Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
The B.C. Conservative Party says it will replace Metro Vancouver’s aging George Massey Tunnel with a new 10-lane bridge, if elected.
The move would mean scrapping the NDP’s plans to replace the crossing with a $8.5-billion eight-lane tunnel.
Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson announced the plan in a news release on Thursday.
“After nine years of David Eby and the NDP, British Columbia stopped building,” Doerkson said in a statement.
“Families in the Lower Mainland are stuck in traffic every day because the NDP cancelled a bridge that should already be open. My government will build it, on time and on budget.”
WATCH | Ottawa commits $3B to George Massey Tunnel replacement:
Delta, Richmond mayors want B.C. to step up for Massey Tunnel replacement
The Conservatives did not provide a cost estimate for the bridge proposal.
But the party called the NDP’s tunnel a “boondoggle,” noting the projected cost had more than doubled from an initial estimate of $4.15 billion.
NDP Leader David Eby described the Conservative’s proposal as “lunacy,” speaking at a campaign event Thursday, saying 200 workers were already at the site.
“The construction has started. We have a $3-billion financing commitment from the federal government to help pay for it. We’ll lose that,” Eby said.
Eby said the Conservative’s plan would mean another year or two of delays to the project, as it underwent a new environmental assessment and procurement process.
The Conservative’s proposal would represent a new twist in the tunnel replacement saga, which dates back well over a decade.
WATCH | Eby defends dropping Massey Tunnel contractor:
Premier Eby defends decision to nix deal with Massey Tunnel replacement contractor
The former B.C. Liberal government had intended to replace the tunnel with a $3.5-billion 10-lane bridge, with construction slated for 2017.
However, the NDP scrapped that plan when it came to power under John Horgan that same year. The NDP eventually announced its own plan for a modern tunnel crossing in 2021.
In June, the province terminated its contract with the major design-build consortium selected for the project.
In July, it said procurement would be decided in 2027, and that it had pushed back its anticipated completion date from 2030 to 2031.
Conservatives pitch new Surrey hospital
Along with a new bridge, the B.C. Conservatives pledged Thursday to build a new women and children’s hospital in Surrey.
Construction is already underway on a new 168-bed hospital and cancer centre in Surrey’s Cloverdale neighbourhood.
Since it was announced, the cost of that project has risen from $1.72 billion to $2.88 billion, and its completion date has been pushed back from 2027 to 2030.
The Conservatives said they would complete the Cloverdale facility “on time and on budget.”
The party did not provide a cost estimate or details of the proposed women and children’s hospital.