WC132 SeptOct 2023 - Magazine - Page 15
INFRASTRUCTURE
Above or Below
Connecting cities and
crossing the Fraser River
AMANDA SCHRACK
ENEATH THE FRASER RIVER at 20 metres below
sea level sits the George Massey Tunnel–Canada’s lowest
public road. To some, it’s an engineering marvel, but to
Metro Vancouver commuters travelling between Richmond and Delta, British Columbia, it’s just a headache.
With plans to replace and widen the tunnel by 2030 to improve
traffic congestion, it begs the question: What does this mean for
the river?
B
Aging infrastructure
Opened in 1957, the George Massey Tunnel is long overdue
for an upgrade. The provincial government and surrounding
municipalities have been playing tug-of-war with the idea of
a new bridge or tunnel replacement for over a decade, but it’s
unclear which does the best job of finding the balance between
preserving the state of the river and solving existing transportation challenges.
A good place to start may be looking at the relationship between the Fraser River and the land itself.
“Not a lot of people like to think about sediment as much as
I do. People like to think about birds and owls and eagles and
fish,” says Jeremy Venditti, a geomorphologist and professor in
the Department of Geography at Simon Fraser University who
also leads the River Dynamics Laboratory. “But it turns out that
the birds and the fish and the eagles don’t exist if the sediment
starts eroding and starts cutting away at the tide banks.”
Saul Chernos
Saul Chernos is a freelance writer for Water Canada
Amanda Schrack
The George Massey Tunnel—
Canada’s lowest public road.
Amanda Schrack is a
freelance writer with a B.Sc. in
environmental science and an
advanced diploma in GIS. She
is passionate about learning
and sharing the mysteries of
the environment.
WATER C AN ADA • SEP TEMBER/OCTOBER 2023
15
