The B.C. government is backing up and starting over again on planning a replacement for the traffic-choked Massey Tunnel in Richmond.
Transportation Minister Claire Trevena said Monday that the previous B.C. Liberal government didn’t fully consider all feasible alternatives or local opinions when it committed to a multi-billion-dollar, 10-lane bridge to replace the aging tunnel.
So the NDP government is starting over and will engage with local governments and First Nations to identify “new criteria and goals” that better align with regional plans.
It will take until the fall of 2020 to come up with a new decision on how best to cross the Fraser River. The 10-lane bridge is not on the table. Options mentioned in an independent technical review include a six- to eight-lane bridge, an immersed tube-tunnel crossing and retrofitting the existing tunnel to use it with a new crossing.
In the meantime, the government will spend $40 million improving the existing tunnel and more on highway improvements on either side of it.
Then-premier Christy Clark touted the idea of a tunnel replacement project at a Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in 2012, and the government committed to the project in 2013.
It was suspended after the NDP took power in 2017, as Trevena commissioned the independent review.
She said Monday the original project was pushed ahead without the input of communities, and the review confirmed “this was the wrong project for the region.”
She also criticized the project for not addressing key issues like community alignment, livability and cost.
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