Golden Ears Bridge Busier then Expected

The numbers are in for the first week of the Golden Ears Bridge's traffic count and they are well above the prdecited numbers.

Translink predicted that 30,000 drivers per day would cross the Fraser River from Langley to Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows real estate but in fact the daily average is 47,000 drivers per day. The weekend count was 52,000 which probably can be explained by curiousity and available time to check out the new span.

What is very clear is that while Langley and Pitt Meadows have made significant transporation improvements in anticipation of the traffic generated by the bridge with connecting roads and arterials, traffic seems to deadend into chaos when turning into Maple Ridge. The northern Abernathy corridor while existing in spirit is nothing more then a ridiculous 2 lane road with 4-way stop signs every block or two from 224th st and east. Traffic jams have been immediate and daily since the opening of the bridge. Further the traffic congestion at 203rd st and Lougheed Hwy is a clear result as drivers have no reason to go north if they are only to be stuck in the same sort of volume due to the narrowness of Abernathy and the 4-way stops.

What did Pitt Meadows and Langley know that Maple Ridge didn't? Why can't Maple Ridge chew gum and walk at the same time? It seems almost weekly that the priorities of the Maple Ridge Council are contrary and opposed to that of the people who live there. Rest assured though that development property in the Thornhill urban reserve can and will be taken out contrary to the Maple Ridge Official Community Plan and swapped for the Jackson Swamp property in Albion so that a real farm can be exchanged with a pretend one, subdivided and built on as quickly as possible to help a poor land developer property owner that is down on their luck. But not so down on their luck that they couldn't find campaign contributions for City Councillor's who get to vote on this charade.