The Problem with the Lions Gate Bridge | CBC Short Film by Uytae Lee 

This one was fun, thanks for having me on again CBC Vancouver! My apologies to Delta.

Really like the reporting style of Uytae Lee. I wish he posts these videos on his own channel.

This guy makes some of the best content out there. Pay him more, give him staff, get these things going on a weekly basis.

I'm always excited when I see there is a new Uytae video

I'm glad you addressed the problems with the cruise industry at the end of the video. Without any limit on the number of tourists, your city quickly becomes one giant souvenir stand for boat boomers.

“This chonk” Love it!

only ever problem i ever thought of, was the traffic, the bridge makes because it is only 3 lanes ..............

CBC, please more Uytae Lee videos please

I think this is a problem with cruise ships being too big, not bridges being too low. Anyway it seems like if this really is a problem for Vancouver, it’s probably cheaper and faster to build a cruise ship trip terminal rather than modifying or replacing the bridge.

I think Delta would be a fine place for a cruise terminal. Passengers can enjoy Tsawwassen Mills, Save-On Foods in Ladner, and that sketchy area where Highway 17 meets Highway 99. It's the unique west coast experience everyone is craving.

I’m going on a 7 day inside passage cruise of Alaska, starting in Vancouver this summer. Stay strong champ 💪

It's not just cruse ships, it's container ships too. To which raising the bridge might be a reasonable idea, but it would cut off West/North Van during that process. It's a landmark as much as the golden gate in SF is, so we can't just tear it down like any of the others. However, if the flight costs are really the issue driving cruise ships away from Vancouver, then that's probably for the best. The bridge issue comes along with the problem of how to just get people between downtown Vancouver and North/West Vancouver, and until there is a decision to extend the Skytrain, it probably will something kicked down the road until it is too late to do anything without cutting off North Van.

The Lions gate bridge is the same height as the Bridge of the Americas over the Panama Canal. Cruise lines are much more concerned with transiting the canal than they are with Vancouver!

The economic math is a little complicated, because clients on cruise ships have everything paid for, including all food. Sure, they may drop a bit of change at either end of the cruise, but mostly they buy only trinkets. Some money goes to local tours, though that cash is narrowly focused. Likewise a few Canadians work on those ships, though most are from elsewhere. Cruise ships drop off many tons of garbage, which needs to be accounted for. Cruise ships generally run their diesel engines continuously at port, so pollution is a factor. They use fuel and food purchased more cheaply outside of Canada so they don't pay Canadian taxes for consumables. Yup, there is a continuous stream of port taxes that can be addictive to local cities, but out of that the city is expected to upgrade the port and provide support services. There is pretty much no charge for the real adventure, an amazing trip through the Vancouver Island inside passage, our home.

This isn't an issue. The Jones Act means (with rare exceptions) every single one of these ships will need to dock at a Canadian city. Even if they leave from Seattle.

Watching this video during Covid19 pandemic and seeing the beating the cruise industry is taken, I don't think the height of the bridge is going to be the main issue for Vancouver's tourism cruise industry.

WE NEED MORE OF THIS GUY

Such an informative well constructed video! Always looking out for vids by Uytae!

I love this guy’s news editorial stories ... always very compelling & watch worthy.

These are all fantastic. Glad to finally have some bad ass video essays about our city!

Excellent reporting. Uytae Lee is a natural talent.

Excellent report. Thanks for this piece of journalism!

Very well balanced analysis of the problem! Excellent.

when he said delta was known for krispy kreme i felt that

Thank you Uytae, well done. If anyone needs a new bridge it Taylor across the Peace River, just South of Fort St John. It's an old worn out steel deck bridge, with welders burning rod constantly to keep it whole. Please come North and make us a video, we could use your honest insights. Best analysis of a subject ever :-)

Another great video. Keep up the good work Uytae!

Finally a good video by CBC. Nice job.

Uytae is back baby.

Fun fact Seattle is planning on converting at least on slot in the cargo terminal to accommodate another cruise ship. Currently 3 cruise ships can be docked simultaneously.

This guys videos are great.

Another great video👍

I picked Seattle as the air fair was less for my AK cruise. Both SEA and YVR are great cities. To visit YVR I landed in Seattle (watch those airport taxes - Yikes), rented a car and drove to YVR and then took ferry's to visit Vancover Island. SouthWest has some very reasonable fares to Seattle. Excellent video. Your right about the pollusion from these ships as most use "Bunker Oil" to run engines that create electricity to power the props. This fuel is so dense that to burn it, it has to be heated prior to being burned in the engines. I toured the engine room of a cruise ship and it is amazing, but this fuel is one dirty dude. It looks like sludge or tar prior to being heated.. Look at the port of Long Beach air quality and you willl see the smoke from the many ships that dock there. Love Vancover, and Victoria, and Seattle.

