British Columbia’s transportation minister says the long-awaited Pattullo Bridge replacement will be open to traffic by Christmas.
But a quip by the premier making light of delays on the project is ruffling some feathers in New Westminster.
Speaking at an unrelated event on Monday, Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth said the bridge, which will replace the existing aging span that links Surrey and New Westminster was “progressing according to schedule,” and that it would see vehicle traffic later this year.
“It’ll be open before Christmas,” he said.
As the minister and Premier David Eby walked away from the media scrum, a joking aside from Eby to Farnworth was caught on a hot mic.
“Glad you didn’t say which year,” Eby said.
Farnworth did, in fact, say which year — but Eby appeared to be poking fun at the length of time it’s taken to finish the project.
Originally scheduled to be finished by 2023, the timeline was pushed back first to 2024, then again to the fall of 2025.
“I don’t think this has been funny,” said Alejandro Diaz, owner of New Westminster’s El Santo restaurant. “The past three, four, five years have not been funny at all.”
Diaz’s restaurant is located on Columbia Street, the site of a variety of major construction projects in recent years, and he says the delay-plagued bridge work has only made the problem worse.
He said constant traffic jams have reduced visits to the area, and estimates sales are down 30 to 35 per cent at his restaurant.
“The impact has been emotionally and financially. We have been trying to talk to the premier, to Mike Farnworth, we sent several emails,” he said.
“We got … like a general response from someone from the Premier’s Office, and basically we were told that they are not in the business of compensating business. But I think that also they shouldn’t be in the businesses of affecting businesses.”
Farnworth vowed again Tuesday that the bridge will, in fact, be open to vehicles by Christmas, but acknowledged there would still be work to complete after that, including the removal of the old Pattullo.
“Whenever there’s a major transportation project, there is always disruption and we’re always very aware of that and we want to minimize it as much as possible,” he said.
“I know that the businesses have been waiting a long time and it’s been hard on some and we recognize that. But the project is coming to fruition.”
Along with a two-year delay in completing the project, the province has since revised the total cost of the work from an initial $1.38 billion to $1.64 billion.
The Ministry of Transportation says the project, which began in 2020, was bogged down by the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and global supply issues related to specialized components. The completion of its bridge tower — the tallest in B.C. — also “took longer than expected,” it said in 2024.
“That is completely unacceptable. This project was rolled out in 2018, it was one of their first cornerstone projects,” said BC Conservative transportation critic Herman Bhangu.
“And also, a city like Surrey that’s growing so rapidly — they need the help.”
Diaz said once the construction is done, he wants to see the province back an awareness campaign to help get the word out that New Westminster is open for business.
“This is about the community,” he said.
“When I talk to other business owners, they are facing the same challenges, so this is no about the restaurant, this is about community. “