With assurances that Metro Vancouver transit use will bounce back from the COVID-19 pandemic, B.C. and federal officials are pressing ahead with the $2.83 billion Broadway subway extension.
Premier John Horgan attended the announcement of the contractor for the project, which is expected to start this fall. It will be “a key to our recovery,” Horgan said at Vancouver city hall Sept. 3.
Horgan acknowledged the plunge in ridership and revenues that transit systems across the province have seen since the coronavirus pandemic began, and said he has worked with Ottawa to help make up the losses. The new subway line will take five years to build, by which time he expects transit ridership to be recovered.
“Certainly the time to invest in infrastructure is now, without a doubt,” Horgan said. “Those patterns will return. They may not be the same. We’re not suggesting that getting back to normal will be happening any time soon.”
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The Broadway subway is a 5.7-km extension of the Millennium line to Broadway and Arbutus on Vancouver’s west side. Horgan said discussions are continuing about the next SkyTrain extension in Surrey.
The contract has been awarded to a consortium of Spanish infrastructure company Acciona and Italian company Ghella.
@tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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