http://www.journalofcommerce.com/article/id31878
Province pushes federal government for Evergreen Line funding
RICHARD GILBERT
staff writer
The Evergreen Line rapid transit expansion project in Metro Vancouver might get the fast track after some high-level political lobbying.
Kevin Falcon, B.C.’s minister of transportation and infrastructure asked the federal government to provide financial support and remove administrative barriers, so the
proposed project can begin construction by next summer.
The federal minister of transportation and infrastructure, John Baird, was in Vancouver to speak with his provincial counterparts in western Canada about stimulating the economy through public-sector investment in key construction projects. One goal was to identify priority projects that could be accelerated to get shovels in the ground in time for the next couple of construction seasons.
“I did mention the Evergreen Line and pushed to get them to agree to raising their contribution to match the province’s,” Falcon said.
“I feel confident they will approve this in the coming weeks. The bottom line message to the feds was ‘Get us the dollars quickly and we’ll deliver the program.’”
The $1.4 billion project will extend SkyTrain from Lougheed Town Centre in Burnaby to Coquitlam Town Centre via Port Moody.
Through its recent Transit Plan, the B.C. government has committed to investing $410 million in the project, and TransLink has committed $400 million to date.
Construction on the 11-kilometre line is already scheduled to start in 2010, with the line completed and operating by the end of 2014.
“The ministers raised policy roadblocks, (that) the feds imposed, that slow down the ability of the provinces to accelerate projects,” said Falcon.
“We also encouraged the feds to sign off on projects ASAP (as soon as possible), so we don’t miss a construction season.”
In the meeting, provincial ministers from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba discussed how to accelerate infrastructure projects by removing some of the administrative hurdles, which get in the way of project approval.
“Saskatchewan has a significant inventory of shovel-ready projects that represent both the provincial and national interest,” said Saskatchewan Highways and Infrastructure Minister Wayne Elhard.
“Fast-tracking these projects will not only build a better Saskatchewan and maintain our record growth, but they will also have a stimulating effect on the broader Canadian economy.”
Elhard said he recommended that the federal government accelerate the twinning of highway 11 between Prince Albert and Saskatoon.
He also spoke in favour of northern road infrastructure and emphasized the urgent need for water/wastewater treatment systems for municipalities.
In addition to discussing infrastructure development in western Canada, the meeting also kicked off a series of cross-country discussions with provincial, territorial and municipal representatives to prepare for a First Ministers meeting on Jan. 16, 2009.
The minority Conservative government is facing a highly anticipated test of confidence when it tables its budget on Jan. 27.
This is the day after Parliament resumes following its prorogation (suspension) earlier this month.
If the opposition parties vote against the budget, as they threatened to do after the November fiscal update, the country could find itself facing another general election or see the Conservatives replaced by a coalition government.
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Next summer seems like a really tight deadline to start by. They still need to get funding in place, decide on a P3 model (since its pretty clear they're going to have a $200m shortfall), complete a conceptual design, issue an RFQ, evaluate the RFQ and issue RFP, give the various companies at least a couple months to get a preliminary design done, a bit more time to get all the financial side of things completed and submitted, pick a prefered proponent and negotiate a final contract with said proponent.
The only thing I can really see them doing is "pre-construction" work, such as relocating major utilities, expropriating and demolishing properties that will obviously need to be used (i.e. those at the tight curve just before Lougheed Station), and maybe doing some preliminary grading and pre-loading of some sections (i.e. the section in Port Moody along the rail corridor).
The danger is, the more you start doing, the less flexibility you give to engineering companies to come up with innovative designs.
Also, IIRC, the precast yard for the Millenium Line was located somewhere in Port Moody. Where exactly is this site, and could it be used again?
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Sorry, i should have been more clear, i didn't mean big box stores, but stores that are located in simple box looking buildings, hehe. Not sure if there is a slang term for such non desrcript commercial structures.
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