October 10, 2012

Preferred proponent named for Evergreen Line

The Evergreen Line Rapid Transit Project is a $1.4 billion project that will link the cities of Burnaby, Port Moody and Coquitlam with an 11-kilometre advanced light rapid transit line between Lougheed Town Centre in Burnaby and Douglas College in Coquitlam.

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

The B.C. government has selected the preferred proponent to oversee and finalize the agreement for the design, construction and financing of the Evergreen Line Rapid Transit project in Metro Vancouver.

“It’s great to see this project get in the works because this billion dollar project will be very good for the industry,” said Manley McLachlan, president of the British Columbia Construction Association.

“The province has another major project, but this one is in the Lower Mainland. From our perspective this is great news because this type of project sustains construction.”

SNC-Lavalin Inc. has been selected by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure as the preferred proponent.

The $1.4 billion project will link the cities of Burnaby, Port Moody and Coquitlam with an 11-kilometre advanced light rapid transit line between Lougheed Town Centre in Burnaby and Douglas College in Coquitlam.

The B.C. Government is contributing $583 million in funding for the project and will also oversee construction of the project.

The Government of Canada is contributing up to $417 million.

TransLink is contributing $400 million and will operate the Evergreen Line when it is complete.

“The private sector financing details will be made public, when the deal is finalized,” said Jennifer Davies, spokesperson for Partnerships BC., the Crown corporation that is involved with the planning, delivery and oversight of major infrastructure projects in the province.

“Early work has been going on for a while and construction will not start until a deal is struck. We expect this to happen some time in late fall.”

Early work for the construction of the Evergreen Line included the release last month of a tender to modify three buildings in Port Moody.

Three light-industrial buildings in the 3000 block of Spring Street will be modified to accommodate construction of the Evergreen Line guideway along the railway tracks.

The government has purchased the land rights necessary to modify the buildings, and the work is being completed on behalf of the building owners at their request.

The work is anticipated to begin in fall 2012 and will be completed in early 2013.

Early works construction lays the groundwork for major construction and helps keep the construction schedule on track.

Other early works activities are well underway or nearing completion, including the widening of North Road in Burnaby, the installation of hydro poles in Coquitlam and power supply upgrades in Port Moody.

Major construction is slated to begin later this year or in early 2013.

The components of the project include elevated and at-grade guideways, a two-kilometre tunnel, several stations, power substations, train operating systems, parking facilities, and a vehicle storage and light maintenance facility.

The four-year construction phase is expected to generate 4,000 person-years of full-time, direct employment.

The Evergreen Line is scheduled for completion in summer 2016.

The project will fully integrate into the existing SkyTrain system, linking directly to the Millennium Line, with connections to the Expo Line, Canada Line, the West Coast Express and the regional bus networks.

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