These could be the final days for the George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project.
Premier Christy Clark's Liberal government's Throne Speech tomorrow will begin a debate, expected to last several days, which will likely culminate in the NDP-Green alliance defeating the minority government on a confidence vote. Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon would then decide whether to call an election or ask New Democrat Leader John Horgan to govern. The latter is expected.
Where that leaves the $3.5-billion bridge across the south arm of the Fraser River is still unclear but uncertainty over whether the project, which has already commenced, will be halted persists.
Horgan has not stated whether he'd stop the project, but has said it's not likely the best plan and that he would defer the issue to the region's mayors.
Green Leader Andrew Weaver has said a second tunnel would be "much cheaper" and has also said that the new bridge was not part of an overall transportation plan.
The region's mayors, as well as Metro Vancouver, have already stated their opposition, indicating the 10-lane bridge is unnecessary, leaving Delta and its wholehearted support on its own.
Delta South Liberal MLA Ian Paton came out swinging against Horgan last week over the potential demise of the project, saying killing infrastructure spending for the sake of pursuing the NDP-Green alliance political interests is putting the province's future at risk.
"The fact is that after years of consultation, we need a tunnel replacement urgently, and if you are sitting in traffic daily, you want a solution ASAP. By tossing aside years of consultation, planning and design work Horgan is essentially saying he is not interested in representing folks in Delta, or B.C. for that matter," Paton said.
In a letter to the Richmond News last week, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie reiterated his opposition, saying "strengthening and twinning the existing tunnel while making significant investment in more public rail and/or bus transit would be a far more cost-effective and environmentally-appropriate solution."
The bridge plan would shift the current northbound traffic bottleneck to the Oak Street Bridge, he claimed.
Delta Mayor Lois Jackson has expressed frustration the project could be stopped, saying there's been much misinformation spread. Earlier this year, she countered "myths" she said were being spread by Richmond and bridge opponents.
The municipality is preparing a report that will be provided to the Greens and NDP outlining the necessity to continue with the project. Coun. Sylvia Bishop said something needs to be done.
"What nobody talks about, except those who live south of the tunnel, is what are we going to do about congestion northbound at the tunnel and southbound at the end of the day at the tunnel. Nobody seems to want to talk about how to solve that," said Bishop.
"Something has to happen. Either give us more buses and make them run frequently enough so they're an incentive or come up with a better plan. Don't tell us we can't have the bridge because the majority of the mayors don't want it," she said. "Of course they don't want it, they want projects in their areas north of the Fraser."
Bishop noted it's too early to speculate whether things could change with Clark's recent reversal of the position that any changes to municipal transit funding in Metro Vancouver need to be passed in a referendum. Such a reversal could create dollars the other mayors want for their own transit priorities, but it's not clear if that would save the tunnel replacement project.
