While it supports a much-needed rail underpass that it describes as “critical infrastructure,” the City of Pitt Meadows will not fork out up to $50 million to help the project cross the finish line.
Councillors voted unanimously on Tuesday to reaffirm their commitment to the Harris Road Underpass Project, but declined the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s request to become a funding partner and provide 25 per cent of project costs. Residents who have spoken against Pitt Meadows’ financial involvement have cited a “long-term tax burden” as a concern.
“Council will continue to proactively advocate for federal funding to help close the funding gap and has received strong regional and provincial support for this critical project that advances national, provincial, regional, and local interests,” Pitt Meadows Mayor Nicole MacDonald said in a Wednesday news release.
Once constructed, the Harris Road Underpass Project would separate road and rail traffic at Harris Road, reducing congestion on the road that currently intersects Canadian Pacific Rail’s corridor. According to the Port of Vancouver, a single train crossing at the intersection can block traffic for an average of three minutes, with up to 40 rail crossing each weekday.
The proposed project includes a new four-lane underpass below the CP crossing at Harris Road and a new two-lane overpass on Kennedy Road over the main rail line entrance to CP’s Vancouver Intermodal Facility. Construction was slated to begin this year, with completion in 2027 at the earliest.
When the project was first announced in 2018, its estimated cost was $63.3 million, without municipal dollars. Project costs have now more than tripled to over $195 million.
On the Port of Vancouver’s website, the federal government, port authority and CP are listed as funding partners.
In a Wednesday statement, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority said it is “disappointed” in the Pitt Meadow council’s decision and is reviewing the future of the project.
“The proposed underpass is located outside of the port authority’s jurisdiction, at the intersection of a CP owned and operated rail corridor and City of Pitt Meadows owned and operated roadway,” it wrote.
“As such, our role is to facilitate partnership and collaboration between project partners with relevant jurisdictions and to provide partial funding to help ensure this project, of local and national importance, can be realized.”
The port authority said it remains committed to a meaningful relationship with the municipality.
Last month, the port authority went before Pitt Meadows councillors to outline affordability challenges with the project, including higher construction costs, inflation, new seismic design and code requirements, and more challenging environmental and archaeological conditions. It indicated that without municipal funding support it can’t break ground on the project.
According to the municipality, borrowing $49.6 million over 30 years to meet the port’s funding request would have resulted in a tax increase of about $9,000 for the average single-family home.
“If the Harris Road underpass does not go forward, Pitt Meadows would not receive noise mitigation nor the relocation of heritage buildings, and CP still has the right to build additional tracks within their right-of-way,” Pitt Meadows said in a news release after the March 28 presentation by the port authority.
“This will mean a continued increase in train traffic and delays at the Harris Road crossing.”
On Wednesday, MacDonald said greenlighting the city’s contribution would have set an “unreasonable precedent to rely on a municipality to fund large-scale infrastructure projects that fall within federal jurisdiction and support the national trade corridor.”
Pitt Meadows has fewer than 20,000 residents and its entire 2023 budget, approved in December, was about $50 million.
CP declined to comment on the story, referring the matter to the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
— with files from Simon Little and Jennifer Palma