children's Hospital Dressed As Capt. Jack Sparrow

    PICS: Johnny Depp Visits Patients At B.C. Children's Hospital Dressed As Capt. Jack Sparrow
    Depp, who is in Vancouver to film Richard Says Goodbye, morphed into Captain Jack Sparrow, the character he made famous in the Pirates of the Caribbean films, to visit kids at the hospital on Monday afternoon.

    PICS: Johnny Depp Visits Patients At B.C. Children's Hospital Dressed As Capt. Jack Sparrow

    Stunt Driver Killed On Set Of Deadpool 2 Identified As Joi 'SJ' Harris, Ryan Reynolds Heartbroken

    Stunt Driver Killed On Set Of Deadpool 2 Identified As Joi 'SJ' Harris, Ryan Reynolds Heartbroken
    Joi “SJ” Harris, who billed herself as the first African-American female road racer, died while performing a motorcycle stunt in Vancouver.

    Stunt Driver Killed On Set Of Deadpool 2 Identified As Joi 'SJ' Harris, Ryan Reynolds Heartbroken

    Three Main Factors Push Up Insurance Rates For B.C. Drivers: ICBC

    Three Main Factors Push Up Insurance Rates For B.C. Drivers: ICBC
    More crashes, more damage and injury claims, and higher costs associated with those claims mean higher rates are needed to cover expenses.

    Three Main Factors Push Up Insurance Rates For B.C. Drivers: ICBC

    Questions Surround Michael Page-Vincelli's Death After Altercation Inside Burnaby Starbucks

    Questions Surround Michael Page-Vincelli's Death After Altercation Inside Burnaby Starbucks
    BURNABY, B.C. — Outside a busy Starbucks in Metro Vancouver, a black-and-white photograph of a young man in a suit and tie sits nestled among flowers, handwritten cards and a bright red ribbon that reads, "Michael."

    Questions Surround Michael Page-Vincelli's Death After Altercation Inside Burnaby Starbucks