Canada’s province of British Columbia has stopped procurement for a proposed 10-lane US$2.8 billion bridge to replace the ageing George Massey Tunnel near Vancouver.
Local media said the province would pay $1.65 million to two of the three shortlisted consortia which had already submitted bids for what is officially called the George Massey Tunnel Replacement project.
One consortium is headed by Spanish company ACS and its local subsidiaries and includes Star America Infrastructure Partners and Aecon. Another of the competing consortia comprises Kiewit, Macquarie and Vinci. The third is made up of Fluor, John Laing and SNC-Lavalin.
A winner to build the 3km cable stay bridge over the Fraser River was to have been chose October 24. Instead, provincial transportation minister Claire Trevena said the newly elected New Democratic Party government will start an “independent technical review”, to be completed in the spring, of the best solution for replacing the aging George Massey tunnel.
Trevena said there will be more consultation and research to get buy-in from the community and regional mayors. “We’re not going back to square one, we’re going back to a thorough consultation with the community,” the minister reportedly said.
The Vancouver Sun newspaper reported that previous Liberal government had already spent more than $54 million on engineering and geotechnical work, public consultation, land procurement and site clearing, including preparations for eventual widening of Highway 99 which the bridge would carry.
The proposed bridge has faced continued criticism by many of Vancouver’s nearby regional city mayors, many of whom have urged the money to be put into other transportation infrastructure projects. These include replacing the 1.2km Pattullo Bridge. The through arch structure, opened in 1937, crosses the Fraser River and links the city of New Westminster to the city of Surrey.
Other suggestions are a subway along Vancouver City’s central Broadway Street corridor and a rapid transit system in Surrey.
The proposed bridge is planned directly above the George Massey Tunnel which was opened in 1959 but which suffers increasing traffic congestion. Keeping it open as an alternate route or as a route for cycling and pedestrians was mooted but the cost of maintaining an ageing structure would be prohibitive.
The plan has been to demolish the tunnel after the a new bridge is opened, although some mayor still advocate upgrading and twinning the Massey Tunnel - originally called the Deas Island Tunnel when it was opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1959. It carries a four-lane divided highway under the south arm of the Fraser River estuary, joining the City of Richmond to the north with the municipality of Delta to the south.
The George Massey Tunnel is the only road tunnel in Canada below sea level.
