Todd Stone with B.C.’s Transportation Ministry says the George Massey Tunnel will be replaced with a ten-lane, 3 kilometre bridge.
Advertisement
The province was criticized last month for embarking on a plan to spend billions of dollars without first completing a detailed business plan.
Although the actual toll rate has still be determined, Stone said it would be comparable with the Port Mann Bridge. However, traffic volumes – and tolling revenues – have consistently fallen below forecasts as drivers have opted for non-tolled options like the Patullo Bridge.
Image: Government of B.C.
The four-lane George Massey Tunnel, located about 20 kilometres south of downtown Vancouver, runs under the Fraser River estuary between the City of Richmond and community of Delta. It will remove more than one million hours of idling vehicles a year and make transit and HOV travel more convenient and attractive.
New interchanges will be built where Highway 99 intersects with Highway 17A, Steveston Highway, and Westminster Highway.
Jackson said the bridge would offer future opportunities for rapid transit.
Improvements to the crossing’s supporting road network will reduce the number of collisions by 35 per cent, the report notes.
He adds the tunnel has only about 10 years left before it would require upgrades and doesn’t meet modern quake standards.
Advertisement
More on this as it develops…
