Neil
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Post by Neil on Dec 28, 2008 21:26:25 GMT -8
At least two car ferries actually preceded the Texada Queen in service to Texada, although they weren't provincially operated. The five car Atrevida followed the cessation of CPR service to the island; it was privately operated under subsidy. Coast Ferries had the Island Princess doing a Steveston-Powell River-Texada-Comox run a couple of times a week in '61, before she went up to northern Vancouver Island.
Highways also served Thetis & Kuper, and Gabriola, in addition to the routes Paul mentioned.
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Post by DENelson83 on Dec 29, 2008 0:21:55 GMT -8
When the Powell River-Comox (Little River) route began, there was only one ferry assigned, not two the Comox Queen. The Texada Island-Powell River route was originally served by the Texada Queen. The Comox Queen was home ported at Little River. Friend of family - a road foreman for the Courtenay Highways District oversaw much of the road work to the Little River terminal (Anderton Rd orignally went straight down the hill across the flatland before turning left. The ferry terminal road was a new surveyed route. Remember when the gravel began at the intersection of Anderton Road and turning right going to the RCAF base. Yes, Anderton Road was given a little deviation from its original straight line to provide a T-junction with the new Ellenor Road leading to the Little River terminal. And that intersection with the road to the RCAF base, are you referring to Anderton and Ryan Road? If so, just call me an expert in the Comox Valley, because that's where I happen to live, as given by those coordinates to the left of every post I make here.
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Post by DENelson83 on Dec 29, 2008 15:07:00 GMT -8
There is no "T" intersection, the extension to the ferry terminal started a little further back with an angled alignment since Anderton Road is on a straight line alignment from Comox Road through to Ryan Road and out to just east of the first of two tower light collections. The remants of the old alignment can be seen just behind the large yellow sign (if it's still there). There is a 20 to 40 foot spur which "T"s onto the angled alignment. Looks like a T-junction to me. That's the "deviation" from due north-south I'm referring to. If you're heading north on Anderton Road and don't make the turn, you end up on Ellenor Road. And I know the Ryan Road hill quite comprehensively, as I've been on it many times. You go up 80 metres in just 1.5 km.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Dec 29, 2008 17:05:21 GMT -8
The Ryan Road extension was put in to reduce the trip time from the Island Highway to the Airport / Base and the Little River terminal, since previously it meant using Comox Road along the estuary and the climb up the hill, past the hospital and the shopping center just southeast of there. Thanks for that detail Paul. I was going to ask about the original route to Anderton area before Ryan Road was built, and you beat me to it. I've traveled on the Comox - PR ferry a few times each year since 1990, and even since 1990 I've noticed lots of changes in the Ryan Road neighbourhood (mostly at the top of the hill re a college, a DIY store, a golf course, etc). However the landmark that always made me chuckle was the dog kennel on Anderton Rd. That "House of Dogs" sign always seemed like a funny name to me.
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Post by DENelson83 on Dec 29, 2008 17:08:27 GMT -8
A true "T" is an intersection of roads at 90 degree angles, but there are many variants. The intersection is not signed with a black on yellow "T" sign. "T" signs are actually almost unheard of here in the Valley. I think I've only ever seen one of them in the area.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Feb 21, 2009 12:36:46 GMT -8
Our service is an integral part of British Columbia’s coastal transportation system and has been designated by the Province of British Columbia (the Province) as an essential service for purposes of the provincial Labour Relations Code. This designation means our services are considered necessary for the protection of the health, safety and welfare of the residents of British Columbia. The above-quote is from the BCFS 12/31/2008 MD&A report. The services are considered necessary, but are not necessarily affordable by those who need to use them...
