While the government moves ahead with multiple big-budget projects in the province, it continues to stall on the construction of the Massey Tunnel replacement.
This is a major problem for commuters, as the tunnel is one of the most congested areas in the Metro Vancouver.
Also, on February 16, 2018, the BC government announced that it is moving forward with the construction of a $1.38 billion bridge to replace the Pattullo Bridge. As a result, many feel the government should follow suit with the Massey replacement.
The City of Delta demonstrated how the Massey bridge is even more justifiable than the Pattullo’s new bridge:
Both projects are badly needed; however, unlike the Pattullo project which is only part-way through the environmental assessment process, the tunnel replacement project is shovel-ready, has received its environmental assessment certificate and has completed the bidding process. Furthermore, in terms of both vehicular and transit traffic, the George Massey Tunnel carries (. ” c I· l Page 2 of 5 GMTRP Update February 21 , 2018 significantly higher volumes than the Pattullo Bridge (Attachments ‘A’ and ‘B’ show the volumes for all the Fraser River crossings)
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Massey Tunnel Bridge Replacement
With these reasons in mind, not everyone is in favour of the proposed 10 lane bridge replacement for the tunnel.
One reason for the delay involves cost; however, recent estimates put the cost drastically lower than previously thought.
The NDP claimed that leaked government documents showed that the bridge would cost a staggering $12 billion to fund. The most recent estimate puts the construction at a substantially lower cost of $2.6 billion. What’s more, the proposed bridge includes $500 million in new transit infrastructure that supports healthier, low-carbon travel choices.
Original estimates, taken after the leaked documents, ranged from $3.5 billion up to $5.8 billion.
Two alternatives were proposed to the bridge, as many think think the bridge isn’t the most viable option. The first option involves retaining the existing tunnel and adding a 4-lane tunnel. The second also retains the existing tunnel but instead adds a 2-lane bus-HOV only tunnel.
The replacement project has been on hiatus since the NDP government halted the project in September 2017.
