[Music] the Lion's Gate Bridge officially known as the first Narrows Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the barard inlet and connects the city of Vancouver to the North Shore the term Lion's gate refers to a pair of mountain peaks north of Vancouver known as the Lions Northbound traffic on the bridge heads in their general [Music] direction prior to opening the only way for people to reach the NorthShore was by ferry service the West Vancouver Ferry company operated between Ambleside and Gast town from 1909 to 1947 John Lawson and John Sinclair founded the ferry service purch purchasing a 35 passenger converted fishing boat the West Vancouver Ferry number one they added the 40 passenger seaf foam to the fleet but failed to ever turn a profit the ferry initially ran from Gast town to the old hollyburn dock now known as the John Lawson Pier at the foot of 17th Street the municipality of West Vancouver purchased the struggling ferry service from Lawson in 1912 for $6,000 it was at this time when a man named San gburger convinced the municipality to move the ferry terminal to his property at the foot of 14th Street to what we know today as IDE Pier the ferry building at 1414 Argyle still stands and is operated as an art gallery it was West Vancouver's first designated Heritage building the small original fairies were replaced with bigger craft like the 80 passenger Donella and the 20 passenger Sona which gave way to the West Vancouver Ferry number five West Vancouver Ferry number six the bonab Bell and the hly bur the frequent trips that took the little fairies the length of the first Narrows through currents rip tides and dense marine traffic it's a remarkable tribute to the Skippers and Crews that in all those thousands of sailings there was only one serious accident at 8:47 a.m. on Monday February 4th 193 5 in thick fog the West Vancouver number five was westbound for the 14th Street Terminus reportedly on course at a slow speed in approaching Prospect point when the sharp steel bow of the much bigger CPR ship Princess Alice loomed out of the fog the Alice was inbound from Seattle 47 minutes late there was no time to try to dodge and the alysa's bow cut into the ferry on the port side of the after cabin causing her to sink tragically one person lost their life in this accident plans to build a bridge at first Naros from Stanley Park to West Vancouver had been planned since the early 1900s the first idea of a Crossing was drawn up in 1909 for a suspension bridge that would accommodate foot passengers only which never materialized when regular faery service began the decision on whether to build the bridge was put to the electorate of Vancouver in 1927 but the first pleite Was Defeated and the idea was put to rest for the time being Alfred James towel Taylor an engineer with a land interest in the construction of the bridge worked to overcome local opposition to its construction after considerable negotiations with the federal government Taylor eventually got the support of Prime Minister William lion McKenzie King with the requirement that Vancouver materials and workmen be used as much as possible to provide employment during the Great Depression Taylor needed investment Capital to fund the almost $6 million Bridge plus another $4 million for Land Development he was able to convince the first Baron of the Guinness family Walter Mo to invest in the land on the North Shore of barard Inlet they purchased 4,700 Acres of West Vancouver Mountainside through a Syndicate called British Pacific Properties the bridge was designed by Mont firm monserat and pratley which was later responsible for the Angus L McDonald bridge in Halifax Nova Scotia using a very similar design construction began on March 31st 1937 after 1 and 1/2 years and the cost of 5,873 1837 The Bridge open to traffic on November 14th 1938 on May 29th 1939 King George V 6 and queen Elizabeth presided over the official opening during a royal visit to Canada to help recover the costs for the construction of the bridge a total of 25 cents was charged for each car or horse and carriage and 5 cents was charged for pedestrians or bicycles the bridge was built with two lanes but a third reversible Lane was added on May 19th 1952 to add capacity during Peak periods during rush hour traffic the system cost $118,000 and was initially controlled with signs to indicate when the reversible center lane was open to traffic after 16 years of operation the Guinness family sold the bridge to the province of British Columbia for 5,873 1837 the cost of the original construction the government considered plans to Twin the span with an estimated cost of $17 million in 1954 but these were sheld in favor of moving forward with with the construction of the second Narrows Bridge farther east up the barard inlet and improving the existing Lion's Gate Bridge these improvements were made to enhance safety help with traffic flow and Aesthetics a partial Cloverleaf interchange was built in 1956 at Marine Way located at the end of the Bridge's North approach and was followed by a new bridge over the capano river to address congestion issues the toll instituted by the Guinness family remained on the Lion's Gate Bridge until April 1st 1963 when the provincial government implemented the toll Removal Act affecting five bridges in BC the toll plaza at the North End of the bridge was later demolished in 1965 the centerl controls were replaced with traffic signals in 1975 the deteriorating original concrete deck of the north Viaduct was replaced with a lighter wider and stronger steel orthotropic deck with wider Lanes this was carried out in sections using a series of short closures of the bridge each time one old section was lowered from the bridge and its replacement was put into place as a gift to Vancouver the Guinness family in 1986 purchased decorative lights that made it a distinctive nighttime Landmark the 170 lights were designed and installed by British engineer Ian Hayward and first lit up on February 19th of that year in July 2009 the bridges lighting system was upgraded with new LED lights to replace its system of 100 wat mercury vapor bulbs the switch to LEDs was expected to reduce power consumption on the bridge by 90% and saved the provincial government about $30,000 a year in energy and maintenance costs from September 2000 to September 2001 the replacement of the entire suspended structure of the main original suspension bridge was undertaken without interruption of peak hour traffic the first time an entire suspended structure of a major suspension bridge was replaced while in daily use as with the 1975 replacement work this was facilitated by a series of separate nighttime and weekend closures to replace one section at a time the old suspended section was lowered to a barge and the newer lighter and wider aot Tropic deck was raised into place and connected a total of 47 sections were used before being paved the new deck was designed with two pedestrian walkways can levered to the outside of the suspension cables and the three Road Lanes widened from 3 to 3.6 M as a result of the 2001 replacement the 63-year-old suspension bridge which was described as not designed for durability had its lifespan extended as the only two vehicle connections at first Narrows and second Narrows get older and traffic continues to increase what are the future options when these Bridges need to be replaced several options over the decades have been proposed including the use of land reclamation from Cole Harbor for the creation of a tunnel to the NorthShore which included Vancouver's never built freeway Network the C buus is the only alternative to the two Bridges as a means to cross the inlet with the slow Transit time to cross there are several proposals for Sky Train extensions to reach the NorthShore by Tunnel and Bridge as The Unofficial gateway to Vancouver the Lionsgate Bridge's outstanding engineering achievement for its time and elegant design has led to this Landmark being designated a National Historic Site of Canada [Music]