The first of three public open houses for the George Massey Tunnel replacement project drew 139 people on Wednesday at the Delta Town & Country Inn.
The province recently submitted its application to the B. C. Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) for an environmental certificate. An application review period of up to 180 days is now underway, which includes a 60-day public comment period from Aug. 3 to Oct. 3.
At the open house the public had the opportunity to review a number of information boards for each of the components that have been studied and to take a look at three models: the Steveston interchange, the Highway 17 interchange and a model of the bridge itself.
“It’s a pretty good turnout. People are asking a lot of questions and getting engaged in the process,” said director, planning Pam Ryan. “What we are seeing is similar to previous consultations, which is lots of support for the project, lots of questions about the specifics, what is going to change, how will I be affected as a resident or as a business owner. We certainly have some folks here today who are here with some concerns and they are not in favour, but overall, it pretty much is what we have seen so far.”
Project assessment manager Michael Shepard said they want to be fully engaged with the public and encouraged those who can’t make it out to an open house to submit their comments in writing.
“We read through every comment on the website and take each comment very seriously. Everyone has a different perspective,” he said. “Some are completely in favour of the project, others have concerns related to traffic impacts, or air quality impacts, noise or concerns about the project in general in that they would have liked to see a replacement tunnel rather than a bridge.”
He said over the next few months, the EAO would be working closely with a technical working group made up of local, provincial, federal and Aboriginal groups and work with them as they review the application.
Following the public comment period, a public consultation report will be prepared and posted to the EAO’s website. Following the application review, an assessment report will be drafted by the EAO and all materials will be submitted for a Minister’s decision, which will be to approve the project, reject the project, or ask for further review.
Les, a resident from Ladner said he was in favour of the project as long as the toll wasn’t off the charts.
“I’m old enough to remember the tolling on the Deas Tunnel, the Lions Gate Bridge and we all survived,” he said. “The good thing about this is you won’t have people idling in vehicles for hours on end. Access will be improved, and the noise will be less because it will be elevated, so it’s all plusses.”
MLA Vicki Huntington was also on hand, speaking with staff and talking with residents. She said it is vitally important the public is involved.
“This is one of the biggest projects since the South Fraser Perimeter Road and Terminal Two. It goes hand-in-hand with those two huge projects and it impacts the community enormously and people have to understand what that impact is and whether it will help or hinder the problem we’ve got with congestion,” Huntington said. “I see my job now, given the decision to proceed with a bridge appears to be made by the province, is to make sure what they promised Delta we get, that the impacts of construction are minimal, that it services the people of Delta properly and well and that the community is better in the long run for it rather than without it.”
The next open house is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 13 at the Sandman Signature Hotel in Richmond with a third open house on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at the Delta Town & Country Inn. All sessions run from 2 to 8 p.m.
For more information on the project and to provide comments, go to Eao.Gov.bc.ca or MasseyTunnel.ca.
