The more they keep throwing this way, the greater likelihood that some of it's going to stick.
Perhaps that's being pessimistic, or just realistic, but I get the sense we've only scratched the surface when it comes to the pressure Delta will feel in its role as a West Coast gateway. Already home to the biggest port and ferry terminal in the region, it's no secret that our shores are being eyed for much more.
From the outside looking in, you can see why there's such interest in this area and why the words untapped and potential are almost always linked when the discussion turns to Delta's left coast. Not only does it provide deep-sea access, but there are a host of other factors that not only make it attractive, but the logical choice.
First off, the South Fraser Perimeter Road, which opened almost a year ago, now offers a direct link to the Trans-Canada Highway, accessibility that was being used to justify an increase in volume when news broke about a month ago that B.C. Ferries was considering having all Nanaimo traffic go through Tsawwassen. With a bridge to replace the outdated George Massey Tunnel already in the planning stages, the transportation argument will only get stronger as the years go by.
And while they can always build more roads and crossings to any marine terminal, they're not making any more land these days, which just might be the most attractive feature of the Roberts Bank area. Whether it's property under the control of the Tsawwassen First Nation, which is pursuing economic development on a number of fronts, or good old-fashioned farmland, the land base and the opportunities that it presents are far more plentiful here than elsewhere in the region. Did I mention considerably cheaper too?
When a group of engineers recently suggested that Roberts Bank would be a "superior alternative" to Burnaby for Kinder Morgan's oil pipeline, it cited safer shipping lanes and easier pipeline access along the rail right-of-way as justifications, which I assume are additional factors that would act as a draw for this area.
A separate report that looked at the consequences of a catastrophic pipeline rupture factored in population densities, which is yet another plus, at least in the eyes of shippers, for our shores.
There's too much going in favour of Roberts Bank to think we're not going to be inundated with proposals, ideas and trial balloons in the years to come. And it's a good bet that at least some of them will take hold.
