Golden Ears Bridge will officially open on June 16
Golden Ears Bridge will officially open on June 16
Our CEO Tom Prendergast announced the Golden Ears Bridge opening date this morning: Tuesday, June 16!
That’s just two days after the bridge’s opening celebration on Sun June 14!
And for 30 days after its June 16 opening, the bridge will be toll free for all traffic.
Give it a try—it cuts travel time by 20-30 minutes when you’re travelling between Maple Ridge or Pitt Meadows to Langley or Surrey. Just remember that QuickPass electronic tolling starts after 30 days: you’ll need to register your vehicle to start paying the toll. (You can already register your vehicle now: more than 2,000 have registered so far!)
The six-lane Golden Ears Bridge is a TransLink-owned project, and it will really improve the movement of people and goods throughout the region.
For pedestrians and cyclists, two-metre-wide sidewalks line each side of the bridge, linking with municipal cycling and pedestrian networks on both sides of the river.
Plus we’re also launching a new bus service to connect these communities over the bridge—the #595 Langley Centre/Haney Place express route, which launches on June 22. I’ll have more info on that as it comes to me!
And for more info on the Golden Ears Bridge, check out this earlier post from the Buzzer blog, or the QuickPass website.
Okay, I’ve pored over the Quickpass website (which is a terrible layout) and read the old messages; there’s lots of stuff on the website about how to pay but I still don’t see a simple answer to a simple question: If I don’t register and I don’t rent a transponder, how do I get charged? Does the camera take a picture of my plate and send me a bill in the mail like 407 in Ontario does?
Hmmm… well, if you have a look at my old Buzzer blog post, I actually have the answer there:
Bill, you are correct. Although it might be in your best interests to become a registered video customer and save 15% off the tolls. No transponder to lease, you just get a monthly bill of some sort.
Jhenifer, do you know if people driving across the bridge to the Maple Meadows Park and Ride will get a break of some sort? I know that people will be encouraged to use the Walnut Grove Park and Ride instead and take the 595 if they need a car for part of their trip but taking some transit is better than taking no transit!
Donald: sadly the answer is no! The recommendation is that you take the 595 over the bridge instead, as you’ve mentioned. Hope that still might be a workable solution for you!
I live all the way out in Mission, a nice 10 minute walk from the station. :) But I’m just looking out for the Langley and Cloverdale residents!
Since public transit prices have risen i had decided it was a good incentive to put the family car back on the road. saving now a good percentage via safe drivers discount, i am paying but a small fraction more for insurance and gas and driving myself. I will not be paying double and i am glad to be not yet without options.
Having this toll bridge w/o a reasonable flat monthly rate for daily commuters is absolutely ridiculous and should not be allowed. It is taking food out of the mouths of minimum wage people who have to work split shift or share one car and both work different shifts. Going around is not always and option due to both time and gas costs and possible extra child care costs of lack of time between shifts or family usage of a car. That is undue hardship; nobody should have to pay more than $40.00 a month flat rate to use the toll bridge. I know someone who lives on very limited income and just got a bill for over $900.00 and has no way to pay it – that is totally off the wall!
@Betty
Well if you don’t like that. We could raise the fuel taxes, maybe $2-$2.50 per litre would better. Or higher property taxes which if you rent would mean your rent would go up.
I do have to question your friends $900 bill though. I would hope they have a transponder. I would also hope that they are not crossing this bridge so many times while working. If that is the case they need to talk to their employer about getting reimbursed.
@Betty: ($900 a month/30 days per month)/$2.75 per crossing with transponder means your friend is crossing ~11 times each and every single day including weekends. How on earth was your friend able to survive a year ago, when there was no bridge, if today they find it so absolutely necessary that they need to cross the bridge on average almost once every two hours, day and night?