Fiona Anderson
Sun
The next route for expansion at Port Metro Vancouver is through the Fraser River, the port’s chief operating officer Chris Badger told an audience of mayors and municipal representatives at the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Metro forum on Thursday.
“Most people don’t realize this, but the Fraser River is as important to the economic well-being of Canada as the St. Lawrence Seaway,” Badger said.
In 2008, the St. Lawrence Seaway, which runs from the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence River to Montreal and into the Great Lakes, moved about 40 million tonnes of cargo. The Fraser River moved 30 million tonnes, Badger said. But the economic benefit of the tonnage moved through the Fraser River was in fact greater than its eastern counterpart, he said.
So the next stage of funding the port will be looking for will be to upgrade facilities along the Fraser, including replacing the 100-year-old New Westminster railway bridge.
“The bridge is at or near, or some people say beyond, sustainable capacity,” Badger said.
The goal is to have ships move goods further inland before transferring their cargo to trucks for the rest of the trip, reducing traffic congestion.
“We believe there is great potential for the Fraser River to become a more usable green highway,” Badger said. “Right now, economically it’s not there, and it will not replace trucks but we think there is opportunity for the future.”
While the opportunities aren’t there yet, “they certainly will be in the next 10 to 15 years,” he said.
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