The provincial government stalled work on the new Fraser River bridge to replace the Massey Tunnel over concern about lack of consultation.
But the consultation during the independent review of the bridge project looks just as sketchy. It’s just Transportation Minister Claire Trevena talking to some Metro Vancouver mayors. It was their complaints that prompted the second look in the first place, so she’s not likely to hear any ringing endorsements of the idea.
The B.C. Liberals landed once again on the tunnel-replacement argument in the legislature on Tuesday. They highlighted remarks Finance Minister Carole James made that suggest the bridge might be stalled for a while.
James said the $3.4 billion allocated for the bridge has been removed from the budget process. That was confirmed in Trevena’s September announcement of the cancellation. But James also said that $47 million that’s on the books already “is the cost of a writeoff.”
The actual spending on the project to date is higher. The Transportation Ministry pegged it at $66 million in September, plus the $25 million spent by B.C. Hydro to relocate lines.
What’s shaping up is similar to what was outlined in the NDP campaign document — “This is what bold looks like” — that Liberals found stuffed into a desk when they took over the Opposition suite of offices. It listed other transportation projects and said: “We’ll pay for this instead of replacing the Massey Tunnel.”
The prophesy is fulfilled.
Or maybe not.
Trevena and Premier John Horgan wouldn’t come out and say that they’ve abandoned it because it was former premier Christy Clark’s pet project. It’s more about the need for a “prudent approach” and finding the right solution.
“We want to make sure that we are looking at all the options, as well as engaging with the Lower Mainland elected officials who were shut out by the last government,” said Trevena.
Delta Liberal MLA Ian Paton protested that there were 250 meetings about the new bridge, but people have heard or seen nothing in the eight weeks since the cancellation pending further study was announced.
“What is the status of her sham review?”
Trevena said Liberals are upset about the NDP record over eight weeks, but they had 16 years to fix the bottleneck.
As it stands, the ministry is only now on the verge of releasing terms of the review, and who has been hired to do it.
And the only consultation will be with officials who already oppose the project.
The only hint about what’s on the table is from the September announcement, which suggested the options are either the status quo 10-lane bridge, a smaller bridge or a new tunnel.
Said Trevena: “We are going to be doing a technical review. We are engaging with the mayors, and we will be talking about this in our time when it is appropriate.”
Horgan told reporters later: “We all acknowledge there’s a congestion challenge at the tunnel, but the previous government only listened to a handful of people on how to fix the problem.”
He said his government is going to pause, look at the best engineering solution at the least cost that produces the biggest benefit.
He said there was a “whole host of priorities that regional mayors had. We want to make sure we’re following that road map.”
That road map includes a bunch of multibillion-dollar transportation ideas, but they have to be prioritized. Replacing the Massey Tunnel, no matter how congested, isn’t likely to wind up at the top of the list.
Coinciding with the bridge argument was an exchange over a new policy being developed on major projects where the emphasis will shift from the lowest bid to the “best bid.”
Liberals again targeted Trevena for her weak definition of what that means — “investing in the tangential future of this province.”
Horgan on Tuesday firmed it up: “We’re moving to best bids or community-benefits agreements so we can ensure the next generation of workers gets the skills training they need to replace the decrepit old people like those on that side of the house.”
Best bid is also likely to mean higher costs. If the NDP ever decides to proceed with a tunnel replacement, look for a scaled-down project.
