Maybe it will happen one day.
While the province moves full steam ahead with the George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project, a 10-lane bridge that also includes an extensive series of road projects on both sides of the Fraser River, the question of how soon rapid transit will be part of the bridge remains unclear.
The bridge design will include the capacity for adding rapid transit, most likely light rail, but the province has not committed to start such a service when the bridge opens in 2022, nor has it given any indication when that might happen.
The fact both TransLink and Metro Vancouver's Mayors' Council don't even have LRT connecting Richmond to South Delta and beyond on any longterm transit improvement list likely means it will be up to the province and feds to come up with the funding.
In a recent interview, accompanied by Premier Christy Clark, Coun. Ian Paton, who is running for the Liberals in Delta South in next May's election, said everyone would love to see rapid transit, but the priority, for now, should be on getting the bridge built.
Clark quipped that having two MLAs, including Delta North incumbent Scott Hamilton, would mean having two members of the legislature lobbying hard for such a project.
She said Surrey will get its LRT but she didn't want to speculate on any potential timeline for Delta. "We've got to think of the region as a whole and if it makes sense for LRT to come and if there's enough density and people that would use it. Certainly the Canada Line has turned out to be a phenomenal success, way higher usership than anyone had anticipated, so let's see how it grows," she said.
Construction of the $3.5-billion-bridge is to begin next year and be completed by 2022.
The project includes a rapid bus station at Highway 17A, but that's going to be constructed by the province.
