The Ministry of Transportation and Transit said twice recently, that a River Road overpass across Hwy. 99 is not part of the Fraser River Tunnel Project.
City of Delta Coun. Dylan Kruger disagrees.
“This is absolutely a provincial project. There is no way this has ever been, or ever will be, a municipal project,” Kruger said.
“This was a promise that was made to the people of Delta,” and was part of the original 10-lane bridge, cancelled by the NDP in favour of an eight-lane tunnel.
The River Road overpass was included in the early drawings for the tunnel then “magically” disappeared, Kruger said.
The overpass would allow motorists to exit Ladner northbound and connect on to 60th Avenue, then Hwy. 17A.
Now to say that it’s suddenly a municipal project is “totally false,” Kruger said.
He pointed out that the Fraser River tunnel is not mentioned in the mandate letter from the premier to current transportation minister Mike Farnworth.
“It’s very clear that this has not been a priority for the government,” Kruger said. “Somebody needs to answer a lot of questions that have come up."
The long-simmering issue was reheated after departing MP Carla Qualtrough recently said the federal government offered, “hundreds of millions” of dollars for the Fraser River Tunnel Project. She didn’t disclose the amount.
Kruger said the provincial government should have accepted the money, put it towards the overpass, then ask for more later.
The ministry said March 27, that the finance minister and premier have previously asked Ottawa to pay up to half the $4.15-billion cost for the tunnel project, and did so as early as March 2021.
The ministry noted that the federal government is paying 40 percent of a subway project in Toronto and about 30 percent of the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension.
The Massey Tunnel project seems stalled because the province is blaming the federal government for not helping fund the project, he said.
“I just … think it’s a convenient excuse for the province to break their promise to the people of Delta,” Kruger said.
The ministry though said no such offer of help has come from Ottawa.
It noted that the awarding of government funding is a formal process that requires approvals at all levels.
“No formal offer, written or verbal, was presented to the Province of B.C. for a contribution to the Fraser River Tunnel Project,” the transportation ministry said in a March 27 statement.
“As we’ve previously responded, a River Road crossing is not in the scope of the Fraser River Tunnel Project.”
However, the southbound exit from Hwy. 99 on to River Road toward Ladner will be maintained, and an overpass could be added later, the ministry has said.
Ian Paton, Conservative MLA for Delta South, said in a release that the province not accepting the money offered by Ottawa was “inexcusable,” warning that without a second exit, “Delta residents will continue to face massive traffic congestion and emergency response delays.”
MLAs Steve Kooner and Paton both called on the BC NDP to accept the federal money and ensure a second exit out of Ladner, in a March 21 news release.
“Rejecting federal funding and failing to include a River Road overpass is a complete failure of leadership. The province must act now and get this project right,” Paton said.
