Aerial view of the Pattullo Bridge crossing of the Fraser River linking the city of New Westminster, to the city of Surrey. British Columbia.
The Pattullo Bridge is a through arch bridge that crosses the Fraser River and links the city of New Westminster, to the city of Surrey in British Columbia. The Pattullo Bridge is 1,227 meters (4,026 ft) in total length, and consists of four lanes, with two in each direction. The bridge has no barrier of any sort in the centre, making it highly prone to head-on collisions, especially at excessive speed or in bad weather. In recent years, TransLink has closed the middle lanes to traffic from 10:00 to 5:00 in an effort to lower the high number of head-on collisions, and installed a series of plastic pillars to raise the visibility of the centre-lane divider. On January 2, 2006, four people were killed in a T-bone collision between two cars on the southern approach lane. In response to the high number of crashes on the bridge, TransLink studied the idea of reducing the number of lanes on the bridge from four to three using a counterflow operation, similar to that used on the Lions' Gate Bridge, with the number of lanes varied depending on traffic flow and volume. However, traffic analysis showed that significant congestion would result in Surrey and New Westminster, and the idea was abandoned. TransLink also examined a number of options to install a centre-line barrier and, in concert, to ban truck traffic from the bridge because the barrier would further narrow the traffic lanes, but that too was proven impractical. A more controversial proposal is to install photo radar on the bridge to enforce the existing speed limit. Thus far, the provincial Liberal government has ruled out the idea of bringing back photo radar, which it cancelled after first being elected in 2001.
Size: 6056px × 4043px
Location: The Pattullo road Bridge over the Fraser River Vancouver, BC. Canada.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: None
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