Premier pushes transportation plan
Pacific Gateway 'phase two' could help push provincial debt to $60 billion
By Vaughn Palmer, Vancouver Sun October 15, 2010
The B.C. Liberals are having to pull together the details of an updated multibillion-dollar transportation plan, following Premier Gordon Campbell's recent promise of a "phase two" in his ambitious Pacific Gateway initiative.
"We've done this before," the premier told local government leaders during his speech to the annual convention of the Union of B.C. Municipalities earlier this month. "In 2002 I spoke to you and laid out a plan to open up B.C. to the Pacific ... We set the foundation, but it is no time to stop ... We are looking at phase two."
Campbell went on to recall some elements of the first phase, including the Canada Line rapid transit service in Vancouver and Richmond, the container port in Prince Rupert, and upgrades to the Trans-Canada Highway, the Sea to Sky, and the main route through the Okanagan.
The rambling, hour-long address proceeded with passing references to the next phase, though Campbell neglected to specify where he was recycling and where he was expanding on earlier announcements.
For the umpteenth time, he promised the start of construction of the Evergreen Line through northeast Metro Vancouver was imminent, despite a $400-million gap in the project budget. Then came a brief discussion of next-phase transit expansions for Metro Vancouver and environs.
"It's time to get started doing the SkyTrain to Langley City. It's time to get ready to build a rapid bus from Langley to Chilliwack. It's time to build rapid transit to UBC."
Deconstructing that passage, rapid transit to the University of B.C. was part of the transit plan announced in early 2008. But the plan to run SkyTrain all the way out to Langley City goes beyond the earlier commitment to extend the existing Surrey line to Guildford. Nor was the Langley-to-Chilliwack extension included in the first phase expansion of rapid bus services.
Mindful of the presence of mayors and councillors from every corner of B.C., Campbell tipped his hat to some of them as well.
"We need to expand a rapid bus from Kelowna to West Kelowna. We need to get the rapid bus launched in the Capital Regional District, and we're going to significantly expand public transit options in other regional centres like Prince George and Kamloops and Nanaimo and Courtenay-Comox."
For those places where the bus is no answer, Campbell had this to say: "The transportation system is not just transit. We're going to fast-track the Cariboo Connector and expedite major improvements on Highway 97, Highway 3, Highway 16 and the Trans-Canada Highway."
The Cariboo Connector, meaning the projected widening of Highway 97 between Prince George and Cache Creek, is already under construction. But the current schedule, which involves finishing about 10 per cent of the project over five years, would not constitute fast-tracking in anyone's book.
The government has undertaken extensive work on those other routes as well, most notably the expensive straightening of the Trans-Canada through Kicking Horse Canyon. But from Campbell's admittedly sketchy reference, it would appear that the government is preparing to ramp up construction to a new level.
Details will presumably be ready for the premier's televised address on the provincial economy, scheduled for Oct. 27. Based on what he has said so far, the second phase of his transportation plan will run to billions of dollars.
Rapid transit to UBC, which includes tunnelling west along Broadway from the existing Millennium Line as far as Arbutus at least, was priced at almost $3 billion in 2008 dollars. The Campbell government estimated $1.1 billion for the six-kilometre SkyTrain extension to Guildford; going as far as Langley City could raise the price tag to $3 billion. The first phase of the rapid bus was pegged at $1.2 billion, so presumably that tab would be going up as well.
The Cariboo Connector comes with an all-in cost of $2 billion, again in current dollars. The still-to-be-completed Kicking Horse Canyon phase of the Trans-Canada upgrade is already priced at $1 billion. The government has spent and committed almost $1 billion worth of roadwork in the Okanagan Corridor with more, apparently, on the way.
Paying for it? Campbell said he was looking for partners, including Ottawa, local government and private developers to help shoulder the cost. But he acknowledged that the province will be going into hock as well.
"The cost of borrowing is not going to get cheaper than it is today," he told the UBCM. "The skilled labour available is not going to be more available in the future than it is today. And waiting won't save us a penny. It only costs us time, money and benefits to the families, communities and our environment."
Interesting contrast to what he said in the 2002 speech. Back then he boasted about his commitment to "financial discipline," balanced budgets and a cautionary approach to borrowing, then capped at about $40 billion by his reckoning.
Amid today's revisionist attitudes toward red ink, the provincial debt is already on track to top $50 billion in the next year.
And with Campbell indicating we shouldn't wait to borrow more, the debt could be well on its way to $60 billion before his term is over.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Premier+pushes+transportation+plan/3675517/story.html
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