Two of the largest transportation infrastructure projects currently being built in Metro Vancouver are seeing some cost escalation.
In its Fall 2024 fiscal update this week, the provincial government noted that the project to build SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway extension reaching Arbutus will see a relatively slight cost increase of 4.5% or $127 million, growing from $2.827 billion to $2.954 billion.
For the new replacement Pattullo Bridge, the cost has grown by 19% or $260 million from $1.377 billion to $1.637 billion.
This follows the provincial government’s announcement in May 2024 that both projects will see some delays to completion and opening, with the Broadway Subway now delayed to Fall 2027 instead of early 2026 and the new Pattullo Bridge now delayed to Fall 2025 instead of late 2024.
The provincial government had indicated to Daily Hive Urbanized at the time that there were some cost pressures for both projects.
A longer construction timeline adds to costs, along with the early impacts due to the pandemic and the market inflationary environment. Major construction work on both projects began in Spring 2021, with Acciona and Ghella building the subway and Acciona and Aecon building the bridge.
Delays with the subway are due in part to the longer-than-anticipated process to complete the twin 5 km-long bored tunnels; tunnel boring began in Fall 2022 and was originally slated to reach completion by late 2023, but instead the machines crossed the finish line in April 2024.
Construction on other major components of the project, including the underground station structures and railway, could not continue uninhibited towards the state of full completion until tunnel boring had finished.
Construction progress on South Granville Station on the Broadway Subway, as of November 24, 2024. (Government of BC)
Construction progress on Arbutus Station on the Broadway Subway, as of November 24, 2024. (Government of BC)
Construction progress on the tunnel portal next to Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station of the Broadway Subway, as of November 25, 2024. (Government of BC)
As for the bridge, the provincial government partially attributes the delays to the requirement to abide by provincial and federal regulations and permitting processes relating to environmental considerations, especially to reduce the impacts on fish movements. Such considerations dictated when exactly crews could work within the river.
The project to build the new four-lane bridge also includes the cost of demolishing the dilapidated 1937-built four-lane bridge, with the removal process expected to take about a year following the opening of the seismic-safe replacement crossing.
Construction progress on the new Pattullo Bridge, as of September 1, 2024. (Government of BC)
Construction progress on the new Pattullo Bridge, as of September 20, 2024. (Government of BC)
Construction progress on the new Pattullo Bridge, as of November 3, 2024. (Government of BC)
The cost escalation for the subway and new bridge are relatively low compared to some current major TransLink projects.
As reported by Daily Hive Urbanized earlier this week, the cost to build the new OMC4 operations and maintenance facility in Coquitlam for SkyTrain’s Expo and Millennium lines is now $1.3 billion — up from $658 million in 2021. Construction began in 2021, and it is expected to reach completion in 2027.
Construction began earlier this year on the new Marpole Transit Centre on the Fraser River waterfront in South Vancouver. This will be TransLink’s first-ever purpose-built bus depot for mass numbers of battery-electric buses. For a wide range of reasons, including new provincial seismic building codes, the cost has grown from $308 million in 2021 during the early design process to $848 million.
Additionally, the provincial government’s project cost of building the SkyTrain Expo Line’s Surrey-Langley extension has grown by 50% from $4 billion to $6 billion, following the awarding of the contracts earlier this year. Major construction will begin this winter for a completion and opening in late 2029, representing a one-year delay over the previous timeline.
The provincial government is also expected to release a revised cost estimate for the new replacement George Massey Tunnel, after the recent contract award. Currently, the official estimated cost of the new immersed tunnel and downsized Highway 99 upgrades remains at $4.15 billion, which is a figure created in 2020/2021,
All of this reflects a consistent pattern of public sector projects planned before the sharp inflationary trend beginning in 2022, experiencing significant cost escalations — whether it be for new transportation infrastructure, sewage treatment plants, hospitals, community and recreational centres, schools, or public housing.