B.C. Conservatives say Massey bridge plan would fund new Surrey hospital

B.C. Conservative Leader Lorne Doerkson says replacing the aging George Massey Tunnel with a bridge would free up money to build a women’s and children’s hospital south of the Fraser. At a Friday, Oct. 16, news conference in Port Moody, he expanded on the party’s announcement the previous day: scrap the planned eight-lane replacement tunnel in favour of a 10-lane “George Massey Bridge,” finish Surrey Hospital in Cloverdale, which is already under construction and expected to open in early 2030, and build a new women’s and children’s hospital in Surrey.

Thursday’s release said a bridge could cut current commute times by up to 30 minutes and help businesses move goods more efficiently. It gave no estimate for the bridge’s cost or completion date. In August 2021, the BC NDP government announced the Fraser River Tunnel Project: a toll-free, eight-lane immersed-tube tunnel with one dedicated transit lane in each direction and a separate multi-use path for walking, cycling and other active transportation. The crossing is planned immediately upstream of the 65-year-old George Massey Tunnel. Its original price tag was $4.15 billion, revised to $8.5 billion in July 2026. It was initially expected to be completed in late 2030; this year, the date changed to September 2031.

Doerkson said Friday that a new bridge would cost $6 billion and take five years to build. He called it “more affordable” and said it could be “completed more quickly.” He said the $2.5 billion saved compared with a new tunnel would pay for the women’s and children’s hospital. The Reporter asked how he arrived at the cost and timeline estimates at Friday’s news conference but did not receive an answer to that question. After several emails to Conservative media relations director Alex Shiff on Thursday and Friday, Shiff replied Friday afternoon that the figures followed “speaking to experts in the construction industry and those involved with original proposal.”

Doerkson said it was time to “cut bait” on the tunnel plan, which is still awaiting environmental approval expected later this year. He called the project a “pipe dream” that is “not happening at this point,” and alleged it “might not ever get built.” He asked how long people should wait for an environmental permit and how many more billions should go into a project he said was “completely off the rails.” He said he was committed to the bridge plan and had enlisted professionals in British Columbia to help. Though he said he was not a bridge builder, he said people in the industry had told him it was the right thing to do. He added that residents were telling him to get it done because they could not sit in traffic any longer.

Doerkson repeatedly referred to a decade-old plan by the then-BC Liberal-led government for a 10-lane bridge between Richmond and Delta, scrapped by the incoming BC NDP in 2017. That plan was estimated to cost $3.5 billion, or about $4.5 billion in today’s dollars after inflation, and had a 2022 completion date. Doerkson said the crossing should have been a bridge, completed three or four years ago at a third of the cost now being discussed. He said the NDP changed course “for whatever bizarre reason” and that there was an opportunity to build the bridge in five years.

It is unclear whether Doerkson’s description of the bridge as “completed more quickly” means before the tunnel project, which is already underway. Five years from election night would be late October 2031, roughly when the tunnel is now due to be completed. It is also unclear whether he intends to revive the scrapped design from more than a decade ago or, as critics suggest, “start from scratch.” Asked to clarify, Shiff said the five-year construction period would begin “as soon as possible” and be an “immediate priority.” He also said the party’s commitment is to a 10-lane bridge based on the previously developed project, not a new design from scratch.

BC NDP Leader David Eby called Doerkson’s bridge promise “lunacy” in comments to media Thursday, saying the Conservative leader had “no plan” and alleging that scrapping the tunnel would add years to the timeline. Eby said 200 workers were on the site as construction began and that large metal structures could be seen going up from the road. Work so far includes tree clearing, utility relocations and several pieces of temporary infrastructure supporting the project. Much of that work has taken place on Deas Island, where a casting basin for tunnel sections is being built. Infrastructure improvements along Highway 99 have also been completed, and major tunnel work is scheduled to begin in 2027.

Eby said Doerkson would cancel the project, send the workers home and start over with a new plan, environmental assessment, procurement process and contractors. He questioned whether drivers would be left stranded for years and called the proposal “lunacy.” Speaking with reporters at the Deas Island worksite Friday, Eby said a $3-billion federal investment in the new tunnel, secured through a deal between the province and Ottawa signed July 2, would be “vaporized” if the Conservatives proceeded with the bridge. He said Doerkson had offered “no explanation of where they would get that money from,” and suggested a Conservative government would return to the BC Liberals’ tolling plan for the new bridge. Eby called abandoning the project at this stage the “stupidest idea” he had heard, said the tunnel was being built to help people get to and from work, and challenged Doerkson to visit the site and tell workers he was firing them and sending them home.

Two trade unions echoed Eby’s concerns. The International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115 and LiUNA Local 1611 said switching plans would mean “wasting” the $581 million already spent on the project. Doerkson brushed off Eby’s and the unions’ criticism Friday, saying “of course they’re critical,” and said a Conservative government would work closely with the federal government to do everything possible to retain the funding. In an emailed response to the Reporter, Shiff said Eby was “the last person in British Columbia who gets to lecture anyone about setting the Massey crossing back years.” Shiff said the NDP cancelled a bridge project in 2017 when crews were on site and tens of millions of dollars had already been spent. He said the government then studied the issue for years before choosing a tunnel that has still not been built. Nine years later, Shiff said, commuters remain in the same tunnel they used when the NDP took office and there is not one new lane across the Fraser to show for it. He blamed the NDP for every year of delay.