The budget for the project to replace the George Massey Tunnel has more than doubled to $8.5 billion.
The original price tag was $4.15 billion
The completion date for the project has also been pushed back from December 2030 to September 2031.
However, construction is still projected to start next year.
B.C.’s Minister of Transportation and Transit, Mike Farnworth, announced the news on Monday, saying that the federal government will contribute up to $3 billion in capital costs toward construction of the new toll-free, eight-lane tunnel.
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“The original estimate was done in the business case period of 2021 and obviously an estimate gets refined as you work on the design process,” Farnworth said.
“When we arrived where we are now with the price of 8.5, we consulted with both experts in terms of the design-build construction area, marine construction, validated by a third party outside of what the cost should be.”
In June, the province said it was unable to reach an agreement with its original contractor, ‘Cross Fraser Partnership,’ and separated the project into different components for local companies to bid on.
Despite a change in the procurement model, Farnworth claims construction work hasn’t slowed down and the tunnel’s design remains unchanged.
Has the NDP consulted with the stewards/owners of the land?. Better add another billion or two to these numbers.
8 billion now will be 12 billion when they finish plus delays.
Got to be the worst government B.C. has ever had.
I always thought that the lower mainland being so green and anti fossil fuels that they didnt need bridges or tunnels. gasp, the carbon footprint involved.
There goes another month of rent to taxes
“The proposed 10-lane George Massey Bridge to replace the aging Massey Tunnel in British Columbia had an original estimated cost of $3.5 billion.”
As you remember, that project was scrapped in 2017. Had it not been, that bridge would have been completed and operational years ago.
Bull
And just like that Surrey gets its sixth new bridge. Meanwhile, on the North Shore, we go begging to an indifferent NDP govt to please twin the Ironworkers bridge
Is Farnsworth willing to bet his career on the numbers he is presenting today? The real numbers in the end will be $12 billion plus. The NDP has never delivered any project on budget or on time. It’s better to wait to get them out of government and go back to a 10-lane bridge.