On October 2^nd , a Metro Vancouver committee, created to provide input to the British Colombia provincial government on a new Massey crossing, has recommended that the existing 629 m George Massey Tunnel should be replaced with an eight-lane immersed-tube tunnel. Two of which will be dedicated to transit. Currently traffic is exceeding the George Massey Tunnel’s capacity, resulting in excessive travel times, delays, poor service and reliability, particularly in the non-counterflow direction during peak hours.

The George Massey tunnel replacement project was established to improve transportation along the Highway 99 corridor, a major trucking route between Vancouver and the U.S. border, from Highway 91 in Delta to the north end of Richmond.

The task force considered the following 6 options for the replacement of the crossing between Richmond and Delta:

-              6-lane bridge, plus 2 traffic lanes and multi-use path (MUP) in existing tunnel

-              6-lane bored tunnel, plus 2 traffic lanes and MUP in existing tunnel

-              6-lane immersed tube tunnel, plus 2 traffic lanes and MUP in existing tunnel

-              8-lane bridge with MUP

-              8-lane bored tunnel, plus MUP in existing tunnel

-              8-lane immersed tube tunnel, plus MUP in new or existing tunnel

A deep-bored tunnel would cost three times as much as other options, and a bridge could cause adverse visual and noise impacts to surrounding communities.

The immersed-tube tunnel option has been projected to cost about the same as the bridge option. Immersed tube tunnel construction refers to the use of prefabricated tunnel segments which are moved to the construction site and assembled in the river. The immersed-tube tunnel would cost a third of the money it would take to build a deep-bore tunnel.

It would require one kilometre of tunnelling, a large staging area, and the removal of 1.5 million cubic metres of salt-contaminated soil.

Click here for the presentation at the Task Force Meeting in Oct 2, 2019, here for a video and for more detailed information please visit https://engage.gov.bc.ca/masseytunnel/overview/.

41/19.