Nearly all the funding is now in place for a $90-million expansion of the rail and utilities capacity at the Ridley Island terminal in Prince Rupert.
The provincial government will commit $15-million, Premier Christy Clark said Monday, while CN Rail and the Prince Rupert Port Authority have each confirmed $30 million.
The federal government continues to work through its process to determine its participation with respect to the remaining $15 million. Ridley Terminals Inc. is a federally-owned Crown corporation.
"It is through British Columbia ports where resources are shipped to Asia, and where goods arrive for distribution at home and to the rest of North America," Clark said in a statement. "A bright economic future for British Columbians is linked to opening up Asia-Pacific markets to the rest of Canada, and B.C.'s transportation network will be the key to success."
The project consists of three inbound and two outbound tracks for coal, potash and other bulk terminal developments, two additional tracks that form a loop around the main part of Ridley Island and one new track that extends off the rail loop towards Ridley Terminals.
The project also includes 69 kilovolt and water utility connections into the middle of the island
to support bulk terminal development as well as road improvements along the new rail corridor.
The expected start date for the project is mid-2012, with an anticipated completion date in 2014 The work will create over 570 direct construction jobs over the life of the project and will further provide up to 4,000 operational jobs after all construction is complete, according to the province.
Initiatives Prince George president Tim McEwan said the project "sets the table" in terms of infrastructure in anticipation of strong economic growth in the region.
"When you look at what's happening in northern British Columbia, there are billions - and that's billions with a 'b' - of planned projects that if converted into underway, they will need that kind of capacity in order to ensure exports and job growth," McEwan said.
Not to be confused with the Fairview container terminal in Prince Rupert, 720 kilometres west of Prince George, the Ridley terminal loads metallurgical and thermal coal, petroleum coke, wood pellets, and has the potential to ship other products such as sulfur.
The project is the first phase of a larger $300-million development that includes increasing Fairview's capacity to 700,000 containers annually over the next year or two from the current 500,000 and then to two million over the longer term, compared to 2.5 million at the Port of Vancouver.
