NDP starts review of tunnel gridlock

B.C.’s NDP government VICTORIA has quietly begun a promised review into solving traffic gridlock at the George Massey Tunnel, two months after it cancelled a replacement-bridge project in favour of further study.

Transportation Minister Claire Trevena sidestepped questions at the legislature Tuesday about what the Opposition Liberals dubbed her “phantom review” into the tunnel, which appeared to have neither begun nor have any terms of reference, according to her answers to Liberal critics.

But the Ministry of Transportation confirmed late Tuesday that it has already hired an individual to conduct the review, and that person has started examining material as the government puts the finishing touches on terms of reference. Trevena plans to brief Metro Vancouver mayors first before making the reviewer and the terms public, which is expected to be done shortly.

Trevena didn’t acknowledge any of that progress when being hammered by the Liberals on Tuesday in question period at the legislature. Instead, she refused to provide an update on the technical review into solutions for the aging tunnel, which is supposed to plot a solution to Metro’s worst traffic bottleneck and fix a tunnel that has been deemed seismically unsafe.

In September, Trevena cancelled the $3.5-billion, 10-lane bridge that had been proposed by the previous Liberal government. She said the bridge, which would have linked Delta and Richmond, wasn’t supported by most local mayors and pledged to explore whether it would be better to build an altered bridge, twinned tunnel or some other replacement.