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The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure of British Columbia (Canada) has submitted its application to the Provincial Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) for an environmental certificate to construct the George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project under the Fraser River.

An application review period of up to 180 days will now begin. This review period will include a 60-day public comment period on the application, with three public open houses. The 60-day public comment period is from Aug. 3 to Oct. 3, 2016.

In addition to the open houses, comments can be submitted online during the public comment period at: www.eao.gov.bc.ca/pcp/index.html

The intention of seeking public comments is to ensure that all potential effects – environmental, economic, social, heritage and health – that might result from the project are identified for consideration as part of the assessment process.

The EAO is a neutrally administered office that is required by law to undertake rigorous, thorough reviews of major projects proposed in British Columbia. These reviews provide significant opportunities for Aboriginal groups, government agencies and the public to inform the EAO’s assessment of the potential environmental, economic, social, heritage and health effects of a project.  

The EAO is also seeking advice from a technical working group comprised of provincial government agencies (Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Agricultural Land Commission, Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health), federal government agencies (Transport Canada, Port Metro Vancouver, Environment and Climate Change Canada), Aboriginal groups, and local governments. Consultation with the technical working group will continue throughout the environmental assessment.

The project involves design, build, partially finance, operate, maintain (DBFOM)  of a new 10 lanes 3.3 km cable-stay bridge, the replacement of three key interchanges, and the upgrade of 24 km of the Highway 99. The bridge will have four general traffic lanes, one lane dedicated for high occupancy vehicles (HOV) and transit, and a multi-use pathway for pedestrians. It will also accommodate future SkyTrain line extension. 

The new bridge will replace the 1959-opened George Massey Tunnel under the Fraser River. It will be used by approximately 10,000 transit passengers and 80,00 vehicles per day. The new additional lanes are expected to increase the capacity alleviating the traffic and reducing collisions by an estimated 35%.

The concession contact will have a period of 30 years and the total project investment is estimated at CAD$3.5 billion (US$2.7 billion). 

The George Massey Tunnel is nearing the end of its life and is an impediment to safe, efficient movement of goods and people along Highway 99. The tunnel has about 10 years left before the major components, like the lighting, ventilation and pumping systems, will need to be replaced.