Last week’s announcement about delays in completing the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension wasn’t a surprise — but the 50 per cent jump in costs was.
It’s been obvious to anyone travelling along Fraser Highway that construction of the SkyTrain line is proceeding at a snail’s pace. Just one example — the White Spot in Willowbrook, just east of the Surrey-Langley boundary, closed in December. The land is needed for a SkyTrain station. Nine months later, demolition is just starting.
Earlier this year, it was announced that there would be delays on the Broadway SkyTrain extension. That project is shorter but much more complex — it is underground most of the distance. Construction started in 2020, and intense work has been underway for more than two years. It was originally slated to be open by 2025. In 2022, that opening date was pushed back a year. In May, it was pushed back another year, to 2027.
When that announcement was made, it seemed pretty obvious that the Surrey-Langley project, which is longer but fully above-ground, would also be delayed. It is now set to open sometime in 2029.
As to the costs, the new SkyTrain line is now expected to cost just under $6 billion. Coupled with delays to other much-needed Lower Mainland transportation projects — the Pattullo Bridge replacement, the Massey Tunnel replacement and the expansion of Highway 1 through the Fraser Valley — taxpayers are not only shouldering much higher costs but will also remain stuck in traffic years longer
Every single project has been delayed from the originally announced completion dates.
In the case of the Massey tunnel project, preliminary work on a bridge was underway when the 2017 provincial election was called. The incoming NDP government cancelled the project entirely and has now elected to replace it with a tunnel. When construction work on the actual tunnel will begin has not been made clear, but the government has announced an opening date of 2030.
The NDP government’s management of all these projects will be under close scrutiny by voters in the Oct. 19 provincial election. Seats in Surrey, Delta, Richmond, New Westminster, Langley and further up the valley are all critical to the NDP’s re-election efforts.
While the government cannot be faulted for inflation, or for COVID-19, its policy on construction has definitely boosted costs. The Community Benefits Agreements it touts restrict who can bid on projects, guaranteeing higher costs. These are in addition to the pressures of inflation, supply chain delays and a shortage of workers.
In the case of the Pattullo Bridge replacement, taxpayers are paying a minimum of $1.377 billion to replace an aging four-lane bridge with a new four-lane bridge. There is no provision for transit lanes, although the bridge can be expanded to six lanes eventually.
It seems little has changed since the original bridge opened in 1937.
Taxpayers will have to judge for themselves what they think of the current government’s approach to all these much-needed projects.
Frank Bucholtz writes every second week for Black Press Media publications.
