A wake-up call on infrastructure
Economic loss from road and rail closures after B.C. floods is estimated at $250-$400 million
Economic growth in British Columbia will face erosion from recent floods and slides that crippled transportation links, but the resilience of government and industry to keep supply chains open limits the damage, says an economist.
Vital road, rail and port links were severed for weeks when a series of record-breaking rains last month deluged southern B.C., flooding highways and farms and forcing about 15,000 people to evacuate their homes.
Ken Peacock, senior vice-president and chief economist at the Business Council of B.C., said he estimated the weather disaster will result in lost economic output for the province ranging from $250 million to $400 million.
“We’re sort of thinking maybe the direct impact of shutting down the highways, closing the rails, the Trans Mountain pipeline being down and then the retail impacts, we’re kind of thinking maybe threetenths of a percentage point,” he said. “It would shave off growth for 2021.”
He said the economic impact estimate does not forecast the repair and rebuilding costs, which the government has said will be massive.
The closing of highways and rail lines due to flooding and limited access to port facilities in Vancouver sent alarms to government and industry to quickly repair infrastructure and keep supply chains in operation, even if it meant moving goods on different highways or rail routes, said Peacock.
“One thing that has become very clear for sure for government and policy-makers is that this has been kind of not a warning but a very clear indicator of just how dependent we are on some infrastructure and transportation connections.”
The four-lane Coquihalla Highway, the major road transportation route to and from Vancouver, reopened to commercial traffic Dec. 20 after floods and slides damaged 20 sections of the highway, including seven bridges.
Officials at Vancouver’s port, the largest in Canada, said rail service is flowing smoothly again following major disruptions due to damaged rail lines.
James Thompson, vice-president of western operations for Canadian National Railway, said access to the Vancouver port was cut off from Nov. 14 to Dec. 4. It took 400 employees and 110 pieces of equipment working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to repair the tracks.
Thompson said the storm was a one of a kind event. But coming just months after wildfires in the same area that closed rail service, it only served as a reminder of the power of weather in the era of climate change.
“We do try and plan and build contingencies and resiliency into our network. But at the end of the day, I can’t say it any better than this: the railroad is an outdoor sport and Mother Nature makes the rules,” he said.