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Neil
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Post by Neil on May 22, 2009 8:57:00 GMT -8
Canada Post has taken a lot of heat from residents of the Queen Charlottes/Haida Gwaii for their lousy service, with people sometimes not getting essential cheques and documents in a timely manner, and now they appear to be caught in an outright lie, or at least, a ridiculous misunderstanding of BC Ferries policy. From the Queen Charlotte Islands Observer: More ferries, same poor mail service There will be double the number of ferry sailings this summer - but our mail service will remain just as slow as ever. While BC Ferries ramps up to six sailings a week for the busy summer season, the mail will continue to arrive and leave only three times a week, says Canada Post spokesperson Lillian Au. Ms Au said the additional sailings do not carry commercial traffic and therefore it is not possible for the mail to go on them. "What I can tell you is yes, we are always looking for ways to improve our delivery service," she said, before launching into an explanation of why there will be no improvement in service to the islands. "Unfortunately, the extra sailings are not commercial sailings... We cannot put the mail on these sailings." In any case, Canada Post can meet its delivery standards with the three times a week service, she said. Also, Canada Post has not changed its number of weekly mail shipments in past summers, despite the increased ferry service, she said. The difference this summer, of course, is that Canada Post stopped bringing mail on and off the islands by air in September when it stopped using Air Canada across the country. Other parts of the country are now receiving air service with new contractors, but not the islands. Ms Au repeated that there will be no change in service this summer, despite the additional sailings, because "it's always been the case" that these sailings can't take commercial freight. However, BC Ferries spokesperson Deborah Marshall said there is absolutely no restriction on commercial traffic or freight on any sailing. "We're happy to take any and all commercial traffic," she said. Queen Charlotte mayor Carol Kulesha said this latest news is simply more of the same attitude from Canada Post. The slow mail service has been a tremendous hardship for local businesses and individuals and they deserve better, she said. To that end, she is planning to distribute a petition island-wide which will be sent on to Ottawa once enough signatures have been collected. "We need everyone's help," she said. "This is not something we can live with." article created May 20, 2009 11:51 AM www.qciobserver.com/Article.aspx?Id=3890
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Post by Low Light Mike on May 22, 2009 9:22:31 GMT -8
Canada Post has taken a lot of heat from residents of the Queen Charlottes/Haida Gwaii for their lousy service, with people sometimes not getting essential cheques and documents in a timely manner, and now they appear to be caught in an outright lie, or at least, a ridiculous misunderstanding of BC Ferries policy. I read same article, and was concerned about the folly of 2 Government agencies colliding and the resulting poor service to the islands. A Federal Gov't agency assuming that a Provincial gov't agency will be inflexible, and thus giving up on looking for a solution to offer better postal service. I hope that mail service improves from the 3-times-per-week. What would happen if the island of Newfoundland were treated the same way?
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Kam
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Post by Kam on May 22, 2009 11:50:39 GMT -8
Whats wrong with 3 times a week? Heck, twice would be fine with me...
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Post by Northern Exploration on May 22, 2009 14:31:59 GMT -8
Canada Post has taken a lot of heat from residents of the Queen Charlottes/Haida Gwaii for their lousy service, with people sometimes not getting essential cheques and documents in a timely manner, and now they appear to be caught in an outright lie, or at least, a ridiculous misunderstanding of BC Ferries policy. I read same article, and was concerned about the folly of 2 Government agencies colliding and the resulting poor service to the islands. A Federal Gov't agency assuming that a Provincial gov't agency will be inflexible, and thus giving up on looking for a solution to offer better postal service. I hope that mail service improves from the 3-times-per-week. What would happen if the island of Newfoundland were treated the same way? Canada Post has been trying to reduce service right, left and centre. They wanted to stop a lot of rural deliveries making people drive miles to get their mail. Almost every new subdivision has postal boxes that you have to walk or drive to get your mail. As someone who is connected with organizations that mail millions of pieces of mail each year the other side isn't much better. You have to be pretty tough to get the things you need etc. from them. But then when you are a semi-federal agency that everyone in the country is dependant on then they can be dictatorial. The majority of my bills come electronically, I pay online, I don't mail much of anything, and for many people younger it is even more prounounced. That is true for many many people and mail volumes have plumeted. Individuals are mailing less and companies are mailing less.
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Post by Low Light Mike on May 22, 2009 14:34:42 GMT -8
The majority of my bills come electronically, I pay online, I don't mail much of anything, and for many people younger it is even more prounounced. That is true for many many people and mail volumes have plumeted. Individuals are mailing less and companies are mailing less. But a big part of the problem for the QCI residents is Parcels, and there's no electronic substitute for things in a box.
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Post by Northern Exploration on May 22, 2009 15:48:54 GMT -8
Absolutely true about the parcels. And the QCI probably doesn't have the alternatives we have in larger centres. I get the majority of my deliveries of packages (few and far between) by courier service. We have ground versions for most couriers that are competitive with CPC. But that is mostly between major centres.
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Neil
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Post by Neil on May 22, 2009 22:18:34 GMT -8
It's not just parcels. I recall reading about government cheques that should have been delivered before Christmas that came after, either due to the schedule, or perhaps a cancelled sailing. This isn't just an inconvenience- it affects peoples' lives and their wellbeing.
