Richmond drivers can expect to see construction crews at the Highway 99 interchange near Bridgeport as early as this month.
As part of the George Massey corridor work, quick-access lanes for buses will be added onto the interchange and new multi-use pathways will be built to connect the Oak Street Bridge to the City of Richmond’s cycling and pedestrian network.
This past summer, the provincial government finally announced it was replacing the George Massey Tunnel with an eight-lane immersed tube tunnel to the tune of $4.15 billion and with a completion date of 2030.
Originally, a 10-lane bridge was planned to replace the George Massey Tunnel, but this was scrapped in 2017 by the then-newly formed BC NDP government.
The new plan includes three lanes for regular traffic in each direction and one dedicated rapid-bus lane each way.
Currently, with the counter-flow lanes, there are three lanes of traffic for rush-hour traffic, but there are no dedicated bus lanes.
Steveston-Richmond MLA Kelly Greene defended the current plan, even with fewer lanes than the previous 10-lane bridge option.
“When you widen highways, you induce demand,” Greene said. “Your benefit of having more lanes is very short-lived.”
Greene cited the example of Los Angeles, which has an extensive highway network across its metropolitan area.
“L.A. opted to add more and more lanes to their highways and never added capacity for transit,” she said. “So, you have an endless traffic jam… and you don’t have any other options.”
While the 10-lane bridge option would have included future rail possibilities, the current plan doesn’t.
Greene said rapid-bus capacity is more flexible so that when populations move in the region, bus routes can be adjusted.
She added the regional mayors’ plan and TransLink’s plans are “quite accurate” at projecting how many people will need to travel in the future, and rapid bus routes can be flexible and “adaptive” as populations move around.
In addition to the Highway 99 interchange improvements, the Steveston interchange will also be rebuilt with five lanes. This is expected to open in 2025. (Cycling and bus-lane upgrades will also be done to Highway 99 in Delta.)
Currently, the Steveston interchange plan in the request-for-proposals stage, and construction is expected to start this summer.
Construction of the tunnel itself is expected to begin in 2025 after an environmental review. Its projected completion date is 2030.
