Talks of a roadway or possibly a bridge over Mossom Creek were revived after a portion of the IOCO land was sold

Engineers have been asked to look at different options to create a roadway through the IOCO lands to Inlet Centre area

PORT MOODY (NEWS 1130) – Summertime congestion in the Tri-Cities — more specifically in Port Moody — has been an issue for a long time, so now the City is kicking around a solution.

Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay says engineers have been asked to look at different options to create a roadway through the IOCO lands to the Inlet Centre area.

While it’s not a new idea, Clay says talks around a new roadway or possibly a bridge going over Mossom Creek were revived after a portion of that land was sold, making way for potential development.

“Once the beaches are open at the two lakes — Buntzen Lake and Sasamat Lake — we have a lot of traffic on IOCO road. Most people living out there (IOCO) have been dealing with what they would call over-capacity issues for years.” Clay says.

There’s also a policy in place in that area not to allow any new home construction unless the David Avenue roadway has been completed.

“If there’s going to be development out there we need to do something.” Clay says.

“And part of what we did in this process was to say to our engineers and our consultant ‘don’t look at it just in light of what might happen in the future on this development, but any development.”

The Evergreen Line comes into play here, as Clay and the City are trying to see the big picture no matter how much development hits the area.

“We’re concerned it’s very far away from our transit, and our city centre so it doesn’t really meet a lot of our sustainability principles for development, but without having seen (any plans yet) it’s too early to comment.”

He estimates that it could cost anywhere from $50-75 million to build a bridge over a creek and complete a roadway in the David Avenue area.

The public left their thoughts on the planning at an open house last month.

Clay says that was a difficult process as it’s just in the early stages with no concrete plan – only then will there be a public hearing process with an application from a developer. He’s also aware that the people who live in the area may not want to see anything new at all, and keep things the way they are.

City Council will next take a look at the input from the public in July. You can still submit your feedback until June 18.