Port Mann Fumble
The Port Mann Bridge is a prime example where a government replaces a perfectly good bridge with a multi billion dollar vanity project.
Other examples were the Expo Line, the Millennium Line, the Canada Line, the Fast Ferries, and most recently the BC Place retractable roof.
With the Port Mann Bridge vanity project, would it not have been better to just twin the Port Mann spend the balance on a new road/rail bridge replacing the Patullo and the decrepit Fraser River Rail Bridges?
Ai??
From Integrity BC:
Irene Kerr, president and CEO, Transportation Investment Corporation took exception to one point in our recent commentary on the reckless rush to sign the Port Mann Bridge deal, writing in a letter to The Province newspaper:
ai???The total budget project is and always has been $3.3 billion. That’s the only budget figure ever approved.ai???
That may be true for the ai???budget,ai??? but it’s not true for the first, second or third estimates, unless the government was fudging the numbers to get public buy-in.
So once again, here are the original estimates, starting with the 2006/07 BC Budget (caps our emphasis):
B. C. Budget and Fiscal Plan 2006/07ai??i??2008/09, February 21, 2006:
ai???Among the major components of the Lower Mainland plan are improvements to roads and bridges referred to as the North Fraser Perimeter Road…estimated to cost $400 million; a new South Fraser Perimeter Road with a projected cost of $800 million; and, the twinning of the Port Mann Bridge with AN ESTIMATED COST OF $1.5 BILLION.ai???
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Vancouver Sun, January 31, 2006: ai???$1.5 BILLION IS FOR THE TWINNING OF THE PORT MANN BRIDGE AND THE HIGHWAY THAT LEADS TO IT.ai???ai???This includes construction of an additional two lanes on Highway 1 and the Port Mann Bridge twinning, which will mean a second, new bridge supported by cables. It includes bicycle lanes and an engineering plan allowing for the future inclusion of a light-transit railway line when merited by the population and traffic.ai???
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Bidders line up to twin the Port Mann Bridge and collect the tolls, Vancouver Sun, June 26, 2007:ai???The government estimates the cost of all this at $1.5 billion in 2007 dollars. Given the way construction costs are rising, THE FINAL TAB WILL PROBABLY EXCEED $2 BILLION by the scheduled completion in 2013.ai???
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P3 Agreement Finally Reached for Port Mann Bridge, ReNew Canada Magazine, February 6, 2009:ai???But the estimated cost at that time (based on information from Partnerships BC) was $1.6 billion. THE COST NOW? AROUND $2.4 BILLION.ai???
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For Irene Kerr’s complete letter-to-the-editor:http://blogs.theprovince.com/ai??i??/letters-juno-beach-remembraai??i??/
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Sources:www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/ai??i??/managingsuccessmakingthemostofbritai??i??
www.canada.com/story_print.htmlai??i??
http://www.canada.com/story.htmlai??i??
http://renewcanada.net/ai??i??/p3-agreement-finally-reached-for-ai??i??/
http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/ai??i??/2007OTP0151-001241-Attachment1ai??i??
Of course it would ‘make sense to twin the Port Mann and use the rest to upgrade the Patullo etc’. But this government has never been renowned for its sense, common or otherwise.
The original tenders (3 were ‘qualified’) were for twinning. It wasn’t until Kiewit mysteriously qualified for the replacement scheme that we were endowed with this vanity project.
Will the next be Site C? Then the Dees crossing bridge?
All done without a scrap of paper or business plan! Amazing!
They completed the Panama Canal expansion for 5.3 billion…..and we get a bridge between Coquitlam and Surrey for 3.3 billion….and dont tell me it was all to do with labour cost….the BC Liberals would never make it as purchasing agents in the private sector.
Aren’t we fortunate to have a business-like government? And with Christy and Rich selling all that LNG to distinguised Asian businessmen, we’ll soon be rolling in dough! And think of all the money saved by not keeping any records!
As the old song went, “The country’s in the very best of hands”!
Oh, yes, have you noticed how Mike deJong has gone into hibernation? A future leadership convention crosses rhe mind of this aging cynic!