CBC is lucky to have this host.

Good presentation style. I actually learned something!

Good job man, well-made content. Please do the next video about airline monopolies in Vancouver which makes the costs skyrocketed.

You also need to realize why those Seattle departure ships need to make that Canadian stop at all. If they didnt stop in Canada, the ship would only be travelling between American ports, and then would be subject to American labor laws making ship labor very expensive. That stop in BC is just as important to the cruise company as it is to the port.

Thanks for this great content

No mention in this story of the shock tourists receive when they disembark right into Canada's poorest neighbourhood. It's not just the sheer number of homeless it's also their staggering level of destitution, addiction and untreated mental illness. That's what cruise ship tourists remember about their visit to Vancouver.

Thoughtful video with deft touch.

good analysis.

Wooohoooo my favourite creator showcase is back

more videos like this pls !

I see I'm a little late to the show... but this was really well done. Took you for a ride while weighing all the pros and cons.

Love your videos👍👍Keep it up😉

This guy is awesome!

I am so happy to hear you came to that final conclusion: it’s a blessing in disguise. Or... why not have the passengers of those large monster ship use shuttle boats to Wreck Beach? From there it’s an easy stroll into downtown...🤣🤣🤣

Well done articulate video. Never too late to raise the Lions Gate Bridge.

Who remembers Final Destination 5?

Seems like the anxieties of "we don't have enough space for this economically profitable but also environmentally damaging venture!" are a common theme between Vancouver and London, as are RU-vid documentary videos about them.

Very interesting

Building a new cruise terminal in Delta needs a Canada Line extension to be built from Richmond-Brighouse station, as well as building extended platforms at all Canada Line stations to fit 4-car trains. Raising the height of Lions Gate Bridge requires checking on the legitimacy of performing major works at national historic site, together with performing studies on environmental impact to Stanley Park (if required). It’s clear to decide which proposal is much better. (Of course, flights to Vancouver are really getting more and more expensive...)

If the problem is the cost of travel to Vancouver vs. Seattle. The loss of the cruising industry isn't a blessing in disguise, it's the canary in the coalmine.

Hm I would have though that a three lane bridge with one reversing lane that's the only connection from North and West Van to downtown might have been a slightly more significant issue.

Just like the Bayonne Bridge, they could raise the deck, although it is very expensive. Otherwise, they'll just have to build a taller suspension or cable-stayed bridge right alongside it.

That 61 meter clearance under the Lions Gate only occurs a few days a year, on the highest king tides. But about six hours after a high king tide, you get a low king tide, when the bridge clearance sometimes reaches about 66 meters. The rest of the year, during normal tides, the clearance ranges from about 62-64 meters. It does mean large ships have to adjust their schedules to work with the tides, but that’s a routine task in navigation. So the problem with the Lions Gate isn’t nearly as bad as suggested here. Except for the very largest mega-cruise ships.

We need one more bridge atleast. We can't keep up with traffic anymore

Let’s consider the problem that every time they know damn well there’s about to be a concert happening at Rogers Arena or even in Richmond, they have 1 lane open going towards Stanley Park and 2 coming back when it should be the other way around.

What's the best part about living in Delta, BC? Never having to say you're Surrey.

cool vid!

Bravo!!! .. Good decision .. I say, eventually the bridge will need to be replaced and make it taller THEN! :)

The title of this video is "The Problem with Lions Gate Bridge.." but it's about Cruise ship Industry.

These ships are major polluters so why raise the bridge for them?

It’s important to note that non US flagged ships are required to stop in Canada before going to Alaska because of the Jones act foreign ships can’t transport pax between two us ports

0:52 I saw this ship at Canada Place when i went to Vancouver in sep 2019 from melbourne

I suspect this mini-documentary was made before covid-19...

Reporter: This Chonk. Me, a millenial: I relate to this.

Lions Gate Bridge has always had traffic since the 70's so what if you need to relax, take in the views as your driving across, or below the Lions Gate Bridge. Musical theatre, Mulkin Bowl The Bridge has historical value, and so is Stanley Park. if Delta can take on the bigger ships and let Lions Gate be. Delta can expand its port of call, and invite Cruise ships to be a port of call, are a port of call for crews not just for boomers Silent Generation remained quiet about the Lions Gate Bridge for decades, and now the bridge is passed onto the next generation quietly onto the next generation to discover the blessings and pitfalls of running a major city with and without cruise ships.