I see this as part of a larger problem of marginalizing small communities, and coastal ones in particular. Ferry rates are raised exorbitantly, essential postal connections are cut back, and then you add in decisions to centralize medical and other services in larger centres, and we often explain it all away as the price people have to pay for choosing to live in out of the way places.
Canada is almost 34 million people strewn across 3.8 million square miles. Along with our big cities, we've always been a nation of far flung settlements and small towns, and it seems to me that this postal issue is, in a small way, symbolic of how we're blithely ignoring the importance of keeping those communities connected and healthy, as a part of our national identity.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jun 6, 2009 7:21:29 GMT -8
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Post by Scott on Jun 25, 2009 16:40:06 GMT -8
www.theprovince.com/Life/Bridge+brings+communities+together/1729942/story.htmlBridge brings communities together 'Maple Ridge and Langley haven't been meeting like this for 100 years' Downtown Langley Merchants Association executive director Teri James takes a drive over the newly opened Golden Ears Bridge.Photograph by: Ric Ernst, The ProvinceThe Golden Ears Bridge has opened up new worlds for nature lovers, bargain hunters and Fraser Valley moms and dads.
Maple Ridge "used to be an island," surrounded by lakes and rivers, until the $800-million bridge opened last week, Dean Barbour said yesterday.
"Maple Ridge and Langley haven't been meeting like this for 100 years," said Barbour, executive director of the Maple Ridge Chamber of Commerce.
The six-lane span links Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge (Ridge Meadows), two cities of 90,000 residents, to 681,000 residents in the two Langleys, Surrey and Abbotsford.
Commuters are already feeling relieved, with an average of 47,000 vehicles crossing the new bridge, freeing up space on the smaller, five-lane Port Mann Bridge.
Bargain hunters are also accessing Langley's nearby Willowbrook Shopping Centre, an almost-Metrotown-sized group of stores designed as a Valley destination.
"People want to park once and hit 15 different places without moving their vehicle," said Barbour. "Ridge Meadows has never been a shopping mecca, never will be."
Businesses on both sides of the river are advertising in their opposing communities, where there has never been reason to before.
Travel is flowing in the other direction as well, but for different reasons. There is a green factor north of the river because a premium has always been put on lakes and parks.
There are Pitt and Stave lakes, horse trails, mountain-biking trails and the bridge's namesake, Golden Ears Provincial Park.
"This is where the outdoors begins," said Barbour. "It's always been understated."
Moms and dads get into it, too.
Teri James, executive director of the Downtown Langley Merchants Association, saves up to an hour in travelling time popping over to visit family in Ridge Meadows; she can also drive to Golden Ears Provincial Park for an afternoon's relaxation.
"People have been waiting for this for a long time," she said.
Barbour saves 45 minutes visiting his son in Tsawwassen and has shaved 20 minutes off trips to Abbotsford International Airport.
Transportation costs for farmers and other businesses are expected to drop dramatically.
There are implications for mass transit. A new TransLink bus connects the downtowns, and southern residents have direct access to the West Coast Express train.
Tolls averaging $3 will come into effect on July 16, but Angie Quaale, owner of the Well Seasoned gourmet food store in Langley, will provide rebates to her cooking students.
Not everyone supports the car-friendly nature of the project. Simon Fraser University urban studies Prof. Anthony Perl said it's the wrong bridge at the wrong place and time.
"It has been built for a future which won't exist when gas is $3 a litre. The money would have been better spent on a rail corridor. This is more sprawl, more cars and more carbon going out of tailpipes. It's very shortsighted," he said.
kspencer@theprovince.com
© Copyright (c) The Province
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Mill Bay
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Post by Mill Bay on Jun 25, 2009 16:48:58 GMT -8
Just wait: everything will go back to normal once the novelty wears off and the toll comes online. Maple Ridge can go back to being the backwoods again.
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Post by Scott on Jun 25, 2009 16:49:34 GMT -8
The above article is more about the impact of the bridge, but I think we can take the opposite of the impact of the bridge and get an idea of the impact the ferries had in the past.
Instead of "connecting" two communities, in this case it's almost like the ferries acted as a barrier between two towns. The impact on Langley was probably felt less, but on the Maple Ridge side, the ferries sort of kept the community smaller and with a slower pace.
It will be interesting to see the impact of the new bridge on Maple Ridge, going from two little ferries to a six lane freeway is a huge change. Will it just become an extension of Surrey and Langley? Will the fact it has a toll limit the impact it would otherwise have?
