Skip to content

Bridge’s future looks increasingly bleak

The signals look to be getting progressively worse when it comes to a bridge being built to replace the George Massey Tunnel. Last fall when the NDP suspended the $3.

The signals look to be getting progressively worse when it comes to a bridge being built to replace the George Massey Tunnel.

Last fall when the NDP suspended the $3.5-billion project and appointed Stan Cowdell to lead an independent technical review, it wasn’t a good sign, but at the same time it made sense that the new government would want to do its due diligence before writing that kind of cheque.

It has been harder to put a positive spin on the fact the government has had Cowdell’s report for months now but has refused to release it. Transportation Minister Claire Trevena originally said she would need the summer to review it, but given we’re now into November, it’s hard to believe an honest-to-goodness review of Cowdell’s findings is what’s holding things up.

But perhaps the most damning signal, and what could ultimately be the death knell of the former Liberal government mega project, is that the province wants to first discuss the report’s findings with Lower Mainland mayors. The Mayors’ Council is set to meet next week, and despite many new faces around that table following last month’s elections, I can’t imagine the group suddenly embracing a new crossing of the Fraser River.

With weighted votes and quid pro quo deal making, the Mayors’ Council is not about what’s best for the region, but what’s most beneficial to certain interests. There’s only so much money to go around when it comes to major infrastructure upgrades, cash other mayors would rather see expended on projects in their cities like a subway out to UBC or a SkyTrain extension through Surrey.

If the NDP defers to the region’s mayors and kills the plan for an improved crossing (bridge or tunnel) along the Highway 99 corridor, it’s not about giving local politicians a voice, it’s simply abdicating the responsibility of dealing with what’s routinely characterized as the biggest bottleneck in B.C. Metro mayors might not give a second thought to the growing congestion at the tunnel, but that doesn’t mean Trevena and Premier John Horgan should ignore it too.

Perhaps I’m reading too much into the signals, but something tells me that weeds will continue to grow in the fill that’s been piled alongside the highway.