Budget reveals a river of red ink under Port Mann

Tolled bridge’s fiscal forecast way off, expected to lose $262M over three years

The Port Mann Bridge is expected to lose another $90 million next year, failing to hit its original break-even projection and casting doubt on the viability of building a tolled bridge to replace the George Massey Tunnel.

New budget figures released this week estimate the Port MannHighway 1 expansion project will lose $262 million over the next three years. That includes $90 million in the coming 2017-18 fiscal year, beginning April 1, which was supposed to be when the toll bridge started turning a profit, according to the government’s estimates when it opened in 2012.

Instead, the new figures show the $3.3-billion Highway 1 bridge between Coquitlam and Surrey has lost $407 million in its first five years, with no sign of profitability in sight.

But Transportation Minister Todd Stone and bridge officials argue they are losing less money than their most recent estimates, and they’ve had encouraging growth in the number of drivers in the past year.

“We’re on plan with the Port Mann Bridge,” Stone said Thursday, referencing a revised 2014 strategy in which he lowered ridership and revenue estimates for the crossing.

“When the final budget was approved and began construction, we said the entire debt for this bridge would be paid off before 2050. That continues to be the case today.”

Since the Port Mann opened in December 2012, a larger-thanexpected number of drivers have detoured to the Pattullo Bridge to avoid tolls.

But traffic rebounded in 2016 because more drivers took the Port Mann to avoid recent lengthy repairs on the Pattullo, said Greg Johnson, spokesman for the Transportation Investment Corporation, which operates the Port Mann for the government.

Traffic numbers are growing as much as six per cent annually, Johnson said.

“That’s meeting our expectations,” he said. “We’re able to completely pay this project off with that kind of traffic growth.”

The Port Mann’s struggles highlight larger concerns about whether drivers are willing to pay tolls to cross Lower Mainland bridges, or will divert to non-tolled routes.

The region’s other tolled crossing, the Golden Ears Bridge, run by TransLink, lost $45.2 million in 2015.

Instead of a review on tolling, Tuesday’s B.C. budget began pouring the first major funding into the George Massey Bridge, a 10-lane megaproject to replace the Massey tunnel, which will also be funded by tolls on drivers.

The province will spend $592 million on the Massey bridge this coming year, according to the budget.

Metro mayors have plans to one day replace the Pattullo Bridge. If that plan includes tolls to recover costs, it would leave the Lower Mainland with only one free bridge across the Fraser River: the Alex Fraser, which could potentially create a traffic jam if drivers detour en masse to save money.

“The government just can’t seem to dig itself out of the hole,” NDP critic Claire Trevena said.

“The minister promised in 2013 that there would be a tolling policy at the end of the year. There’s been nothing from them, and no solution.”

Stone said Thursday it would “not be workable for the region” to have only one free bridge. But it’s likely four to five years before decisions and construction would begin on the Pattullo replacement, he said.