The Delta Chamber of Commerce has renewed calls for interchanges at two key points on the under-construction South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR).
The current road plan envisages intersections at access points to the Tilbury and Sunbury business parks. The provincial government has projected that road capacity pressures won't call for free-flowing interchanges for a decade or more – something that the chamber contests.
"We say [capacity] will be a problem right away when the road opens next year," said John Appleby, past chair and transportation committee member of the chamber, in a statement.
Appleby said the government has previously erred in its capacity projections, with significant fallout to business. He cited the opening of the Alex Fraser Bridge as an example.
"Despite assurances of provincial government transportation planning authorities, the rapid choking of that important bridge caused a tremendous burden of cost on businesses and our adjacent communities," he said.
Appleby cautioned the same thing could happen if government road capacity projections aren't accurate for the SFPR.
"We hope [the government is] right because businesses will have to carry a heavy cost over 10 years if they're not," he said.
The Delta Chamber, the Surrey Board of Trade, and the BC Trucking Association have previously voiced concerns with the interchanges. (See "Metro Vancouver expressway plans worry truckers, business" – March 8, 2011.)
The SFPR is set to open next year.
