Evergreen not to open until 2017, Surrey begins picking light-rail stops
By Mercedes Deutscher, News Editor
The BC Transportation Ministry made the announcement on November 27 that the opening of the Evergreen Line will be delayed until early 2017, a few months after its anticipated opening in fall 2016.
The main reason behind the delays is the difficult tunnel underneath Clarke Road and Seaward Drive. The tunnel boring machine remained idle for several months due to an inability to stop water and sand from getting caught up in the machine’s head. After months of delays, the machine emerged from the other side of the new tunnel on the same day of the announcement.
“There’s no blame here, as the soil and groundwater conditions aren’t the fault of the engineers or the international team that runs the TBM,” said Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay to Tri-City News. “I believe that they did everything they could to complete this phase of the project as quickly as possible. And I’m certainly glad it’s done, as the rest of the project contains much less uncertainty.”
However, this has not been the only problem faced during the construction of the new line. Four sinkholes were previously found above the tunnel, and the Como Lake guideway experiencing some unexpected shifting.
John Doyle, the then-auditor general, criticized the BC government in 2013 for not thoroughly assessing the potential risks during construction.
Despite delays in some areas, other parts of the line are approaching completion. Evergreen stations are currently between 80–90 per cent complete, according to the Vancouver Sun.
Outside of the line itself, areas surrounding the new stations have been experiencing a boom in high-rise construction.
However, Burnaby and the Tri-Cities are not the only areas of the Lower Mainland receiving new transit infrastructure.
Surrey and Langley have started on the beginning of a seven-year planning phase that will eventually evolve into a light-rail train line that will connect the two cities. This phase will involve plotting where the train stops will be. The locations of the stops are expected to be announced early on in 2016.
The expected $2.7-million costs of the light-rail project will be split evenly three ways between the federal, provincial, and municipal governments.
Surrey’s new Liberal MPs have been working closely with the light-rail project, even before their election. Randeep Sarai, one of many Surrey Liberal MPs, told Business Vancouver: “We all sat down and had a meeting with the mayor, and I think we all want the same thing. We have been waiting long enough, and now is the time to start moving this project to the next phase so we can help this community grow.”