Cruise ships now consider to embark at Delta Port to avoid the congestion inside Burrard Inlet

Normally a CBC youtube video is pretty lame, good job with this Uytae Lee

Victoria's mayor and council also likes the money tit. They let a festival company have extension of noise bylaw till two in the morning on the weekend. thus causing a flood of complaints to the police which she then told to not take those complaints. They also lied about sound meter readings, just so they would be seen as the growing nights spot area. It wasn't till threats of lawsuits did they back off. Oh and the mayor , she lives in oak bay.

Just started watching - Hard to imagine the cost to replace it

Love the video. But... We could use this as a reason to finally replace the Lionsgate Bridge. It's long over due.

Glad you addressed the cruise ship industry itself , Venice pretty much turned into a toilet, all that waste from the cruise has to go somewhere and most Venetians don't actually live in the city...they're being driven out by tourists.

i'd say if they're planning on raising the bridge, they should also add 3 more lanes to it; 3 north, 3 south to ease the traffic as the north shore is increasing in population. but i don't see it happening in my lifetime

Can you drop the music list, i feel like the last one song is some italian 60s piero piccioni? Umiliani? Im on the right path right?

Great research as always! Indeed ships can bring foreign organism from all over the world, so there's always more risk if the business is left untethered.

well done:) Pip

liked video

So does Lion's Gate Bridge creates problem or not? I am confused.

Great little video - Need to pair down big boats and go electric anyhow. Cruise ships cause so much greenhouse gases

dont forget there's barely any support parts dude, and it look very wavy

Give the Lions Gate Bridge a Raise! 🔝

The video brushed over the Jones Act and how it created the Vancouver cruise business in the first place. Couldn’t a new terminal be built at Kitsilano Beach? ;-)

if the lions gate bridge was re-done, would there be a space for a sky train? as a tourist it seemed strange that all the skytrains stop at waterfront and doesn't serve north van at all

05:24 ... wait a minute here... Victoria is concerned about the environment, yet they still flush their raw sewage straight into the ocean ?? Pot, meet kettle.

Agree. Tourism can get outta hand big time.

There are many cities in the world where the port is not near the city advertised (like Rome - Civitavecchia 58km away).

I think the size of the ships are the problem. Ships can be built longer, not taller, and certain aspects of ships can be adjusted, like how many cargo a cargo ship is carrying. While bridges can be heightened, for the sake of the cruise ship's company profits and the cost of increasing the height, is just not desirable.

Iona Island makes sense ... jetty’s already built - and close to jets at YVR

Cruises out of Seattle miss the inside passage. Cruising is an environmental nightmare, but most things that humans do are environmentally questionable.

Seattle .... Much cheaper to be a boat owner .... The big guys know that even if you are just passing by

61 m between the bridge and water: high tide or low tide?

The only problem with the Lions Gate Bridge: five lanes of traffic merging into one, leading to frequent motor vehicle accidents and causing bridge closure for hours. The Guinness family didn't think far into the future when they built it.

Chonk. Legend.

There's only one reason to alter or replace the bridge, and that's to accommodate more traffic of all types

I love Vancouver

Very interesting video esp. from the perspective of the situation in my country Croatia at the European union. By the end of July 2022. Croatian government is gonna officially open for the public new and beautiful 2404 meters long Peljesac bridge. This suspension bridge that is grandiose in some unique solutions is gonna connect Croatian mainland with our Peljesac peninsula and by that it's gonna bypass short stretch of the Bosnia-herzegovina coastal area. Bridge itself has the 55 meters of clearence above the sea-level at it's central parts and several over 200 meters wide passages. Although there has never been major, especially international cargo or cruiser traffic and there's no large port in the nearby Neum bay (Bosnia-herzegovina) area that is also protected nature area some BiH populist politicians made a huge noise out of this bridge's height of "only" 55 meters, dimension agreed upon between expert teams of both countries, although this is actually very, very high considering nowadays almost exclusively smaller yachts and local boats traffic. And any future prospect of building large port in this area would be enormous undertaking considering very shallow waters in this bay, small operational area and tourist industry aspirations of the locals who doesn't want to jeopardize nature with pollution and very short staying visitors huge crowds from cruiser ships. At the other hand, cruise ship tourism is very developed in Croatian famous medieval walled town of Dubrovnik where local officials are having hard time to regulate high influx of daily visitors from the large cruise ships!

The root cause of Vancouver’s traffic problem is down to the 3 J’s: Brij, merj and Raj

I think you missed a critical point. cruise ships need to have stops in multiple countries so they can use the labour laws of their home ports. if the boat only stops in American cities then it NEEDS to stop in 1 Canadian city. so Vancouver and Victoria will still get the money from these boats even if Seattle becomes the primary port

I thought this video is about traffic problem over the lion gate bridge.