Metro Vancouver meets with West End residents over controversial water tunnel

Metro Vancouver is hosting a community open house in Vancouver’s West End to provide updates on a controversial major infrastructure project.

The regional district is gearing up to start work replacing a nearly century-old water main that runs beneath the Burrard Inlet and Stanley Park, serving Vancouver, Richmond and Delta.

Crews will be carving out a 1.4-km tunnel 30 metres beneath the earth.

1:57 Construction on new tunnel in Stanley Park approved

Metro Vancouver says the replacement tunnel is necessary to ensure a reliable water supply, but many West End residents have raised concerns about the impacts of construction in their neighbourhood.

“I live three-quarters of a mile from here but I think for these people it’s going to just decimate their lives,” said West End resident Robert Mouat.

“For five years it’s going to be terrible.”

The work will be primarily conducted at three sites in Stanley Park, where crews will dig deep shafts to the tunnel construction level.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The primary work site is at a works yard near the centre of the park, while a second site is closer to the inlet.

The site causing the most concern for residents is on Chilco Street where the park borders the West End.

Metro Vancouver major tunnel projects director Murray Gant said the district has conducted years of public engagement and has structured work at that site to avoid as much disruption as possible.

2:16 Stanely Park neighbours worried about huge water tunnel project

“Initially it will just be setting up site fencing and relocating the pedestrian and bike paths around the site, and then clearing the site and getting it ready for valve chamber construction and shaft construction, which will happen in the years to come,” he said.

“The project has been designed to reduce impacts as much as possible to park users, the residents, as well as traffic.”

Gant conceded, however, that there will be traffic impacts as trucks use a designated route that includes parts of West Georgia, Denman, Alberni and Robson streets to access the Chilco site.

“We were actually hoping to move away before they’d start construction and so we’ll be out of here by January and I’m quite glad that we will be because of the noise and stuff,” West End resident Ashley Jones told Global News.

“It’s unfortunate, but it’s needed to get good clean water.”

The first phase of construction at the park centre site is slated to begin later this month, while work at the Chilco site won’t start until early in the new year.

2:16 Businesses and residents worry about Stanley Park tunnel project

Construction is slated to take place six days a week.

Metro Vancouver said access to the Stanley Park tennis courts and a community garden will be preserved, and bike and pedestrian pathways will be maintained through the construction area.

The worksite near the Burrard Inlet, meanwhile, will require the closure of one lane of Stanley Park Drive for about 200 metres.

Construction on the $495-million project is slated to wrap in 2029.