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Post by Nickfro on Jun 25, 2009 17:02:29 GMT -8
Just wait: everything will go back to normal once the novelty wears off and the toll comes online. Maple Ridge can go back to being the backwoods again. I disagree. Sure, there's a cost involved in crossing the bridge. People may not cross over quite so often when the tolls are in place. However, for most situations, a $3-ish toll is much better than the alternative of burning more gas and spending more time going the long way around. And for those that choose to cross the bridge for a pleasure trip, ie: shopping or the outdoors, they can certainly justify doing it once in a while. There are enough people living in the valley to help all businesses on both sides of the bridge. It's not like it's a $10 toll like the Coquihalla was. It sure would be interesting if the Albion Ferries stayed in place and seeing what the sailing waits would be like after the tolls are put in place. We'll never know. . .
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Post by Scott on Jun 25, 2009 17:45:42 GMT -8
It sure would be interesting if the Albion Ferries stayed in place and seeing what the sailing waits would be like after the tolls are put in place. We'll never know. . . We should have two weeks to see. The tolls go up on the 16th and the ferry shuts down on the 30th. Granted, it's not the best time of year to do commute studies, plus the numbers will likely be skewed by people wanting to go on the ferries "one more time".
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Jun 25, 2009 19:07:36 GMT -8
The new bridge is already carrying 47,000 vehicles a day. If the two Albion ferries run full from both sides, from before 5 am until after 1 am, they have the ability to transport just over 3,000 cars.
Almost renders the question of the ferry's continuance irrelevant.
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Mill Bay
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Post by Mill Bay on Jun 25, 2009 22:06:43 GMT -8
Just wait: everything will go back to normal once the novelty wears off and the toll comes online. Maple Ridge can go back to being the backwoods again. I disagree. Sure, there's a cost involved in crossing the bridge. People may not cross over quite so often when the tolls are in place. However, for most situations, a $3-ish toll is much better than the alternative of burning more gas and spending more time going the long way around. I suppose there must be a flaw in somebody's logic somewhere if it requires us to come up with so much extra evidence and impact analysis theories to try and justify the unreasonable. $3-ish is putting it about right, though: somewhere off there in the fog of confusion. Oh well, what people don't know won't hurt them, and if we can only get them used to the notion, then it won't be so bad... then we can really justify the imposition of the toll, because if people are willing to pay it, that must prove that it's o.k., right? Somehow, the reasoning that paying a questionably high toll is still better than a non-tolled alternative doesn't quite add up in my ledger. We might be saving a couple dollars, but it is still a cost, and if it needs excessive reasoning to justify it, then it is a questionable cost. Even if you can calculate exactly how many dollars in gas you would spend and how much extra maintenance on your car going around the bridge would be, why should you then be forced to turn around and pay a substantial portion of that savings for the bridge toll anyway? Money falling out of your pocket is still money falling out of your pocket no matter how you count it. But the extra money you saved taking the short route and crossing the bridge you will be sure to squander at the first Tim Horton's on the other side of the bridge anyways, such is the value system we operate under... money saved doesn't usually stay saved very long.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 14, 2009 16:33:44 GMT -8
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Post by Scott on Jul 14, 2009 16:43:11 GMT -8
So are ferries contributing to the secularization of society or vice versa? Thanks for sharing that, Flugel;)
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D'Elete BC in NJ
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Post by D'Elete BC in NJ on Jul 15, 2009 2:58:45 GMT -8
So are ferries contributing to the secularization of society or vice versa? Thanks for sharing that, Flugel;) Have to have respect for those Scottish Celts and the cultures they posess, laddie. They've been traumatized for decades. A fastfood restaurant stole the name of one of their clans without residuals for using it, and Scottish Celts are forever being stereotyped as one being a hot tempered red haired kilt wearing groundskeeper with a thick Scotitsh brogue at an elementary school. That and a slightly overweight, baby eating, misunderstood villain...
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Post by Northern Exploration on Jul 15, 2009 7:05:53 GMT -8
So are ferries contributing to the secularization of society or vice versa? Thanks for sharing that, Flugel;) It is surprizing how much control the churches still exhibit in some of these more remote areas of the British Isles. In Ireland it is some of the rural local Catholic Dioseses that exhibit very strong control. In Scotland it is the Presbyterian Churches. In many cases the control is more cultural and not necessarily religious. The local priest/rector holds a lot of sway even though the majority of the population are non-practicing. A very different story plays out in the urban centres. A friend of a friend just moved back to Ireland to take over a family pub after the death of a family member. I recall her talking about wanted to change some things but knowing she would run "afowl" of the local priest. Amazing to think ferry and other transportation would be on the radar screen.
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