Giant 10-foot-diameter pipes and a large hydro pole lie dormant at the Richmond and Delta ends of the George Massey Tunnel, awaiting a decision on where a BC Hydro transmission line will be built.
BC Hydro spent $25 million – out of a budget of $76 million – to replace a transmission line that runs in the ventilation shaft of the current tunnel with an overhead one when the plan was still to build a 10-lane bridge.
When the bridge plan was scrapped by the BC NDP government in 2017, the transmission line work also stopped.
Last week, the province announced the current tunnel will be replaced by an eight-lane immersed tube tunnel.
The pipes and poles worry Otto Langer, a Richmond environmentalist and retired DFO biologist, who would rather see a new transmission line be integrated into the new tunnel – especially for the safety of birds.
“If the old one had a transmission line, why can’t a new modern tunnel have one?” he told the Richmond News.
But he’s worried that since work on the aerial line was already started, that’s the route they’ll go, adding sometimes “it’s hard for society to reverse itself, even if it’s a mistake.”
The aerial line would be a “great risk” to birds and even aircraft, Langer said.
Not only had one-third of the project budget been spent, but another $6 million was needed to wind down the project and settle construction claims, according to BC Hydro.
Langer’s hope was the old tunnel would be kept as a utility tunnel, keeping the transmission line in its current place.
The province, however, is planning to decommission the current tunnel after the new one is built, saying it’s not seismically safe to keep.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is working with BC Hydro to relocate the existing line – once BC Hydro learns more about the project, they will be able to determine their options to replace the transmission line, BC Hydro said in a statement.
“We’ve held onto the material as we are waiting for direction from the Ministry on their project and will reassess what to do with them as we learn more about plans for the tunnel’s replacement,” the statement continued.
The new tunnel will cost $4.15 billion and is expected to be built by 2030. One lane in each direction will be dedicated for rapid buses. There will also be a separate tube for cyclists and pedestrians.
Work on the overhead line included clearing vegetation at three sites – in Richmond, Delta and Deas Island.
