Tri-City News
An eight-lane immersed tube tunnel replacing the four-lane George Massey Tunnel is the preferred option of a Metro Vancouver committee examining the controversial congested crossing.
The endorsement came Wednesday following a presentation by the Ministry of Transportation of alternative crossing options to the previously planned 10-lane bridge, which was scuttled in 2017 by incoming BC NDP Transportation Minister Claire Trevena.
The tunnel connects Delta to Richmond along Highway 99, a major trucking route between Vancouver and the U.S. border. Committee members Delta Mayor George Harvie and Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie both said the immersed tube would be a better overall option than a scaled-down eight-lane bridge that would have noise pollution and be a visual eyesore. This is in spite of the fact a new environmental assessment will be needed to dig a new trench in the salmon-bearing Fraser River to accommodate the dropped concrete tubes. Both options would cost about the same, the committee was told. …