Premier Christy Clark was in Port Moody this morning along with the Transportation Minister and Federal Industry Minister to christen the tunnel boring machine and give an update on the project’s progress.
The 11 kilometre Skytrain expansion will link Coquitlam to the Millennium Line and is set to open in 2016.
It was announced today that the tunnel boring machine has been named “Alice,” after Alice Wilson, the first female geologist in Canada.
The 2 kilometre tunnel portion will run from east of the Barnet Highway in Port Moody to south of Kemsley Avenue in Coquitlam.
Once complete, the Evergreen Line will be the longest rapid transit system in Canada.
It will take 13 minutes to travel between Lougheed Town Centre and Coquitlam Centre on the Evergreen Line, and 40 minutes from Coquitlam Centre to downtown Vancouver.
The province expects the Evergreen Line to carry 70,000 passengers and remove 40,000 vehicles off the road every day by 2020.
Construction of the $1.43 billion project has created 8,000 direct and in-direct jobs, according to Premier Christy Clark.
Federal Industry Minister and Pt. Moody-Westwood-Pt. Coquitlam MP James Moore says it’s the largest-ever infrastructure project in the community.
“More transportation choices, fewer cars on the road — this project will have a trans formative impact. This is something that has been fought for — for a very long time.”
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