Final report - Integrated Land Management Bureau

Transportation Assessment of the Central & North Coast of BC
► Issue: The provincial government needs to recognize the LRMP Plan area’s
current and future strategic importance in the transportation system
The transportation system in the LRMP Plan area is an essential element of the
provincial and national network. Highways 16 and 20 connect inland BC and
the rest of Canada to the West Coast and provide northern access to the Pacific
Ocean. Prince Rupert is the western terminus of the CN Rail system, providing
access to important North American markets in the US Midwest and South, as
well as an exit point for Canadian exports. Both the Prince Rupert and Kitimat
ports offer a strong locational advantage to Asian markets. And the
communities of the Planning Area are linked to each other, the rest of the
province and the US by a complex and well-established system of ferry,
commercial ship and air operations.
Geographic remoteness and limited access are daily facts of life for the
communities of the LRMP Plan area. While this is seen as a benefit by some
residents, and an obstacle to development by others, the communities’ need
for a functioning transportation system to bring in food, supplies and medical
care, and to support economic activity, is the same as anywhere else in BC.
But it appears that BC’s remote and smaller communities sometimes have less
of a voice in decisions pertaining to provincial government spending.
The challenge is for the communities of the Planning Area to preserve and
improve on their transportation infrastructure to sustain social and economic
activity, and to adapt it to meet emerging needs. For example,
• in Prince Rupert the Fairview container terminal is expected to quadruple
its capacity to accommodate much larger volumes of exports from
throughout North America;
• developing aquaculture operations on the Central Coast need more costeffective
and reliable water transportation to ship their products to
market; and,
• in Kitimat, two new industrial ports are proposed, and as many as four
pipelines, to supply Alberta oilfield operations, and to export Liquid Natural
Gas.
It is important to recognize and support the planned expansion of the Prince
Rupert and Kitimat ports as fundamental pillars for coastal and northern BC
economic development. But while these major projects have garnered the most
attention from provincial media and policy makers, the fact remains that all
the communities of the Planning Area have an essential role in the
transportation network, and that initiatives in these communities also require
support.
Chisholm Consulting 78